HANDLING SHOCK LOADS OF BOD

IN WASTEWATER TREATMENT
S.ESWARAMOORTHI
ECPCONSULTING

1.Introduction:
Generally,theperformanceofanywastewatertreatmentsystemisheavilyinfluencedbythe
abilityofthetreatmentsystemtoremovetheBOD,whichlargelydependsonthekineticsof
microbialgrowthandsystemoperatingparameterssuchasHRT,SRTandF/M.However,
shockloads1havethepotentialtoupsettheperformanceofthewastewatertreatmentplant.
Thereasonbeingthat,evenwellequalisedeffluentmayposeshockstothetreatmentsystem
sinceconventionalequalisationismainlydesignedtohandlevariationsinflow.Flow
equalisationdoesnotconsidervariabilityintheinfluentconcentrationofBOD.Shockloads
arisefromtwodifferentsourceswherei)thelevelofBODchangeswithoutasignificant
changeinthenatureoftheorganicspresentintheeffluent;ii)thenatureoforganicspresent
intheeffluentchangesbutthelevelofBODdoesnotvarymuch.Awelldesignedtreatment
systemshouldbeabletohandleboththesescenarios.Shockloadsarequitecommoninany
wastewatertreatmentplant,andcareshouldbetakentoavoidplantupsets.
Itispossibletoconstructanequalisingtankwheresufficienttimeisgivenfortheeffluent
parameterstoshedofftheirfluctuationsandsettledowntosomebackgroundvaluetowhich
thebiologicaltreatmentunitisoptimisedtooperate.But,inatreatmentfacilitywheremore
thanoneindustrialunitdischargestheeffluent(likeinthecaseofcollectivetreatmentof
effluentinaCommonEffluentTreatmentPlant),thetimeprofileofeffluentBODshallgoon
changing.Undersuchascenario,twodifferentcasescanbeconsidered:i)thereisasurge
(singlepulse)intheconcentrationofaconstituentandthatvanishesafteraveryshorttime;ii)
adamp(singlepulse)thatappearmomentarily.Theproblemshallbecomemorecomplexifwe
havemultiplepulses.However,inordertohaveabasicunderstandinghereIconsideronly
twosimplescenarios.
1 Shock is classified here as surge and damp; surge is a sudden increase in the concentration of constituents
in the influent whereas damp is a sudden decrease in the concentration of the constituents.

1.1 Single pulse surge:

Assumethatattimet=0,thewastewaterinacontinuousflowequalisationtank2iscompletely
mixedandremainhomogeneous.LettheconcentrationofBODinthetanktobemg/L)At
thismoment,asurge3occursinthefeedqualitythattendstochangetheconcentrationofBOD
inthewastewaterbeingequalised.Providedthatinfluentisinstantlymixedintheequalisation
tank4,theeffectofsurgeonthequalityoftheeffluentcanbegivenbythefollowingequation:
(C+=Coexp(t/)

(1.1)

where,

BackgroundsteadystateconcentrationofBOD(mg/L)intheequalisationtank
beforetheshockoccurred5.

ConcentrationofBODremainingintheequalisationtankaftertimet(mg/L).

Co

InitialconcentrationofBODintheequalisationtankafterthesurgeoccurred
(mg/L)[Note:instantaneouscompletemixingisapreconditionhere].

Timeelapsedafterthesurge(hour)

Theoreticaldetentiontimeinhours(=V/Q;whereV=volumeofthe
equalisationtank(L)andQ=volumetricflowrate(L/hour).

Now,lookingatTable1,itisunderstoodthatwhentheelapsedtimet<(thetheoretical
detentiontime)mostoftheconstituentsuppliedduringthesurgeremainswithinthe
2 Continuous flow equalisation tank is defined here as the one where inflow and outflow remains equal and
constant with time.
3 As already mentioned, surge is defined here as an increase in the concentration of anyone of the constituents
in the influent within a short span of time, where after it disappears. Thus, this is a transient process. For the
following mathematical description, it is necessary that this constituent should be non-reactive (i.e.,
conservative) within the equalisation tank. For all practical purposes, TDS can be considered conservative;
pH, BOD and COD can be considered conservative only if the detention time in the equalisation tank is
minimal so that the effect of microbial growth on their levels remain insignificant.
4 Instantaneous mixing is practically impossible to achieve. However, for simplification here I consider the case
of instantaneous mixing within equalisation tank. Albeit, a good design should incorporates multiple injection
points inside the equalisation tank at a fixed depth to achieve fast and homogeneous mixing.
5 Due to variability in the nature of the influent, may vary from time to time. For all practical purposes, the
mean concentration of the constituent in the equalisation tank can be taken. It is not necessary that should
have any value greater than zero. It may even be equal to zero. If is zero at time t=0, then it's value after
certain period represents the built up of the constituent in question due to the effect of a surge that brought
this particular constituent to the equalisation tank.

equalisationtank.Atoneperiod,about63%oftheconstituentisremovedandwithin3
period,95%oftheconstituentintheequalisationtankisremoved.IfHRToftheBODremoval
unitislessthan3,theshockshallbepassedout.Instead,iftheHRToftheBODremovalunit
ishigherthan3,thentheshockisproperlyhandledbytheBODremovalprocess.

1.2 Single pulse damp:

Iftheshockistobringasuddendecreaseintheconcentrationofanyconstituent(damp)then,
theconcentrationoftheconstituentintheequalisationtankreturnstonormalaccordingtothe
equation(1.2):
C=Co[1exp(t/)]

(1.2)

where,
C

ConcentrationofBODremainingintheequalisationtankaftertimet(mg/L).

Co

ConcentrationofBODintheequalisationtankjustafterthedampoccurred
(mg/L).

Timeelapsedafterthedamp(hour)

Theoreticaldetentiontimeinhours(=V/Q;whereV=volumeofthe
equalisationtank(L)andQ=volumetricflowrate(L/hour).

Afteradamp,theBODconcentrationreturnsto63%ofitsearliervaluewithinoneperiod;
within3period,theconcentrationoftheconstituentisrestoredto95%ofitsvaluebeforethe
dampoccurred.ButthesethingsapplyonlywheninfluentconcentrationofBODreturnedto
thesteadystateconcentrationofBODintheequalisationtankbeforethesurge/damp
occurred.But,inpractise,theconcentrationoftheBODintheinfluentisexpectedtovary.
Then,thetimeprofileofBODdoesexhibitfluctuationsanditdosenotfollowasimple
equation.Suchkindofuncertaintycanbesolvedifwehavetwoequalisationtanksoperating
incyclestocollecttheeffluentinbatchmode.Thecalculationsgivenhereareafirst
approximationtosolvetheproblemsassociatedwithshockloads.Arealisticpictureofthe
situationcanbeobtainedbyconsideringthekineticsofbiodegradationoforganicsintheBOD
removalunitalongwiththeequalisationprocess.

ItshouldbenotedherethatremovalofshockloadofBODisonlydependentontheV/Qratio
andnottanksize6.Thus,foranyequalisationtank,iftheV/Qratio()issmall,thentheability
todampenthesurgeislower.Onthecontrary,iftheV/Qratio()islarge,theconstituentthat
arrivedtotheequalisationtankinasurgeisretainedforalongertime.
Thereisaremarkableadvantageinsettingupequalisationtanksinseriesasillustratedin
Table2.Forexample,assumeaBODsurgeof100mg/Labovethebackgroundvalueattime
t0.Ifequalisationtankdetentiontimeis1hourandinstantaneousmixingisassumed,atatime
oft(0+1)hour,theconcentrationofBODinthefirstequalisationtankeffluent(outlet)is63
mg/Linexcessofthebackgroundvalue.Similarly,attheendof1hoursincetheoccurrenceof
shock,theconcentrationprofilesofexcessBODintheeffluentof2nd,3rd,4thand5thtanks
are40,25,16and10mg/L,respectively.TheconcentrationprofilesofBODinthe
equalisationeffluentforvarioustimesareprovidedinTable3for=1hour,anddepictedin
Fig.1.Ittakes5hourstopassaround95%oftheshocktothetreatmentsystem.Sinceshock
loadsaredelayed,theBODremovalunitshallhavemoretimetodigestexcessBOD.Thus,
processupsetcanbeavoided.
Forallpracticalpurposes,thesurgefrequency(S f)shouldbelesserthan1/3sothat95%of
theconstituentisremovedbeforeanyothersurgeoccurs(Table1) 7.
Sf3

Inordertoensurethatsuchasurgeordampoccursatafrequencylesserthan1/3,
preliminarystudyshouldbeconductedinthereceivingendbycollectingtheinfluentsamples
atspecificsamplinginterval(i).Thissamplinginterval(i)shouldneverbegreaterthanbut
mostostensiblyitisrequiredtohavetheconditionibeingmettoensurethatno
surge/damphasgoneundetected8.
6 This concept provide an opportunity to design a compartmentalised equalisation tank, where each
compartment is connected in series. Each compartment receives equalised effluent from the previous tank,
suppress the surge/damp and pass on it to the next compartment. In this way the variability of the quality of
equalised effluent at the end is highly minimised. Any building up or, diminishing levels of any constituent
after equalisation is only gradual. Thus, short-term variability is minimised while long-term variability still
remains the same. It should be mentioned here that total volume of all such compartments is still equal to a
single high capacity equalisation tank but control on variability is higher with compartmentalised
equalisation tank whereas it is very low with a single equalisation tank.
7 The remaining 5% constituent shall build up in the equalisation tank. However, the damps that follow each
surge is expected to nullify the effect of this accumulation.
8 This condition is necessary if no surge should escape detection under blind sampling (blind sampling is a

Table-1: The relationship between elapsed time, time constant ( = V/Q) and % of
constituent remaining in the equalisation tank after the surge occurred.
S.No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Time (t)
0.000
0.250
0.500
0.750
1.000
1.250
1.500
1.750
2.000
2.250
2.500
2.750
3.000
3.250
3.500
3.750
4.000
4.250
4.500
4.750
5.000
5.250
5.500
5.750

(V/Q)9
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Exponent
1.000
0.779
0.607
0.472
0.368
0.287
0.223
0.174
0.135
0.105
0.082
0.064
0.050
0.039
0.030
0.024
0.018
0.014
0.011
0.009
0.007
0.005
0.004
0.003

% past
0
-22.12
-39.35
-52.76
-63.21
-71.35
-77.69
-82.62
-86.47
-89.46
-91.79
-93.61
-95.02
-96.12
-96.98
-97.65
-98.17
-98.57
-98.89
-99.13
-99.33
-99.48
-99.59
-99.68

t
% retained
100
Undefined
77.88
4.00
60.65
2.00
47.24
1.33
36.79
1.00
28.65
0.80
22.31
0.67
17.38
0.57
13.53
0.50
10.54
0.44
8.21
0.40
6.39
0.36
4.98
0.33
3.88
0.31
3.02
0.29
2.35
0.27
1.83
0.25
1.43
0.24
1.11
0.22
0.87
0.21
0.67
0.20
0.52
0.19
0.41
0.18
0.32
0.17

method whereby the moment of occurrence of an event to be observed is unknown before sampling is carried
out; the chances are that such an event could have happened at any moment before sampling commenced).
Consider an example where the sample is taken just after the traces of a surge have vanished from the
equalisation tank. If the sampling frequency (Sf) is equivalent to 1/, then the next sample shall be taken when
the next surge have just disappeared. However, shocks in effluent characteristics are random processes, and
can not be assumed to occur at equal intervals, which is the assumption of the above discussion. For more
robust discussion, a good reading on Sampling Theory is essential along with good exposure to Probability.
9 Please note that the actual value of =V/Q may be different from 1; However, here I consider time (t) as a
fraction or multiple of ; so, the value given by V/Q is taken as unity, and time is measured as a fraction or,
multiple of .

Table2:Shockhandlingbysingleandmultiplestageequalisationtanksfott=1hour.
Singlestage
Multiplestagesinseries
(=V/Q) exp(t/)
Shockpassed
Shock
Shock
Totalshock
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
HRT
retained
passed
retention
(hours)
C(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

0.37
0.61
0.72
0.78
0.82
0.85
0.87
0.88
0.89
0.90
0.91
0.92
0.93
0.93
0.94
0.94
0.94
0.95
0.95
0.95
0.95
0.96
0.96
0.96
0.96

36.79
60.65
71.65
77.88
81.87
84.65
86.69
88.25
89.48
90.48
91.31
92.00
92.60
93.11
93.55
93.94
94.29
94.60
94.87
95.12
95.35
95.56
95.75
95.92
96.08

63.21
39.35
28.35
22.12
18.13
15.35
13.31
11.75
10.52
9.52
8.69
8.00
7.40
6.89
6.45
6.06
5.71
5.40
5.13
4.88
4.65
4.44
4.25
4.08
3.92

63.21
39.35
28.35
22.12
18.13
15.35
13.31
11.75
10.52
9.52
8.69
8.00
7.40
6.89
6.45
6.06
5.71
5.40
5.13
4.88
4.65
4.44
4.25
4.08
3.92

39.96
15.48
8.04
4.89
3.29
2.36
1.77
1.38
1.11
0.91
0.76
0.64
0.55
0.48
0.42
0.37
0.33
0.29
0.26
0.24
0.22
0.20
0.18
0.17
0.15

25.26
6.09
2.28
1.08
0.60
0.36
0.24
0.16
0.12
0.09
0.07
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.03
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01

15.97
2.40
0.65
0.24
0.11
0.06
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

10.09
0.94
0.18
0.05
0.02
0.01
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

89.91
99.06
99.82
99.95
99.98
99.99
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00

Table3:RetentionofBODinmultiplestageequalisationtanksinseries(=V/Q=HRT=1hour)
Time(t)
(hour)
0.00
0.08
0.17
0.25
0.33
0.42
0.50

0.58
0.67
0.75
0.83
0.92
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00

1ststage
Retained
Left
(%)
(%)
100
92
84.65
77.88
71.65
65.92
60.65
55.8
51.34
47.24
43.46
39.98
36.79
22.31
13.53
8.21
4.98
3.02
1.83
1.11
0.67

0
8
15.35
22.12
28.35
34.08
39.35
44.2
48.66
52.76
56.54
60.02
63.21
77.69
86.47
91.79
95.02
96.98
98.17
98.89
99.33

2ndstage
Retained
Left
(%)
(%)
0
7.36
13
17.23
20.31
22.46
23.87
24.66
24.98
24.92
24.57
24
23.25
17.33
11.7
7.53
4.73
2.93
1.8
1.1
0.67

0
0.64
2.36
4.89
8.04
11.61
15.48
19.53
23.68
27.84
31.97
36.02
39.96
60.35
74.76
84.26
90.29
94.05
96.37
97.79
98.66

3rdstage
Retained
Left
(%)
(%)
0
0.59
1.99
3.81
5.76
7.65
9.39
10.9
12.16
13.15
13.89
14.4
14.7
13.47
10.12
6.92
4.5
2.84
1.77
1.09
0.66

0
0.05
0.36
1.08
2.28
3.96
6.09
8.63
11.52
14.69
18.07
21.62
25.26
46.89
64.65
77.34
85.8
91.21
94.61
96.7
97.99

4thstage
Retained
Left
(%)
(%)
0
0.05
0.31
0.84
1.63
2.61
3.69
4.82
5.91
6.94
7.86
8.64
9.29
10.46
8.75
6.35
4.27
2.75
1.73
1.07
0.66

0
0
0.06
0.24
0.65
1.35
2.4
3.82
5.61
7.75
10.22
12.97
15.97
36.42
55.9
70.99
81.52
88.46
92.87
95.63
97.33

5thstage
Retained
Left
(%)
(%)
0
0
0.05
0.19
0.46
0.89
1.45
2.13
2.88
3.66
4.44
5.19
5.87
8.13
7.56
5.83
4.06
2.67
1.7
1.06
0.66

0
0
0.01
0.05
0.18
0.46
0.94
1.69
2.73
4.09
5.78
7.79
10.09
28.3
48.33
65.16
77.46
85.79
91.17
94.57
96.68