Methods of sewage disposal are of two types:

1. Dry or conservatory system

2. Water carriage system (99.9)
Detention Time (Hydraulic Retention Time, HRT) is the length of time a particle or a unit volume of
water/wastewater remains in a reactor/basin/tank.
Mathematically;
HRT, tD = (Volume/Discharge) ------- days/hours/sec (units)

Flow Through Velocity or Horizontal Velocity and Settling Velocity

Settling path of a solids particle in a tank

Surface Loading Rate or Overflow Rate is the volume of water/wastewater applied per unit surface
area of the treatment basin and is normally expressed in units of m3/m2-d or gal/ft2-d.
Mathematically;
SLR = (Flow, Q/Area, As) {Numerically; SLR = HRT}

Weir Loading Rate or Weir Overflow Rate is the quantity of wastewater flowing over a unit weir
length of the tank in a unit time. It is expressed in units of m3/m-d or gal/ft-d.
Mathematically;
WLR = (Flow, Q/Total Length of Weir, L)
PROBLEM: A treatment unit is 1.5 ft wide, 20 ft long and has a depth of 2.0 ft. if the wastewater flow
rate through the tank is 0.5 ft3/sec. Calculate; detention time, overflow rate and weir loading rate.
Organic Loading is the total quantity of organic matter in terms of BOD or COD that is applied per
day over the unit surface area of per unit volume of the treatment basin or tank.
Mathematically;