Design Considerations For Wastewater Treatment Plants On Your Facility

Posted by Xylem on May 12th, 2021

If you want to install a water treatmentplant in your facility, there are a lot of things you need to consider to ensure your plant is effective and efficient. Here are some of the most important things you should put into consideration.

The location of the plant

A new plant site for wastewater treatment or a plant that you want to expand should be evaluated through private and government engineers and the process should be documented for future use. Some of the factors to take into consideration when evaluating the location include the drinking water sources locations, adequacy of isolation from land use surrounding firm site and residential areas, susceptibility of the site to flooding, prevailing wind directions, soil conditions suitability, adequacy of the site for future expansion, suitability of the site, assimilation capacity of the water body that will be receiving the wastewater after treatment and design capacity.

Flood protection

It is important to consider the susceptibility of the site to flooding. If necessary, it is important to take measures to prevent any potential damage from flooding. The structures, mechanical and electrical equipment of the treatment plant should be protected from flood damage. This requirement should apply to new and existing facilities that are undergoing expansion. It is also important to consider the floods regulations in your area. The designer of the flood should consider if high receiving levels of water would impact the treated sewage effluent discharge.

General plant layout

When setting up a wastewater treatment system, it is very important to consider the general layout of the plant. The arrangement of the plant within the site should be considered. You should consider the natural grades and the subsurface conditions to provide the necessary facilities at a cost-effective price.

When it comes to the layout of the plant, it is important for the designer to orient the buildings around to provide enough allowances for future expansions of the various stages of treatment and the process units and should also orient the plant so that the best benefit can be taken of the prevailing weather conditions. The orientation of the building should be used to reduce the effects of misting, odors and freezing issues and the usage of energy. The treatment plant layout should allow the probability of weather conditions such as snow drifting to reduce the effects of snow drifting on operations.

Bearing these constraints in mind, it is important for the designer to work towards the layout of the plant where the various units for processing are arranged in a thoughtful progression to avoid the necessity of major conduits and pipelines to convey sludge, sewage, or chemicals from one module to the next module and to arrange the layout of the plant to provide for operational convenience and ease the spitting flow for future treatment units.

In case site roadways are conveniently provided for truck access to the water treatment facility, the design of the road should be sufficient so as to withstand the largest expected disposal and delivery vehicles with allowance for vehicles turning and exiting from the site.