Sewage Disposal Systems

VOCABULARY flashcards covering sewage disposal types, sewer line classifications, septic tank biological processes, and system requirements based on the provided lecture notes.

Cesspool

A hole in the ground curbed with stones, bricks, or concrete blocks that allows raw contaminated sewage to leach into the soil while organic wastes disintegrate.

Privy

A concrete sealed vault with a wooden shelter used for the collection of raw sewage, considered objectionable due to the risk of contaminating water supplies.

Septic Tank

A receptacle or vault used to collect organic waste, designed to liquefy and precipitate solid waste through sedimentation and anaerobic decomposition.

Public Sewer Line

A government-operated sewage system consisting of a treatment plant that conveys raw sewage from buildings and houses to a disposal system.

Combination Public Sewer

The oldest type of public sewer that conveys both storm water and sanitary wastes; currently obsolete and no longer allowed.

Sanitary Sewer

A public sewer facility that carries only regular sanitary wastes and terminates in a modern sewage dispersal plant.

Intercepting Sewer

A type of sanitary sewer, also known as a Trunk Line Sewer, typically made of concrete pipe with diameters from $0.60$ to $3.00$ meters, conveying waste to a dispersal plant.

Tributary Sewer

An intercepting sewer branch, also called a Contributing Sewer, made of vitrified clay or concrete and installed not more than $3$ meters below street grade.

Storm Drain

A public sewer line that carries storm water only and terminates in natural drains such as canals, lakes, or rivers.

Manhole

A device constructed at intervals of $75$ to $150$ meters that provides access for inspection, cleaning, and repair of main and storm sewers.

Sewage Ejector

A pump used to discharge waste from a sump to an overhead house drain, necessary when the public sewer line is $2$ to $4$ meters below street level.

Sludge

A semi-liquid substance formed at the bottom of a septic tank when $60\%$ to $70\%$ of suspended solids are removed by sedimentation.

Scum

Floating solids that form at the top of the sewage liquid in a septic tank.

Digestion

The bacteriological process where anaerobic bacteria transform scum and sludge into liquid and gases.

Aerobic Bacteria (Aerobes)

Bacteria that require the presence of material oxygen to live and decompose organic matter without unpleasant odors.

Anaerobic Bacteria (Anaerobes)

Bacteria that function in the absence of free oxygen and are responsible for the decomposition process in septic tanks.

Facultative Bacteria

Bacteria that can function either with or without the presence of free oxygen.

Stabilization

The stage of decomposition where organic matter is transformed into materials that can no longer be utilized by bacteria.

Putrefaction

Decomposition caused by anaerobic bacteria which is accompanied by unpleasant odors.

Septic (Condition)

A state where sewage turns dark and smells unpleasantly due to anaerobic decomposition.

$1.3\,m^3$ 1.3 m³

Septic Tank Minimum Capacity (Family of 6) is approximately with minimum dimensions of $90\,cm$ wide, $150\,cm$ long, and $120\,cm$ deep.

Activated Sludge Process

A common method used in the scientific treatment of municipal sewage.

Trickling Filter Process

A sewage treatment method involving a filter system, also referred to as the sprinkling filter process.

90 to 120 centimeters

The manhole diameter varies from ____________ provided

with iron rungs to serve as ladder for the maintenance crew to reach the

bottom.

Number of persons

The size of the septic tank is proportionally based on _________?

5 to 6 ft³

For residential installation, the practice is to allow____________ of tank volume per person.

2 meters

The septic tank may be located closer to the building it will serve, providing a minimum distance of ____________ from the outside wall.

15 meters

Septic tank should be at least _______ away from any source of water supply. The farther the better.