Quantification and qualification of the urban domestic pollution discharged per household and per resident

Abstract

The research study aims to analyze the discharges of solely domestic wastewater from 15 single-family dwellings. This sizable dataset, containing over 300 unique and insightful data points, makes it possible to accurately qualify the raw wastewater in terms of concentrations, volumes and pollutant loads. Findings quantify the extremely wide data variability. As such, for single-family households of fewer than six residents, it is suggested not to use the standard P.E. pollution value as the design load, but rather a load range defined by the interval [10th percentile, 90th percentile] of the data distribution, i.e. [123; 568 L·d− 1] and [30; 281 g BOD5·d−1], respectively, for the daily hydraulic and organic loads. Also, an analysis of the hydraulic peak factor would tend to lobby in favor of a collective sewer solution. For subdivisions and residential zones with little economic activity and similar French lifestyle, the daily domestic pollution per resident is now determined with the values: 40 g suspended solids, 94 g carbon oxygen demand, 40 g five-day biochemical oxygen demand, 6.7 g NH4+-N, 10.4 g Kjeldhal nitrogen, and 1.2 g total phosphorus for a volume of 83 L. Those data could be used to optimize design and operation of decentralized or small-scale wastewater treatment plant. HIGHLIGHTS The household wastewater loads are defined by an interval based on percentiles.; The ratio between the two bounds defining the organic load lies near 10.; The average hydraulic peak factor equals approximately 8.; The hydraulic peak factor drops with the number of aggregated houses.; The average daily domestic pollution per resident is set at 40 g BOD5·d−1.;

Keywords

• capita
• concentration
• hydraulic load
• onsite treatment
• pollutant load
• population equivalent