CHAPTER 2

Water Quality Standards

and
Parameters
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 Content
 PART 1: INTRODUCTION
i) Beneficial Water Uses
ii) Water Resources
 PART 2:WATER QUALITY
i) Definition
ii) Objectives
iii) Water Quality Parameters
 PART 3: WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS
i) Physical
ii) Chemical
iii) Microbiological
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 PART 1
INTRODUCTION

i) Beneficial Water Uses

ii) Water Resources

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 i) Beneficial Water Uses

 Municipal Uses
 Agricultural Uses
 Industrial Uses
 Rural Uses

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 ii) Water Resources
1. Snow / Rain
2. Surface Water
i) Watershed Management
ii) Lake /River /Reservoir
iii) Intake Structure
iv) Pump
v) Treatment Facilities
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 Continues….
3. Imported water
i) Transmission Pipeline
ii) Treatment Facilities
4.Groundwater
i) Basin Management
 Natural and artificial recharge
 Quality Control
ii) Wells
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 PART 2:
WATER QUALITY
i) Definition
ii) Objective
iii) Water quality parameters

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i) Water quality-definition

Is the technical term that is based

upon the characteristics of water in
relation to guideline values of what is
suitable for human consumption and
for all usual domestic purpose

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 ii) Objective of water quality

To control the discharge of pollutants

so that water quality is not degraded
to an unacceptable extent below the
natural background level

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 iii) Water environmental quality
parameters

- Are the natural and man-made

chemical, biological and
microbiological characteristics of
rivers, lakes and groundwater.
- it provides important information
about the health of a water body.

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 Are used to find out if the quality
water is good enough for drinking
water, recreation, irrigation and
aquatic life.
 These include chemical, physical and
biological parameters

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 PART 3:

WATER QUALITY
PARAMETERS

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 Water quality parameters

1. Physical 2. Chemical
parameters parameters

3. Biological
parameters

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 1.Physical parameters
- This parameters respond to the sense
of sight, touch, taste or smell

Suspended solid

odor color turbidity

temperature
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 a)Turbidity
 Isa measure of the amount of particulate
matter that is suspended in water. Unit-
NTU (Nephlometric Turbidity Unit)
 Water that has HIGH turbidity appears
CLOUDY/ OPAQUE.
 HIGH turbidity can cause INCREASED of
water TEMPERATURE

WHY???
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 It is because…

- More suspended particles will absorb more heat

which in turn lowers dissolved O2 levels.
- Such particles (SS – clay, silt, finely divided
organic material, plankton) can also prevent
sunlight from reaching plants below surface
hence DECREASE the rate of
PHOTOSYNTHESIS.
- So, LESS O2 is produced by plant

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 b) Temperature
 It is a major factor in determining which species
are present in the stream
 Temperature will impacts:
i) the rates of metabolisme and growth of
aquatic organism
ii) rate of plant photosynthesis
iii) solubility of O2 in water[0C, DO = 14.6 mg/l;
20C, DO = 9.1 mg/l]
iv) organism’s sensitivity to disease, parasites
and toxic materials
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 Continues…
 Cool water tastes better
 Temperature affects rate of chemical
and microbiological reactions
 The most suitable drinking waters are
consistently cool and do not have
temperature fluctuations of more than
a few degrees
 Groundwater and surface water from
mountain area generally meet these
criteria BFC 3103
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 c) Solids
 Total Solids (TS)
 TSS (Total Suspended Solids)
 Dissolved solids
 Volatile Solids
 Volatile Disolved Solids
 Unit: mg/l

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 Pepejal (Solids)
 Antara parameter yang terpenting
 Jumlah, saiz dan jenis pepejal adalah khusus
mengikut jenis air
 Jumlah pepejal (Total solids, TS)
 Pepejal terampai (suspended solids)
 Jumlah pepejal terlarut (total dissolved solid, TDS
= TS-TSS)

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Pengkelasan pepejal yang terdapat di dalam
air dan air sisa

Terampai (> 1mm)

Pepejal Koloid (1mm – 0.01mm)

Terlarut (<0.01mm)

Organik

Pepejal
Bukan organik

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 Boleh turas,
Filterable
Pepejal
Tidak boleh turas,
Non-filterable

Boleh mendak,
Settleable

Pepejal
Tidak boleh mendak,
Non-settleable

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 Meruap, Volatile

Pepejal
Tidak meruap, Non-volatile

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 Pepejal Terampai, Suspended solids
 Boleh didapati dalam air dalam bentuk
• terampai (suspended)
• terlarut (dissolved)
 Pepejal terampai mengandungi
• Zarah organik (organic),
• Bukan organik (inorganic) atau
• Larutan tak bercampur (immiscible liquids).

 Zarah bukan organik:

• tanah liat (clay),
• Lumpur (silt) dan partikel tanah yang lain.

 Zarah organik:
• fiber tumbuhan,
• pepejal biologi (alga, bacteria dll).

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 Ujian Jumlah Pepejal, Total solids test
 Mengukur jumlah keseluruhan pepejal
 pepejal terampai,
 terlarut organik dan
 bukan organik.
 Parameter diukur dengan cara memanaskan sample, dikeringkan dan
ditimbang berulang kali.
 Kuantiti pepejal (unit mg/l) berasaskan pepejal kering (dry-mass-of-solid
basis).
 Suhu pengeringan di atas suhu didih (104C) cukup untuk mengeluarkan
cecair dan kelembapan di permukaan zarah pepejal.
 Suhu 180C perlu untuk menyejatkan air yang terikat dalam struktur
molekul pepejal (occluded water).

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 Ujian Pepejal Terampai,Suspended Solids
Test
 Kaedah penurasan: singkirkan Pepejal terampai di dalam air.
 Kertas turas selepas penurasan dikeringkan pada 104C ; jisim pepejal terampai.
 Sesetengah koloid boleh menembusi kertas turas dan terdapat juga pepejal larut yang
menjerap (adsorb) kepada kertas turas dan pepejal terampai yang dituras.
 Oleh itu, analisa amat bergantung kepada sifat semulajadi pepejal dan kriteria bahan
penuras.
 Kebiasaannya istilah lebih merujuk kepada pepejal boleh turas (filterable solids) dan
pepejal tidak boleh turas/pepejal terampai (nonfilterable solids).
 Kandungan organik di dalam kedua-dua jumlah pepejal dan pepejal terampai boleh
ditentukan dengan pembakaran sample 500C selama 1 jam.
 Pecahan bahagian organik ditukarkan dalam bentuk gas pada suhu tersebut.
 Hasil pembakaran yang tertinggal dinamakan pepejal tetap (fixed solids)

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 d) color
 Itis due to the presence of dissolved and
suspended matter (metallic ions,
chemical pollutants, plankton and plant
pigments from humus and peat).
 These substance do not threaten stream
water quality, but indicate INCREASED
DEVELOPMENT in watershed.

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 Continues…
 Dissolved organic material from humic
substances generally lend a brown or ‘tea’
color to water
 Dissolved organic material from vegetation
and certain inorganic matter may cause
color in water

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 Continues…
 Taste problems relating to water could be
indicators of changes in water sources or
treatment process
 Inorganic compound such as magnesium,
calcium, sodium, copper, iron and zinc are
generally detected by taste of water.

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 e) Taste & Odor
 Caused by foreign matters such as organics
compounds, inorganic salts, bacteria, algae and
dissolved gases
 Measurement: Threshold Odor Number (TON)
 Examples:
i) addition of ammonia to form monochloramine in
the pipes
ii) excessive manganese & iron present in the
finished water.
** manganese & iron often found in
groundwater supplies where the overall quality of
the water is good but there is a high amount of
soluble salt. These metals then react with O2 in the
distribution system to produced the reduced and
insoluble form of the metal** BFC 3103
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 2. Chemical parameters
 Chemical quality refers to general water
characteristics and dissolved mineral
levels in the water
 Due to certain industries and
agricultural practices or from natural
resources.

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 Continues…
 It is an important indicators of water quality;
humans, plants and animals
 Chemical attributes of water can affect aesthetic
qualities such as how water looks, smells and
tastes.
 Assessment of water quality by its chemistry
includes measures of many elements and
molecules dissolved or suspended in the
water

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 Continues…
 Chemical measures can be directly detect
pollutants such as lead and mercury
 Also used to detect imbalances within the
ecosystem. Such imbalance may indicate the
presence of certain pollutant.
 pH, alkalinity, hardness, nitrates, nitrites, and
ammonia, phosphates, dissolved O2 and
biochemical O2 demand are commonly
measured chemical parameters
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 CHEMICAL PARAMETERS

pH hardness
Dissolved oxygen
alkalinity (DO)

Nitrites and nitrates Biochemical oxygen

demand (BOD)
Chemical oxygen
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demand (COD)ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Chemical parameters
1) pH
- It is a measure of the concentration of
hydrogen ions
- The term pH was derived from the manner in
which the hydrogen ion concentration is
calculated
- pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is
considered to be neutral.
- Substances with pH of less than 7 are acidic;
substances with pH greater than 7 are basic
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 Continues..
 affectschemical and biological
reactions
 Low pH is corrosive
 High pH cause deposits

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 Latihan 1
Kira kepekatan ion hidrogen [H+] untuk suatu sampel air yang
mempunyai nilai pH 10.
pH = -log [H+]
10 = -log [H+]
Jadi, [H+]= antilog -10
= 10-10 mol/liter

 Latihan 2
Kirakan nilai pH suatu sampel air yang mempunyai kepekatan ion
hydrogen sebanyak 1 x 10-6.4 mol/liter.
 Latihan 1
Kira kepekatan ion hidrogen [H+] untuk suatu sampel air yang
mempunyai nilai pH 10.
pH = -log [H+]
10 = -log [H+]
Jadi, [H+]= antilog -10
= 10-10 mol/liter

 Latihan 2
Kirakan nilai pH suatu sampel air yang mempunyai kepekatan ion
hydrogen sebanyak 1 x 10-6.4 mol/liter.
pH = -log [H+]
= -log (1 x 10-6.4)
= -[log 1 + log 10-6.4]
= -[0 + (-6.4)log 10]
= 6.4
 2) Hardness
- Stream water hardness is the total
concentration of cations, specifically
calcium (Ca2+ ),magnesium (Mg2+), iron
(Fe2+), manganese (Mn2+) in the water.
- Water rich in these cations is said to be
‘hard’. Stream water hardness reflects the
geology of the catchment area.
- Sometimes it also provides a measure of
the influence of human activity BFC 3103
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 Continues…
 For instance, acid mine drainage often
results in the release of iron into a
stream. The iron produces
extraordinarily high hardness is a useful
water quality indicator.
 Hardness is a reflection of the amount of
calcium and magnesium entering the
stream through the weathering of rock
such as limestone (CaC03).
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 Keliatan Karbonat
(Carbonate hardness)

 Punca: Gabungan Ca dan Mg ion dengan ion

CO32-, atau HCO3-.
 Komponen karbonat dalam air ini boleh
disingkirkan melalui kaedah pelembutan seperti
pendidihan, penambahan pelembut kapur .
 Apabila komponen karbonat termendak, air
tersebut secara automatik telah hilang
keliatannya.
 Ca 2+ Mg 2+ + HCO3- CO32-

Ca(HCO3)2 CaCO3 Mg(HCO3)2 MgCO3

 Keliatan Bukan Karbonat (Noncarbonate
hardness)
 Punca: Gabungan Ca dan Mg ion dengan ion Cl-, SO42-,
atau NO3-.
 Tidak ada ion bukan karbonat yang bergabung akan tersingkir
melalui kaedah pelembutan biasa.
 Biasanya penyingkiran dibuat melalui pelembut soda atau pelembut
kapur soda
Ca 2+ Mg 2+ + Cl- SO42- NO3-

CaCl2 CaSO4 Ca(NO3)2 MgCl2 CaSO4 Mg(NO3)2

 Hardness classification
 Keliatan air dinyatakan dalam unit CaCO3 setara.
 Pengkelasan keliatan:
 Lembut (soft) 50mg/l CaCO3 setara
 Sederhana keras (moderately hard) 50-150mg/l CaCO3 setara
 Keras (hard) 150-300 mg/l CaCO3 setara
 Sangat keras (very hard) >300 mg/l CaCO3 setara
 Calculation of water hardness
Equivalent weight was defined as
EW = atomic or molecular weight / n (valence)
units: grams/equivalent (g/eq) or miligrams/miliequivalent (mg/meq)

 Jumlah keliatan bahan sebagai mg/L CaCO3:

Mg/L of X = concentration of X (mg/L)  (50 mg CaCO3/meq)
as CaCO3 (equivalent weight of X (mg/meq))

 Total Hardness as CaCO3 :

Total Hardness = Ca2+ + Mg2+
 Calculation of water hardness
 Find the equivalent weight (EW) of each of
the following: Ca2+, CO32-,CaCO3.
Solution:
Equivalent weight was defined as

EW = atomic or molecular weight / n (valence)

units: grams/equivalent (g/eq) or miligrams/miliequivalent (mg/meq)
 Cont..
For calcium, Ca2+

For carbonate

In CaCO3
 Cont..
For calcium, n=2 (valence or oxidation state in water). Atomic weight =
40.08, therefore the EW is then
EW = 40.08/2 = 20.04 g/eq or mg/meq

For carbonate ion (CO32-), the oxidation state of 2- is used for n since
the base CO32- can potentially accept 2 H+. The molecular weight is
60.01. Therefore,
EW = 60.01/2 = 30 g/eq or mg/meq

In CaCO3, n=2 since it would take 2H+ to replace the cation (Ca2+) to
form carbonic acid, H2CO3. the MW is 100. Therefore,
EW = 100/2 = 50 g/eq or mg/meq
 Calculation of water hardness
A sample of groundwater has 100 mg/L of
Ca2+ and 10 mg/L of Mg2+. Express it
hardness in unit of mg/L as CaCO3.
Solution:
recalled: Mg/L of X = concentration of X (mg/L)  (50 mg CaCO3/meq)
as CaCO3 (equivalent weight of X (mg/meq))

1. Convert Ca2+ and Mg2+ to mg/L as CaCO3

Ca2+ :
Mg2+ :
 Cont..
 Now, find the mg/L as CaCO3 of cations
 Ca2+ =
 Mg2+ =

 Total Carbonate Hardness = Ca2+ + Mg2+

 Calculation of water hardness
A sample of groundwater has 100 mg/L of
Ca2+ and 10 mg/L of Mg2+. Express it
hardness in unit of mg/L as CaCO3.
Solution:
recalled: Mg/L of X = concentration of X (mg/L)  (50 mg CaCO3/meq)
as CaCO3 (equivalent weight of X (mg/meq))

1. Convert Ca2+ and Mg2+ to mg/L as CaCO3

Ca2+ : MW = 40, n=2, EW=40/2 = 20 g/eq or mg/meq
Mg2+ : MW = 24.3, n=2, EW=40/2 = 20 g/eq or mg/meq
 Cont..
 Now, find the mg/L as CaCO3 of cations
 Ca2+ = 100 (50/20) = 250
 Mg2+ = 10 (50/12.2) = 41
Total Carbonate Hardness = Ca2+ + Mg2+
= 250 + 41
= 291 mg/L as CaCO3
 3) Alkalinity
 Is measured to determine the ability of a stream to
resist changes in pH.
 Alkalinity results from the dissolution of calcium
carbonate (CaC03) from limestone bedrock which is
eroded during the natural processes of weathering
 Alkalinity values of 20 -200 ppm are common in
freshwater ecosystems. Alkalinity levels below 10
ppm indicate poorly buffered streams.
 These stream are the least capable of resisting
changes in pH, therefore they are most susceptible
to problems which occur as a result of acidic
pollutants

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 Kealkalian (Alkalinity)

 Mengukur kebolehan air menyerap (absorbs) ion Hidrogen tanpa

melibatkan perubahan pH yang ketara.
 Jadi, kealkalian adalah ukuran kapasiti penimbal (buffer capacity)
bagi air.
 spesies Karbonat yang menyumbang kepada alkaliniti adalah:
 Hydroksil (OH-), Ion Karbonat (CO32-), Ion Bikarbonat (HCO3-), Karbon
dioksida (CO2)

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 4) Nitrates, nitrites and
ammonia
 Nitrogen is an essential nutrient that is required
by all plants and animals for the formation of
amino acids.
 In its molecular form, nitrogen cannot be used
by most aquatic plants, therefore it must be
converted to another form.
 One such form is ammonia (NH3). Ammonia
may be taken up by plants or oxidized by
bacteria into nitrate (NO3-) or nitrite (NO2). Of
these two forms, nitrate is usually by the most
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 5) Biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD)
 It is a measure of the quantity of oxygen used by
microorganisms (eg.aerobic bacteria) in the
oxidation of organic matter.
 In other words: BOD measures the change in
dissolved oxygen concentration caused by the
microorganisms as they degrade the organic
matter.
 High BOD is an indication of poor water quality

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 BOD dalam sample yang dicairkan dikira sebagai:
DOi  DO f
BOD 
P
DOi  DO awal (initial DO )
DO f  DO akhir ( final DO )
P  faktor pencairan sampel

 Persamaan BOD tanpa pembenihan air kawalan.

(Unseeded dilution water)
 [( DOi  DO f )  ( BOi  BO f )] f
BOD 
P
DOi  DO awal (initial DO )
DO f  DO akhir ( final DO )
BOi  DO awal air kawalan
BO f  DO akhir air kawalan
P  faktor pencairan sampel

 Persamaan BOD dengan pembenihan air kawalan. (Seeded dilution

water)
Latihan 3

 Dengan menggunakan persamaan BOD, kira nilai BOD

suatu sample yang mempunyai nilai-nilai berikut:
DOi = 7.0mg/l DOf = 6.3mg/l
BOi = 7.1mg/l BOf = 7.0mg/l
P = 1/10 f = 1.0
Latihan 3

 Dengan menggunakan persamaan BOD, kira nilai BOD

suatu sample yang mempunyai nilai-nilai berikut:
DOi = 7.0mg/l DOf = 6.3mg/l
BOi = 7.1mg/l BOf = 7.0mg/l
P = 1/10 f = 1.0

BOD = [ (7.0 – 6.3)mg/l - (7.1 – 7.0)mg/l ] (1)

0.1
= (0.7 – 0.1) mg/l
0.1
= 6 mg/l
Bahan organik  O2  nutrien  biojisim baru (new biomass )  CO2
 H 2O  produk stabil
 Proses BOD adalah satu proses yang amat perlahan dan secara
teorinya memerlukan masa yang infiniti umtuk melengkapkan
proses.
 Dalam masa 20 hari, pengoksidaan organic berkarbon
(carbonaceous organic) adalah sekitar 95-99% lengkap.
 Dalam masa 5 hari, pengoksidaan adalah sekitar 60-70% lengkap.
 20C diambil kerana ia adalah nilai suhu purata air sungai beriklim
sederhana. Tambahan pula, ia mudah dicapai menggunakan
incubator.
 Nilai BOD yang berbeza didapati bagi setiap suhu pengeraman
yang berbeza kerana kadar tindakbalas biokimia adalah bergantung
kepada suhu.
 Teori Kinetik BOD
 Tindakbalas kinetik BOD ditunjukkan sebagai tindakbalas tertib
pertama seperti berikut:

dLt
  Lt
dt
dLt
  kLt Pers. 1
dt
Lt = jumlah BOD yang tinggal pada masa t
Lo = BOD muktamad
k = pemalar kadar tindakbalas, hari-1, (base e)
K = k/2.303, pemalar kadar tindakbalas, hari-1 (base 10)
 Kamirkan pers. 1

Lt dLt t
Lo Lt
  k  dt
o

ln Lt    kt
Lt
Pers. 2
Lo

ln Lt  ln Lo   kt
 Lt 
ln     kt
 Lo 
 Lt  kt Pers. 3
   e 10 Kt
 Lo 
  kt
Lt  Lo e Pers. 4

y, jumlah BOD yang dikeluarkan pada bila-bila masa t

BODt, yt = Lo – Lt
= Lo – Lo e-kt
= Lo (1– e-kt)

 BOD 5 hari :

y5 = Lo – L5
= Lo (1-e-5k)
Perkaitan antara BOD dan keseimbangan oksigen

 Dengan menggunakan persamaan:

kt = k20 θ (T-20)
Di mana  = 1.047

 T = temperature of interest
 Kt = BOD rate constant at the temperature of interest
 K20 = BOD rate constant determined at 20C
  = temperature coefficient.
 Value 1.135 for temperatures 4 and 20C
 Value 1.056 for temperatures between 20 and 30C
 nilai pemalar tindakbalas k boleh dianggarkan pada
suhu-suhu yang berlainan.
Latihan 4
Tentukan BOD 1 hari dan BOD akhir (ultimate BOD, Lo) bagi satu sample
air sisa. Diberi BOD5,20C air sisa tersebut adalah 200 mg/l dan k = 0.23 d-1

Tentukan BOD ultimate, Lo

Tentukan BOD 1 hari

Latihan 4
Tentukan BOD 1 hari dan BOD akhir (ultimate BOD, Lo) bagi satu sample
air sisa. Diberi BOD5,20C air sisa tersebut adalah 200 mg/l dan k = 0.23 d-1

Tentukan BOD ultimate

Lt = Lo e-kt
y5 = Lo – L5
= Lo (1 - e-kt)
200 = Lo (1 - e-5(0.23))
= Lo (1- 0.316)
Lo = 293 mg/l

Tentukan BOD 1 hari

Lt = Loe-kt
L1 = 293 (e-0.23(1))
= 293 (0.795)
L1 = 233 mg/l
Y = L - L1
= (293-233) mg/l
= 60 mg/l
Thomas method: Graphical determination of
BOD rate Constants
According to Thomas,
(1-e-kt) = kt (1+kt/6)-3
Therefore
BODt=Lo(1-e-kt)
BODt=Lo(kt)[1+(1/6)kt]-3 .....(1)
 By rearranging terms & taking the cube root of both sides, equation
(1) can transformed to:

(t/BODt)1/3=(kLo)-1/3 + (k)2/3/6(Lo)1/3 (t) ....(2)

 A plot of (t/BODt)1/3 versus t is linear. The intercept is defined as:

A = (kLo)-1/3 ….(3)
 Cont..
a slope is defined by:
B = (k)2/3/6(Lo)1/3 ….(4)

m=a/b = (k2/3/6Lo1/3)
b

C =(kLo)-1/3

x=t

 Recalled , y = c + mx
 Cont..
 Solving Lo1/3 in Eq.(3) substituting into Eq. (4) and solving for k
yields:
k= 6(B/A) …(5)
 Likewise, substituting Eq. (5) into Eq.(3) and solving for Lo yields:
Lo = 1/6(A)2(B) …(6)
Example of determining BOD rate constant,
k and ultimate BOD, Lo
 The following data were obtained from an experiment to
determine the BOD rate constant and ultimate BOD for
an untreated wastewater:

Time (day) 2 4 6 8 10
BOD (mg/L) 125 200 220 230 237
Example of determining BOD rate constant,
k and ultimate BOD, Lo
Solution:
 Calculate values of (t/BODt)1/3 for each day.
Time (day) 2 4 6 8 10
BOD (mg/L) 125 200 220 230 237
(t/BODt)1/3 0.252 0.271 0.301 0.326 0.348

 Plot (t/BODt)1/3 versus t on graph paper and draw the line

of best fit by eye.
0.5

0.4

0.3 B= k2/3/6Lo1/3
0.2
=0.0125
A= 0.224
0.1

0
2 4 6 8 10 Time (t)
 Cont..
 Determine the intercept (A) and slope (B) from
the plot.
A = 0.224
B = (0.348-0.224)/(10-0)
= 0.0124
 Calculate k and Lo using the following formula

k = 6 (B/A) Lo = 1/ 6(A)2(B)
 Cont..
 Therefore:
k= 6(B/A)
= 6(0.0125/0.224)
= 0.335 / day
Lo = 1/6(A)2(B)
= 266 mg/L
 WATER QUALITY
MEASUREMENT
ThOD – theoretical oxygen demand
(i) It is the amount of O2 required to
oxidize a substance to CO2 and H2O
(ii) Calculated by stoichiometry if the
chemical composition of the substance is
known

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Example:

 Compute the ThOD of 108.75 mg/L of

glucose (C6H12O6)
 STEPS:
(i) write balanced equation for the reaction
(ii) Compute the grams molecular weights of
the reactants
(iii) Determine ThOD

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Example:
The balanced equation for the reaction
C6H12O6 + O2  CO2 + H2O
The molecular weights (grams) of the reactants
Glucose =
Oxygen =
Thus, it takes of O2 to oxidize 180 g of glucose to
CO2 and H2O.
The ThOD of 108.75 mg/L of glucose is
 Example:
The balanced equation for the reaction
C6H12O6 + 6O2  6CO2 + 6H2O
The molecular weights (grams) of the reactants
Glucose = 6C=72, 12 H=12, 6O=96, = 180
Oxygen =6(2)O=192
Thus, it takes 192 of O2 to oxidize 180 g of glucose to
CO2 and H2O.
The ThOD of 108.75 mg/L of glucose is
(108.75 mg/L glucose)(192 g O2/180 g glucose)
=116 mg/L O2
 Exercise
(5.1, 5.2, 5.3-in the text book)
1. Glutamic acid (C5H904N) is used as one of
the reagents for a standard to check the
BOD test. Determine the ThOD of mg/L of
glutamic acid. Assume the following
reaction apply:
C5H904N + O2 CO2 + H2O + NH3

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Exercise
(5.1, 5.2, 5.3-in the text book)
1. Glutamic acid (C5H904N) is used as one of
the reagents for a standard to check the
BOD test. Determine the ThOD of mg/L of
glutamic acid. Assume the following
reaction apply:
C5H904N + 4.5O2 5CO2 + 3H2O + NH3

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 6) Dissolved oxygen (DO)
 It is an essential for the survival of nearly
all aquatic life and measured in mg/L
 If oxygen levels are high, it was presume
that pollution levels in the water are low.
 Conversely, if oxygen levels are low, one
can presume there is a high oxygen
demand and that the body of water is not
of optimal health

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 Continues…
 Levels of DO vary depending on factors
including water temperature, time of day,
season, depth, altitude and rate of flow.
(i) water at higher temp and altitudes will have
LESS DO. demand O2 will increased because
at higher temp, the rate of metabolisme is
increased.
(ii) at night, DO decreased as photosynthesis
has stopped while oxygen consuming process
such as respiration, oxidation
(iii) DO reaches its peak (HIGH) during the day
BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 3. Biological parameters
 It is biomonitor: defined as an organism
that provides quantitative information on
the quality of the environmental around it.
 It can be deduced through the study of the
content of certain elements or compounds,
morphological or cellular structure,
metabolic-biochemical process behavior or
population structure
BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Continues..
 There are several types of bioindicators:
(i) plant indicators
- the presence or absence of certain plant or other
vegetative life in an ecosystem can provide important
clues about the health of the environment
- lichens are organism comprising both fungi and algae.
Lichens are found on rocks and tree trunks, and they
respond to environmental changes in forest, including
changes in forest structure conservation biology, air
quality and climate
- The disappearance of lichens in a forest may indicate
environmental stresses, such as high level of sulfur
dioxide, sulfur-based pollutants and nitrogen oxides
Lichens
 Continues…
(ii) Animal indicator and toxins
- an increase or decrease in an animal population
may indicate damage to the ecosystem caused by
pollutant. For eg; if population causes the
depletion of important food sources, animal
species dependent upon these food sources will
also be reduced in number: population decline
- Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) provides
invaluable benefits to aquatic ecosystems. It not
only provides food and shelter to fish and
invertebrates but also produces oxygen, trap
sediment and absorbs nutrients such as nitrogen
and phosphorus BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Continues…
(iii) Microbial indicators and chemical
pollutants
- Microorganisms can be used as indicators of
aquatic or terrestrial ecosystem health
- Found in large quantities, microorganism will
produce new proteins, called stress proteins
when exposed to contaminants like cadmium
and benzene
- These stress proteins can be used as an
early warning system to detect high levels of
pollution
BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Continues…
(iv) Macroinvertebrate bioindicators
- Macroinvertebrate are useful and
convenient indicators of the ecological
health of a waterbody or river. They are
almost always present, and are easy to
sample and identify
- Benthic refers to the bottom of a waterway.
Example of benthic macroinvertebrates
include insects in their larval or nymph
form, crayfish, claims, snails and worms.
Most live part or most of their life cycle
attached to submerged rocks, logs and
vegetation.
Macroinvertebrata

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Continues…
- The basic principle behind the study of
macroinvertebrates is that some a re more
sensitive to pollution than others
- Therefore, if a stream site is inhabited by
organism that can tolerate pollution and
the more pollution-sensitive organisms are
missing a pollution is likely

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Microbiological
 Bacteria( coliform test)
 Virus
 Protozoa
 Algae

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Bacteria
 Pathogenic bacteria causing cholera,
typhoid fever etc
 Indicator bacteria
 Coliform
 Fecal Coliform( E. Coli)

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Virus
 One virus can cause illness
 Hard to detect
 Specify treatment process (
disinfection dose and contact time)
instead of measuring virus
concentration

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Algae
 Tasteand odor
 Some algae could be harmful to animals
 fish
 birds

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
EFFECTS ON WATER QUALITY
1) Toxic inorganic
2) Nontoxic organic
3) Toxic organic

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Toxic inorganic elements and
radicals
 Arsenic, Mercury, Cadmium,
Chromium, Lead-- accumulates in body
 Industrial wastes and plumbing
 Lead and Copper Rule
 Nitrate--Blue baby
 Perchlorate ( ClO4-) --Thyroid disorder,
cancer

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Toxic organics
Causing cancer, mutation or
miscarriage
 chlorinated hydrocarbons
 Chlorophenoxy herbicides
 Trihalomethanes
 VOC’s and SOC’s.

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Nontoxic organics
 NOC ( Natural organic matter)
Decayed vegetation etc
 Form toxic disinfection by-products
with chlorine
 Lower concentrations up to 4 mg/l may
be removed by Enhanced Coagulation.

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 DO sag curve
-the concentration of DO in a river is an
indicator of the general health of the river.
- All rivers have CAPACITY for self purification.
(i) As long as the discharge of oxygen
demanding wastes is well within the self
purification capacity, the Do level remain
HIGH and a diverse population of plants and
animals
(ii) As the amount of waste increase, the self
purification capacity can be exceeded, causing
detrimental changes in plant and animal life
 continues….
(iii) then, the stream losses its ability to clean itself
and the DO level DECREASES.
(iv) when the DO drops below 4 to 5 mg/L,
most game fish will have been driven out.
(v) If the DO is completely removed, fish and other
higher animals are killed or driven
(v) The water become blackish and foul smelling
as the sewage and dead animal life decompose
under anaerobic condition (without O2)

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 SO……
 ABILITY TO ASSESS THE CAPABILITY
OF A STREAM TO ABSORB A WASTE
LOAD is one of the major tools of water
HOW????
quality management.
BY DETERMINING
THE PROFILE OF DO CONCENTRATION
DOWNSTREAM FROM A WASTE
DISCHARGE
BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 To develop mathematical
expression of DO sag curve…..
- The sources of O2 and the factors affecting
oxygen depletion must be identified and
quantified
- Significant SOURCE:
i) REAERATION from the atmosphere and
photosynthesis from aquatic plants
- FACTORS effecting O2 depletion
i) BOD of the waste discharge
ii) BOD already in the river upstream of the
waste discharge BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 continues…
iii) DO in the waste discharge is usually less
than that in the river
SO
The DO at the river is LOWERED as soon
as the waste is added.
iv) The respiration of organism living in the
sediments and respiration of aquatic
plants

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 DO sag curve
approach
Approach

Mass balance Heat balance

 (1)Mass balance approach
Mass of DO in wastewater, QwDOw

Mass of DO Mass of DO in river

after mixing,
in river QrDOr QwDOw + QrDOr

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 continues…
Mass of BOD after mixing:

QwLw + QrLr
Lw = ultimate BOD of the waste
water, mg/L
Lr = ultimate BOD of the river,
mg/L
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ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Sum of wastewater
continues… and river flows

 The concentration of DO after mixing and

initial ultimate BOD after mixing, La

DO= QwDOw + QrDOr

waste
Qw + Qr
La = QwLw + QrLr
Lw & Lr:
Qw + Qr
Ultimate
BOD BFC 3103
river ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Calculation: example
The town of State College discharge 18, 360
m3/d of treated wastewater into the Bald
Eagle Creek. The treated wastewater has
a BOD5 of 12 mg/L and a k of 0.12d-1 at
20˚C. bald Eagle Creek has a flow rate of
0.46 m3/s and ultimate BOD of 5.0 mg/L.
The DO of the river is 6.7 mg/L and the
DO of the wastewater is 1.0 mg/L.
Compute the DO and initial ultimate BOD
after mixing
BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 Solution….
DO= QwDOw + QrDOr
Qw + Qr

BFC 3103
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
 (2) Heat balance
 ForTEMPERATURE consideration
 From fundamental principle of physics:

Loss of heat = gain of heat by

by hot bodies cold bodies
 (a) TEMPERATURE
Temperature after mixing:

Tf= QwTw + QrTr

Qw + Qr
 (b) Oxygen deficit
- it is the amount by which the actual
dissolved oxygen concentration is less
than the (saturation value) with respect
to oxygen in the air

Actual
D= DOs-DO Concentration of
DO, mg/L
Oxygen
deficit, mg/L Saturation concentration
of DO, mg/L
 (c) Initial deficit
- Beginning of the sag curve: a point where
a waste discharge mixes with the river
- Use the downstream temperature when
determining the saturation concentration
of DO
- Initial deficit- is calculated as the
difference between saturated DO and
the concentration of DO after mixing
 Continues…
-equation for initial deficit:

Da = DOs - QwDOw + QrDOr

Qw + Qr
Initial deficit after Saturation concentration
river and waste of dissolved oxygen at the
has mixed, mg/L temperature of the river
after mixing, mg/L
 Example 5.9
 Calculate the initial deficit of the Bald Eagle Creek after
mixing with wastewater from the town of State College
(example 5.8 for data). The stream temperature is 10oC
and the wastewater temperature is 10oC.
DOs=11.33 mg/L.
DOmix = 4.75 mg/L(from example 5.8).
 Example 5.9
 Calculate the initial deficit of the Bald Eagle Creek after
mixing with wastewater from the town of State College
(example 5.8 for data). The stream temperature is 10oC
and the wastewater temperature is 10oC.
Solution:
. At 10oC, DOs=11.33 mg/L.
DOmix = 4.75 mg/L(from example 5.8).
initial deficit after mixing,
Da = 11.33 mg/L -4.75 mg/L = 6.58 mg/L.
 (d) DO sag equation

D = kdLa (e-kdt – e-krt) + Da(e-krt)

kr - kd
D= oxygen deficit in river water after exertion of BOD for time, t,
mg/L
La = initial ultimate BOD after river and wastewater have mixed,
mg/L
Kd= deoxygenation rate constant
Kr = reaeration rate constant
t=time of travel of wastewater discharge downstream, d
Da = initial deficit after river and wastewater have mixed, mg/L
 continues…
 Whenkr = kd, the equation reduces to:
(where the terms are previously defined)

D = (kdtLa + Da)(e-k t)
d
(e) Deoxygenation rate constant,
kd
 It defers from the BOD rate constant, k because
there are physical and biological differences
between a river and BOD bottle
 In general, BOD exerted more rapidly in a river
because of turbulent mixing, larger number of
seed organism and BOD removal by organism
 BOD rate constant, k rarely has a value greater
than 0.7/day, kd may be as large as 7/day
 continues…
BOD rate constant
Determined in lab at
20˚C, day-1
 Equation for kd:

Kd=k + (v/H)ŋ Bed-activity

coefficient

Deoxygention rate
Constant at 20˚C,
Average depth of
day-1 Average speed of
Stream, m
Stream flow, m/s
(f) Reaeration rate constant

kr = 3.9v0.5
H1.5
 Example 5.10
 Determine the deoxygenation rate
constant and reaeration for the reach of
Bald Eagle Creek (Examples 5.8 & 5.9)
below the wastewater outfall. The
average speed of the stream flow in the
creek is 0.03 m/s. the depth is 5.0 m and
the bed activity coefficient is 0.35. The
value of k is 12/day
 MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
 Water quality management in rivers using
the DO sag curve is to DETERMINE THE
MINIMUM DO CONCENTRATION THAT
WILL PROTECT THE AQUATIC LIFE IN
THE STREAM.
 DO standard is generally set to protect
the most sensitive species that exist or
could exist in particular river
 continues….

 That’swhy DO sag equation can be

solved to find the DO at the critical
point.

If the DO at the critical point is

LESS than standard, the stream
can adequately assimilate the
waste
 continues…
 Theultimate BOD (La) of the waste
discharge can be reduced, thereby by:
1) Increasing the efficiency of the existing
treatment process

2) Adding additional treatment steps

3) Reduce Da –by adding oxygen to the waste

water to bring it close to saturation prior to discharge