Prediction of Septicity and Wastewater Characteristics in Dubai’s Deep Sewer Tunnels

Deep tunnel sewerage systems have become popular over the last several years due to the elimination of pumping facilities and the associated operation and maintenance costs. There have been no studies on prediction of potential changes in the composition of wastewater conveyed in deep sewer network systems.Systems analysis approach is used to predict the changes in wastewater characteristics and septicity using an empirical model. Significant amount of sulfide is generated due to long residence times for pumping raw sewage between the subsidiary and main pumping stations. However, in the deep sewer tunnels coupled with gravity link sewers, sulfide generation and septicity are largely reduced. Frequency distribution patterns and ratios of the parameters in conjunction with substrate utilization rate for readily biodegradable COD can be used to predict the future wastewater composition. It is recommended that future expansion of the treatment facilities should be considered based on the predicted values.