Disinfection of treated

wastewater
Chlorine
Kills bacteria, virus, protozoan
UV Intestinal worms
Ozone
Why would disinfection be used for
onsite or decentralized wastewater
treatment effluent?
• For surface application
• Water reuse with human exposure
Why would disinfection be used for
onsite or decentralized wastewater
treatment effluent?
• Protect human health
– Stop pathogen pathway from one host to next
• Water reuse
• Discharge to surface waters
– NPDES permit

• Ecological Impact
– Prevent spreading of diseases
 Factors affecting Disinfection

• Contact Time
• pH
• Concentration or Intensity of the disinfectant
• Concentration of the organisms
• Concentration of interfering substances
 “Clean” Water
Chlorine Chemistry

Cl2 + H2O HOCl- + H+ + Cl-

HOCl- H+ + OCl-

The pH affects this reaction. Lower pH drives the reaction to

make HOCl.
HOCl (hypochlorous acid) is a more effective
disinfectant than OCl- (hypochlorite ion).
A pH below 7.4 is conducive to HOCl formation
 Forms of Chlorine

Free available chlorine is the concentration

of chlorine existing in the form of
hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ions.

Combined Chlorine is the concentration of

chloramines formed when non-nitrified
effluent is chlorinated
 Design Issues for Chlorination
• Chlorine
– Dose and demand
– Mixing
• Good mixing at chlorine addition point is more
efficient and effective
– Plug flow reactor
• More efficient kinetics and lower coliform conc.
– Detention time
• 15-30 min average requirements
• But 1 hour detention time often recommended
 Chlorine demand and dose
Dose = demand + residual

Wastewater treatment Demand, mg/L

Primary effluent 10 to 25
Trickling filter effluent 5 to 15
Activated sludge effluent 4 to 10
Filtered Activated sludge 4 to 8
effluent
Nitrified effluent 4 to 8
Septic tank effluent 10 to 30
Intermittent sand filter effluent 2 to 6
Chlorine decay 2 to 4 mg/L-hr
Recommended Chlorine Dose, mg/L,
EPA onsite manual

Septic tank Package Sand filter

pH effluent bio plant effluent
6.0 35-50 15-30 2-10
7.0 40-55 20-35 10-20
8.0 50-65 30-45 20-35
 Mixer

Mixing Tank

Liquid Chlorine
(bleach)
Solution Metering
Pump

Wastewater Flow

Typical Liquid
Chlorination System
Typical Chlorine Tablets
Tablet Chlorinator
Dual Tablet Chlorinator
 UV design issues
• Dose needed for microbial kill efficiency
• Effect of aging lamps and fouling
• Transmittance – actual intensity that gets
to microbe
• Contact detention time
• Total volume (HRT times flow rate)
• Volume per lamp
 UV Dose
mW-sec/cm2= average Intensity (mW/cm2) X time(sec)

Initial

coliform UV dose, mW-s/cm2

Type of count Effluent Standard, MPN/100mL

Treatment MPN/100 mL 200 <2.2

Act. Sludge 107-109 50-70 90-110

Filtered and

nitrified A.S. 104-106 50-70 80-100

Intermittant

sand filter 102-104 10-15 50-60

 Transmittance (%)
Wastewater % Transmittance

Primary Effluent 25-50

Secondary Effluent 45-70

Filtered Effluent 55-80

Microfiltration 80-90
Contact time and number of lamps

UV dose, mW - s/cm2
Time, sec =
average intensity, mW/cm 2

Total volume = time(design flow rate, L/sec)

total volume, L
Number of lamps =
volume per lamp, L/lamp
UV Assembly
UV Assemblies