Practice problems – CVL212

1. In a BOD determination, 6 mL of wastewater was mixed with 294 mL of diluting water

containing 8.6 mg/L of dissolved oxygen. After a 5-day incubation at 20o C, the dissolved
oxygen content of the mixture is 5.4 mg/L. Calculate the BOD of the water. Assume that
the initial DO of wastewater is zero.
Solution:

Volume of wastewater = 6mL

Volume of diluting water = 294mL

Total volume =6 + 294 =300mL

0𝑋6+(294×8.6)
Initial D.O of the mixture = 300

=8.428 mg/L

Dilution factor = Total volume / Wastewater = 300/6 =50

Final D.O of the mixture = 5.4 mg/L after 5 days incubation

DOi = Initial DO

DOf = Final DO

BOD of the water = DF (DOi – DOf)

= 50 × (8.428 – 5.4) =151.4 mg/L

2. The 5-day 20 o C BOD of a wastewater is 210 mg/L. What will be the ultimate BOD?
What will be the 10-day BOD? If the bottle had been incubated at 30 o C, what would the
5-day BOD have been? k= 0.23/d
Solution:

Y5, 5 day BOD at 20 0C = 210 mg/L

Ultimate BOD, Lo =?

K= 0.23/d

Y5 = Lo (1-e-kt)
 210
Ultimate BOD, Lo = 1−𝑒 −0.23𝑋5

= 307.3 mg/L

10 day BOD

Y10 = Lo (1 – ekt)

= 307.3 (1 – e -0.23x10 )

= 276.49 mg/L

Temperature = 30oC

K = K20 θT-20

θ = 1.056

K = 0.23 x 1.056(30-20)

K = 0.3966

Y5 at 30oC = L0 (1 – e-kt)

= 307.3 (1 – e-0.3966 x 5)

= 264.998 mg/L

3. Compute the carbonaceous and nitrogenous oxygen demand of a waste represented by

the formula C9N2H6O2.
Solution:

C9N2H6O2 + 8O2 2 NH3 + 9 CO2

Carbonaceous oxygen demand

Molecular weight of C9N2H6O2 = (9 x 12) + (14x2) + 6+ (16x2) =174 g/mol

Molecular weight of 8 moles of O2 = 8 x 32 = 256 g

Carbonaceous oxygen demand = 256/174 = 1.4712 mg O2 /mg C9N2H6O2

Nitrogenous oxygen demand

NH3 + 2O2 HNO3 + H2O

Molecular weight of NH3 = 14 + 3 = 17 g/mol

i.e., 34g NH3 per 174g C9N2H6O2

Oxygen required = 4O2 = 128 g

Therefore, nitrogenous oxygen demand = 128/174

= 0.736 mg O2 / mg C9N2H6O2

4. 2% solution of a sewage sample is incubated for 5 days at 200C. The depletion of

oxygen was found to be 4 ppm. Determine the BOD of the sample.

Solution:

Dilution factor = 100/2=50

Depletion of oxygen = 4ppm

BOD = Depletion of oxygen × Dilution factor = 4ppm × 50 = 200ppm

5. The effluent from an industry is discharged into a river (temperature of 150C). K20 for
this mixed water found to be 0.12 per day. Determine the fraction of maximum oxygen
consumption that will occur within 4 days.

Solution:

Determine the BOD rate constant at the river water temperature:

K15 = K20 (1.056) (T-20) = 0.12 (1.056) (15-20) = 0.091 per day

Using this value of K to find the fraction of maximum oxygen consumption in four days:

BOD4 = Lo (1 – e -0.091x4)

Therefore, BOD4 / Lo = 0.305

6. Type 1 settling analysis was carried out in a settling column to design pre-sedimentation
tank in a municipal water treatment plant. Initial concentration of solids in reservoir
water =300mg/L and the depth of the column =2 m. Water samples were collected at the
bottom of the column (just above the sludge collection zone) at regular intervals. The solid
concentrations in the samples are presented below.
 Time 0 60 80 100 130 200 240 420
(min)
Conc, 300 189 180 168 156 111 78 27
(mg/L)

A loading rate of 25 m3/m2.d should be provided for treatment. Calculate the solid
removal efficiency in the sedimentation tank.

Solution:

Calculate the mass fraction remaining and corresponding settling rates.

Time 60 80 100 130 200 240 420

(min)
MF 0.63 0.6 0.56 0.52 0.37 0.26 0.09
remaining
Vt 3.3 2.5 2.0 1.55 1.0 0.83 0.48

Where, mass fraction (MF) remaining = Ct /C0 and Vt = Zo/ t where Z0 is the height of the
column

Ct- Solid concentration at time, t

C0- Initial solid concentration

✓ Plot mass fraction remaining vs settling velocity

✓ Determine design terminal settling velocity (vo) corresponding to surface loading rate

= 25 m3 /m2 .d = 1.7 x 10-2 m/min

✓ From the graph, r o = 54 %. i.e. 46% of the particles have settling velocity more than
v0, so they will be completely removed. A fraction of particles with settling velocity
less than v0 will also be removed which can be calculated from the graph (ΣΔ x . Vt)

✓ Determine Δ x . Vt by integration.
 ∆x Vt ∆x . Vt
0.06 1.50 0.09
0.06 1.22 0.07
0.1 1.00 0.10
0.1 0.85 0.09
0.1 0.70 0.07
0.06 0.48 0.03
0.06 0.16 0.01

Determine overall removal efficiency

X = (1 - r0) + ∑ Δx . V t /V0
 = (1- 0.54) + (0.46/1.74)

= 0.46 + 0.26

= 72%

7. The reservoir water mentioned in Q6 was found to be turbid and should be subjected
to coagulation. It is decided to design a sedimentation tank having a detention period of
1 h and 45 min and a depth of 3m to settle out the solids formed. Sample tests were done,
and the flocculated solids were transferred to Type II settling column having the same
depth. The initial solid concentration was found to be 250 mg/L. Samples were collected
at regular intervals from the column outlets provided at different depths. The solid
concentration in the samples were measured by gravimetric method. The observed data
is presented in the table. Determine the overall removal efficiency of the settling unit.

Depth Time of sampling, min

m 30 60 90 120 150 180
0.5 133 83 50 38 30 23
1.0 180 125 93 65 55 43
1.5 203 150 118 93 70 58
2.0 213 168 135 110 90 70
2.5 220 180 145 123 103 80
3.0 225 188 155 133 113 95

Solution:

1. Determine removal rate corresponding to each depth and time using the equation,

xij = (1 - Ci/Co)100

(Time of sampling, min)

Depth 30 60 90 120 150 180

(m)
0.5 47 67 80 85 88 91
1.0 28 50 63 74 78 83
 1.5 19 40 53 63 72 77
2.0 15 33 46 56 64 72
2.5 12 28 42 51 59 68
3.0 10 25 38 47 55 62

2. Plot iso removal lines (Lines corresponding to a specific removal rate)

Construct vertical line at to =105 min (design detention period). From the figure, it can be seen
that approximately 43% of the solids having settling velocity equal to and greater than the
design settling velocity will reach the depth in to and will be 100% removed. A fraction of the
particles having lower settling velocities will also be removed. Working upward along the to
line, determine the increments of removal and depths to the midpoint of these increments.

Integrating the values:

Element ∆r Zi ∆r. Zi
r1 0.07 2.55 0.179
r2 0.1 1.73 0.173
r3 0.1 1.13 0.113
 r4 0.1 0.72 0.072
r5 0.1 0.39 0.039
r6 0.1 0.12 0.012
Sum=0.588

∆𝑟. 𝑍𝑖 1
𝑅 = 𝑟0 + ∑ = 0.43 + (0.588)
𝑍0 3
𝑅 = 0.63

Removal Efficiency = 63%

8. Table below represents the water quality analysis of groundwater collected from a
deep borewell. Calculate the different forms of hardness in the water, expressed in mg/L
as CaCO3
Ion Concentration, mg/L

Ca2+ 103
Mg2+ 5.5
Na+ 16
HCO3- 255
SO42- 49
Cl- 37

Ans:

Ion mg/L EW CaCO3/EW ion mg/L as CaCO3

Ca2+ 103 2.50 258
Mg2+ 5.5 4.12 23
Na+ 16 2.18 35
HCO3- 255 0.82 209
SO42- 49 1.04 51
Cl- 37 1.41 52

The concentrations of different ions are converted to CaCO3 equivalents. The results are plotted
in the figure.
Total hardness= 281 mg/L as CaCO3 and carbonate hardness is 209 mg/L as CaCO3.
Calcium carbonate hardness= 209 mg/L as CaCO3
Calcium non-carbonate hardness= 258-209= 49 mg/L as CaCO3
Magnesium carbonate hardness= 0 mg/L as CaCO3
Magnesium non-carbonate hardness= 281-258= 23 mg/L as CaCO3
9. A water has an alkalinity of 200 mg/L as CaCO3 . The Ca2+ concentration is 160 mg/L
as the ion, and the Mg2+ concentration is 40 mg/L as the ion. The pH is 8.1. Find the total,
carbonate, and noncarbonate hardness.

The molecular weights of calcium and magnesium are 40 and 24, respectively.

𝑚𝑔 50𝑚𝑔
𝑚𝑔 (50 𝑚𝑒𝑞 ) 𝑚𝑔 ( 𝑚𝑒𝑞 ) 𝑚𝑔
𝑇𝐻 = 160 𝑚𝑔 + 40 = 567 𝑎𝑠 𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑂3
𝐿 (20 ) 𝐿 (12𝑚𝑔) 𝐿
𝑚𝑒𝑞 𝑚𝑒𝑞

where 50 is the equivalent weight of CaCO3.

By definition, the carbonate hardness is the lesser of the total hardness or the alkalinity. In
this case, the alkalinity is less than the total hardness, the carbonate hardness (CH) is equal to
200 mg/L as CaCO3 . The non-carbonate hardness is equal to the difference
NCH = TH - CH = 567 - 200 = 367 mg/L as CaCO3.