Understanding Wastewater & Sewers

1. Understanding Wastewater & Sewers Erie County Department of Environment & Planning Division of Sewerage Management

2. Most Valuable Water Is our Most VALUABLE RESOURCE

3. Why is Water IMPORTANT ? • Water is necessary to all living things • People can live for weeks without food, but only a few days without water • Water is a delivery system • Nutrients in soil • Blood in humans/animals • Carries off bodily wastes • Our body is water cooled

4. Why Conserve Water ? We have a limited amount of water and a growing population!

5. Water Supply Who Uses Water ? • People • Industry • Farmers • Utilities(making electricity) Water used in 1 day in USA - 450 billion gallons 450,000,000,000 gallons ( >7 trillion cups )

6. How Much Water Do WeUse and Where ?

7. Family & Industrial US Japan Ghana (W. Africa) All of Europe 450,000,000,000 gallons 150,000,000,000 gallons 6, 400,000,000 gallons 170,000,000,000 gallons Daily Water Usage Water Trivia: US needs 115,000,000,000 gals/day of drinking water

8. Goes down the drain OOS/ OOM } Dirty Smelly Hidden and becomes wastewater & What Happens to Water That’sNot Consumed ?

9. Out Of Sight Out Of Mind “OOS/OOM”

10. JUNE 15, 2006 One Person, One Day: Flush Toilet Shower/Bath Brush Teeth Wash Hands 15 gal 35 gal 4 gal 6 gal (5 gal x 3 ) (2 gal x 2 ) (2 gal x 3 ) 60 gallons/person* * Range: 50-100 gallons/person-day

11. Dishwasher (2%) Kitchen Sink (8%) Bathroom Sink (11%) Toilet (33%) Bathing (20%) Washing Clothes (26%) Total usage 14.5 billion gallons per day Typical Family Wastewater

12. Goes down a DRAIN • Where does the drain pipe lead? • Connects with other drains • Series of house pipes • Usually in the basement What Happens to the Wastewater From Each Source?

13. Where Does It Go from There? W H E R E

14. S E W E R S Where Does It Go from There?

15. What is a SEWER? • Series of pipes • Below ground • Conveys wastewater • Sewer has access points • House connections • Manholes

16. Paints Solvents Pesticides Storm water Oil Gasoline Plastics Grease Paint Thinner What We Should NOTPut Into Sewers ?

17. Why Not? • Damage Sewers • Corrosive • Explosive • Fire • Block Sewers • Difficult to remove • Create odors • Overload Treatment Plant Reduce Capacity

18. DAMAGED SEWERS

19. For Example:Blocked Sewer

20. Special Disposal Places (check with Erie County or local Town officials) Where Should We Put Them?

21. HOUSEHOLD WASTE DISPOSAL Erie County Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Day Contact: (716)858-6800 Or www.erie.gov/environment

22. Wastewater Flow in Sewers • Why is the sewer pipe tilted downward? • Water flows by gravity • From high point to low point Have you ever seen water run uphill?

24. It needs to be PUMPED ! Pumped Wastewater (Uphill) Gravity Wastewater Flow (Downhill) Hill Pump Sewer Sewer How Do We Get WastewaterUp a Hill ?

25. Clay Metal Not Used - Old Pipe Special Cases Concrete Plastic Larger Lines New- Most Common What is Sewer Pipe Made Of ?

26. Does one size sewer pipe fit all places NO Pipe size is increased as more wastewater is introduced from additional homes + 6” 8” 10” 12” 16” 20” 24” 30” 36” Sewer Pipe Size

27. Where Manhole Covers • Streets • Sidewalks • Private Property Can You See Sewer Pipes ? No! How Do You Know They Are There ?

28. Can You See Sewer Pipes ? Look for the connection from your house to the sewer. Look for your Cleanout, it’s usually in you lawn.

29. Provide access to sewers to • Look at • Fix • Clean • Monitor/sample • Join pipes • Change direction/pipe size/slope • Provide venting Manholes - Why Do We Need Them ?

30. Sewer View From Above

31. Sewer View From Above 14” Manhole 12” IncreasingPipe Size 8” Joining Pipe Manhole Manhole Changing Pipe Direction 8” 12” Increasing Pipe Size

32. Through treatment process by What Happens at a Wastewater Treatment Plant ? Dirty water(called wastewater or sewage) is cleaned….HOW?

33. But Why Send to a Treatment Plant Why Not Discharge to a River Or Lake

34. Why Not Discharge to aRiver or Lake? • River/Lake • Untreated wastewater will make humans sick • Untreated wastewater will kill fish and other aquatic life. • Impacts water quality

35. Why Not Discharge to aRiver or Lake? • Major concern – BACTERIA/HEALTH & LOW OXYGEN LEVEL

36. Why Not Discharge to aRiver or Lake? • Bacteria/pathogens are harmful • Humans • Fish • Low Oxygen Level • Fish cannot survive

37. BUT HOW? Wastewater Treatment Plants • Sewers discharge to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) • WWTPs remove • Bacteria/Pathogens • Organic matter • Solids • WWTPs discharge • Cleaner water

38. 5 Wastewater Treatment Plant Summary Steps 1 2 3 Bar Screen Grit Tank Solids Settling 4 Disinfection Biological Treatment Chlorine or Ultraviolet Clean Water

39. Step 1: Bar Screens

40. Bar Screens

41. Step 2 - Grit Removal • Grit can be: • Egg shells • Coffee grinds • Nut shells • Seeds • Sand • Pebbles • Pits

42. Grit Tank

43. Step 3 - Solids Settling

44. Step 3 - Solids Settling • Solids can be: • Food • Poop Settling Tank Removes Solids from Wastewater

45. Solids Settling - Circular Clarifier

46. Solids Settling - Circular Clarifier

47. Step 4 - Biological Treatment • Aeration tank removes soluble organic material from wastewater • Hungry bugs eat organic material (food) • Clean wateris left

48. AerationTank

49. Chlorine Chlorine Contact Tank Clean Effluent Clean Water -OR- Clean Effluent Clean Water (UV) Ultraviolet Bulbs Step 5 - Disinfection • Disinfection removes bugs from clean water before discharge • Chlorine or ultraviolet light kills bugs

50. Disinfection (chlorine contact)