Water quality parameters
Water quality parameters
• To determine the extent of pollution
• To determine if the water is fit for intended
use
• To choose the treatment scheme
Water quality parameters
Physical Chemical Biological
• Solids • pH • Bacteria
• Turbidity • Alkalinity • Virus
• Color • Hardness • Protozoa
• Temperature • Dissolved ions • Helminths
• Taste and Odor • Organic matter
• Heavy metals
• Refractory
organics
• Nutrients
Solids in water
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Solids in water
• Solids in water can be in suspended, colloidal
or in dissolved form
Particle type Size range, µm
Suspended 1 to 100
Colloidal 10-3 to 1
Dissolved 10-5 to 10-3
Solids in water
• Total solids= Total suspended solids + Total
dissolved solids
• Total solids= Total volatile solids + Total non-
volatile (fixed) solids
• Total suspended solids= Total volatile
suspended solids+ Total fixed suspended
solids
• Total dissolved solids= Total volatile dissolved
solids+ Total fixed dissolved solids
Suspended solids (SS)
• Can be organic or inorganic particles
• Mostly found in surface water
• Domestic wastewater contains organic
suspended solids in large amounts
• In wastewater treatment, SS is used to
measure the quality of effluent
• Measure by gravimetric methods and
expressed in mg/L
Turbidity
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Turbidity
• Turbidity is a measure of the extent to which light
is either adsorbed or scattered by the suspended
material in water
• Indirect measure of solids in water
• Commonly used in water treatment plants (WTP)
to measure the quality of potable water
• Turbidity in surface waters is mostly due to the
presence of colloidal particles
• Measured using turbidimeter and expressed as
NTU (Nephelometry turbidity unit)
Why solids are removed initially at a
WTP
• SS provides adsorption sites for chemical
and biological agents. Hence, disinfection or
other treatment methods for removing
pathogens and dissolved contaminants won't
be effective in the presence of solids
• Organic solids may be degraded biologically,
forming objectional by-products
Chemical water quality parameters
• Chemical parameters are the constituents of
dissolved solids or ions
Alkalinity
• Measure of the ability of water to neutralize
acids
• Most common constituents of alkalinity are
bicarbonate (HCO3-), carbonate(CO32-) and
hydroxide (OH-)
• Alkalinity is pH dependent
• Measured by titration
• Used as a process control variable in water
and wastewater treatment
Alkalinity
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Hardness
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Hardness
• Defined as the concentration of multivalent metallic
cations in solution
• In natural waters, hardness is caused by calcium and
magnesium ions
• Hardness is classified as carbonate hardness and
noncarbonate hardness depending on the anion with
which it associates
• Carbonate hardness is equivalent to alkalinity
• Carbonate hardness precipitates readily as upon boiling
• Measured by titration and expressed as mg/L as CaCO3
Significance of hardness
• Prevents lathering and increases soap
consumption
• Scaling in boilers
Type of water Hardness, mg/L as CaCO3
Soft <50
Moderately hard 50-150
Hard 150-300
Very hard >300
Organics
• Biodegradable and refractory
(nonbiodegradable) organics
• Biodegradable organics are utilized by
microorganisms
• Biodegradable organics can be degraded
under aerobic (oxygen-present) or anaerobic
(oxygen-absent) conditions
Biochemical oxygen demand
Amount of oxygen required by microorganisms for the oxidation of
biodegradable organic matter
▪ In a lab test, we find BOD5 or BOD3 by incubating the
sample at 20ᵒC for 5 days or at 27ᵒC for 3 days after
adding essential nutrients for the microbial process.
▪ Determined by measuring the initial and final
dissolved oxygen concentration in the sample
• DOI Initial DO Conc.
BOD = (𝐷𝑂𝐼 −𝐷𝑂𝐹 )/𝑃 • DOF Final DO Conc.
• P Dilution factor (Volume
of sample/Volume of
dilution water)
BOD kinetics
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BOD Kinetics
• Rate at which organics ▪ Lt is the oxygen equivalent
are utilized is directly of the organics at time t
proportional to the and k is a reaction
amount of organics constant.
available. ▪ L0 is the oxygen
equivalent of the total
mass of organics.
▪ Value of reaction constant k
is temperature dependent.
▪ Change in k is given by van’t
Hoff-Arrhenius equation.
𝐾𝑇 = 𝐾20 𝜃 𝑇−20
• 𝜽 value taken is 1.047
𝑩𝑶𝑫 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕 = 𝑳𝟎 (𝟏 − 𝒆−𝒌𝒕 )
• 𝑲𝑻 represents the value
at temperature T
water.usgs.gov
• 5-day BOD at 20 o C of a wastewater is 210 mg/L. What will be
the ultimate BOD? k= 0.23/d
Ans: BOD5 = Lo (1-e-kt)
210
Ultimate BOD, Lo =
1−𝑒 −0.23𝑋5
= 307.3 mg/L
• Determine the carbonaceous and nitrogenous oxygen demand
of a wastewater containing C9N2H6O2
C9N2H6O2 + 8O2 2 NH3 + 9 CO2
Carbonaceous oxygen demand
Molecular weight of C9N2H6O2 = (9 x 12) + (14x2) + 6+ (16x2) =174
g/mol
Carbonaceous oxygen demand = 8 x 32 = 256/174 = 1.4712 mg O2
/mg C9N2H6O2
Determine the carbonaceous and nitrogenous
oxygen demand of a wastewater containing
C9N2H6O2
Nitrogenous oxygen demand
NH3 + 2O2 HNO3 + H2O
Nitrogenous oxygen demand = 4 x 32 = 128/174
= 0.736 mg O2 /mg C9N2H6O2
Chemical oxygen demand
• Amount of oxygen required to oxidize the
organic material in wastewater
• Using dichromate solution
• Treatability of wastewater
BOD/COD >0.5 biodegradable
Nutrients
• Nitrogen and phosphorus are the limiting nutrients in aquatic
plant growth
• High amounts of nutrients in surface water leads to the
excessive growth of algae which is known as eutrophication
• Nitrate contamination leads to methemoglobinemia or blue
baby syndrome
Nitrogen
• Total Nitrogen in water= Organic Nitrogen+ Ammonia+ Nitrite+
Nitrate
• Nitrogen species in water is transformed into different forms by
microbial action
• Ammonia is oxidized to nitrite and then to nitrate by the process
known as Nitrification
• During Denitrification, nitrate is converted to nitrogen
• Nitrifiers and denitrifiers are used in wastewater treatment plants
for biological removal for nitrogen species
BIOLOGICAL WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS
Pathogens 1. BACTERIA
✓ Typhoid fever – salmonella typhi
• Organisms capable of infecting
✓ Paratyphoid fever – salmonella
or transmitting diseases to paratyphi
humans ✓ Cholera – vibrio cholerae
• Bacteria, viruses, protozoa, ✓ Bacillary dysentery – shigella
dysentrial
helminths 2. PROTOZOA
• Most critical parameter in ✓ Amoebiasis
drinking water quality ✓ Amoebic dysentery – entamoeba
histolytica
3. VIRUS
✓ Polio
✓ Infectious hepatitis
4. HELMINTHS
✓Swimmer’s itch
Indicator organisms
Analysis of water for all known pathogens is not practical
Purity of water is checked using indicator organisms
Indicator organism is one whose presence presumes that contamination
has occurred and suggests the nature and extent of contamination
Escherichia coli belonging to fecal coliform group are commonly used as
the indicator organisms in water quality analysis
Mutiple tube fermentation technique is popularly used for coliform
analysis and the result is expressed as Most probable number (MPN)
