Guidelines for Grit Sampling and Characterization

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization of 33,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world. Since 1928, WEF and its members have protected public health and the environment. As a global water sector leader, our mission is to...

The WEF Technical Practice Committee (formerly the Committee on Sewage and Industrial Wastes Practice of the Federation of Sewage and Industrial Wastes Associations) was created by the Federation Board of Control on October 11, 1941. The primary function of the Committee is to originate and produce, through appropriate subcommittees, special publications dealing with technical aspects of the broad...

This publication documents the processes currently used for grit sampling and characterization in the industry. This is WEF’s first effort to address the industry’s increasing need to determine how grit can be better characterized, modeled, and reliably removed to lower levels. Written for wastewater professionals familiar with basic wastewater treatment concepts, this book will help...

This chapter describes the preparation required for, and the activities related to, sampling for grit in wastewater streams. First, considerations for occupational health and safety during sampling activities are briefly covered. Guidelines for setting up grit sampling are presented, including facility-wide considerations, sampling locations, and field pre-tests. Equipment and setup as well as...

This chapter addresses the characterization practices currently being used in water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). The methods are relatively different and can lead to very different results. Although there is currently no industry consensus about when to use one practice vs another, some general guidelines will be discussed in this chapter to help guide practitioners in making decisions.