WATER

POLLUTION
CONTROL

CIVL270-Maraqa
 Wells
Water
distribution
system
Industry

Stream
Lake or WTP
Sea
Storage Sanitary
Tank sewer Pre-
Characteristics treatment
Treatment
processes Drinking water Characteristics
Standards
Homes Treatment
WWTP processes
Reuse or
discharge
Standards

Fujairah WTP Al Owair WWTP

CIVL270-Maraqa
 US Primary Drinking Water MCL in mg/L (partial list)

Inorganic Chemicals
Arsenic 0.05 Mercury 0.002
Barium 2 Nickel 0.1
Cadmium 0.005 Nitrate (as N) 10
Chromium (total) 0.1 Nitrite (as N) 1
Copper TT Nitrate + nitrite 10
Fluoride 4 Selenium 0.05
Lead TT Thallium 0.002
Asbestos 7106 fiber /L
VOCs
Benzene 0.005 Ethylbenzene 0.7
Carbon tetrachloride 0.005 Vinyl chloride 0.002

CIVL270-Maraqa
 Bacteriological limits
US EPA states that “bacterial quality criteria for
drinking water from public supplies require not more
than 1 total-coliform/100 ml as the arithmetic mean of all
water samples examined per month, with no more than 4
coliforms/100 ml in any sample if the number of samples
is  20/month, or no more than 4 per 100 ml in 5% of the
samples if the number of samples exceeds 20 per month.
Bouwer, Groundwater Hydrology, McGraw-Hill, 1978.

Number of samples taken Population Number of

for coliform testing served samples/month
depends on the <1000 1
population served by the <10,000 11
treatment facility <100,000 100
<1 million 300
CIVL270-Maraqa
 Secondary Standard for Drinking Water
Level Effects
Contaminant
Al 0.05-0.2 mg/L Water discoloration
Cl 250 mg/L Taste, pipe corrosion
Color 15 color units Aesthetic
Cu 1 mg/L Taste, porcelain staining
F 2 mg/L Dental fluorosis
Foaming agents 0.5 mg/L Aesthetic
Fe 0.3 mg/L Taste, laundry staining
pH 6.5-8.5 Corrosive
Sulfate 250 mg/L Taste, laxative effects

CIVL270-Maraqa
Water Treatment Plants (WTPs)
A WTP consists of processes to remove contaminants present in
the water such that produced water is suitable for drinking.
The design of a WTP depends on (1) the quality of raw water,
(2) the quality of produced water and the (3) capacity of the plant.
The capacity of the plant depends on the design period (15-25
yrs), the population served, and the per capita water consumption.
A flow sheet for the plant shows the sequence of the processes
used:

Raw water Produced water

influent Effluent
WTP
CIVL270-Maraqa
 Contaminant Treatment Process
Large debris Screens
Settalable solids Grit chamber
Suspended solids Coagulation/flocculation/
sedimentation (w/ or w/o filtration)
Dissolved solids Desalination
Hardness Softening
Deficit fluoride Fluoridation
Excess fluoride Defluoridation
Undesirable gases Air Stripping
Organic contaminants Activated carbon
Microorganisms Disinfection
CIVL270-Maraqa
 Coagulation-Flocculation

Objective: To remove suspended solids (turbidity)

Coagulant
Coagulation Flocculation Sedimentation Filtration

Suspended
solids

½ minute ½ hr. 1-10 hr.

rapid mixing slow mixing

Coagulants: Al2(SO4)3.18H2O Alum

FeCl3

CIVL270-Maraqa
FeSO4
 Softening
Objective: To remove hardness (Ca and Mg).
1. Lime Soda-Ash Method
A precipitation method through which Ca is removed as
CaCO3 and Mg is removed as Mg(OH)2.
Ca + CO3 CaCO3
Mg + 2OH Mg(OH)2
2. Ion Exchange
Ca hardness Resin

Ca2+ + Na2R CaR +2Na+

CIVL270-Maraqa
 Desalination
Objective: To reduce the concentration of ions (TDS).
1. Distillation Steam
Condenser
Boiler
Cold salt water
Brine

Warm salt water

Heat Fresh water
2. Reverse Osmosis (RO) 3. Electrodialysis
Pressure
Fresh water
Membrane
A C A C A
Cathode Anode
⊝ ⊝ ⊕
⊝
Fresh Saline ⊕ ⊕ ⊕ ⊕ ⊝⊕ ⊕
⊝ ⊝ ⊝
water water
CIVL270-Maraqa Saline water
 Disinfection
Objective: To inactivate pathogens.
Methods Chlorine Common worldwide
Chloromines
Ozone Common in Europe
UV

CIVL270-Maraqa
 Wastewater
Treatment
System

Treated Raw
wastewater wastewater

CIVL270-Maraqa
 Characteristics of Domestic Wastewater
Constituent Concentration, mg/L

BOD5 100-300

COD 250-1000

TDS 200-1000

Suspended solids 100-350

Total nitrogen 20-80

Total phophorous 5-20

CIVL270-Maraqa
Treatment Processes

Primary Treatment Disinfectant

Wastewater Primary
Grit Effluent
Contact
influent Settling
Chamber tank
tank
Screens

Primary treatment removes about 35% BOD and 60% SS.

CIVL270-Maraqa
 Secondary Treatment
Disinfectant
Secondary
Wastewater Contact Effluent
Biological Settling
after primary treatment tank
tank
settling

Biological treatment can be done by one of the following methods:

Activated sludge
Rotating biological contactors
Trickling filters

Overall removal: 90% BOD and 90% SS

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Advanced Treatment
May include:
Activated carbon to remove organic contaminants.
Filter to capture suspended solids.
Nitrate removal

CIVL270-Maraqa
 Zakher Wastewater Treatment Plant

CIVL270-Maraqa
 Design capacity 54,000 m3/day.

CIVL270-Maraqa
Screening
Remove large solids and rags that
cause problems if passed through
the plant.

Grit Removal
Remove 95% of grit and stones,
which could result in blockages
and abrasive, wear on machinery
and pipe works.

CIVL270-Maraqa
Aeration Tanks
Incoming sewage, “seeded” with active
organisms, passed through tanks with
surface aerators to provide oxygen for
the degradation process and to ensure
mixing that would maintain sewage
and organisms in suspension.

Settling Tanks
After the aeration process the
activated sludge is allowed to settle,
leaving an effluent containing less
than 30 PPM of suspended solids.

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Return Activated Sludge:
Settling
Some of the sludge from the Aeration tank tank
settling tanks is returned to be To further
processes
mixed with incoming sewage to
the aeration tanks, in order to
seed active organisms into the
process.
Return sludge
Sludge to digesters

Filtration:
After secondary settling, treated
wastewater passes through sand
filters to reduce the suspended
solids to about 10 ppm.
CIVL270-Maraqa
Disinfection
Chlorine gas is injected into the
final effluent before the effluent
is being reused. Residual
chlorine content of 1 ppm is the
desired final concentration.

Overall treatment efficiency

 BOD removal =98%

 TSS removal =99%

Treated effluent is pumped into an elevated tower about 12 km away

from the works. The tower supplies the roundabout and roadside
irrigation networks and is also used for irrigation of parks.
CIVL270-Maraqa