Practitioner's Tool / Determining Wastewater Strength and Loading
Wastewater systems have to be designed for hydraulic and organic loading. There are several factors to consider, including dilution from stormwater, changes in feed, and animal population dynamics.
Wastewater treatment is really a process run by microbes. The microbes need a certain amount of food to do their job (eat the waste). The food is in the form of organic matter or biochemical oxygen demand--a measurement of how much air the microbes need to consume a certain amount of the organic matter in the wastewater. If there is too much organic matter for your onsite wastewater treatment system, the microbes cannot keep up. In this case, you will get only partial treatment, and your system will fail.
Go to the toolkit to get ideas on how to estimate organic matter for your project. Then calculate the loading in kilograms per day.
Design Flow and Loading Determination Guidelines for Wastewater Treatment Plants
