TABLE OF CONTENTS Process and site selection in land treatment are interrelated. The ability of the land treatment processes to remove wastewater constituents described in Chap. 3, the discharge quality criteria, and the soil and other site characteristics affect the choice of the appropriate land treatment process. The presence of a suitable site within an economical transmission distance from the wastewater source will determine if a land treatment system can be implemented.
Because the selection of a process and selection of a site for land treatment are related, a two-phased planning procedure is often used. The two phases are presented in Fig. 6.1.
The first phase involves estimating preliminary land area requirements based on wastewater and climate characteristics, identifying potential sites in the area, evaluating the sites based on technical and economic factors, and selecting potential sites.
The second phase, assuming sites are selected, involves field investigations, preliminary design and cost estimates, comparison to other alternatives, and selection of the most economical alternative.
Preliminary land requirements can be estimated for each land treatment process, based on wastewater characteristics and climatic conditions. Wastewater characteristics include average annual flows and concentrations of constituents such as BOD, suspended solids, nitrogen, phosphorus, and trace elements.
Municipal wastewater flows range typically from 65 to 100 gal per capita per day. Industrial wastewater flows are too variable to generalize and must be estimated from information specific to the product and wastewater-producing operations. Existing wastewater flow...
