Five UK sludge treatment plants have been monitored for Escherichia coli (E.coli) variation after mechanical belt press and centrifuge dewatering processes. A complementary laboratory trial was also completed to examine the effects of varying centrifugal force on raw sludge E.coli content. An E.coli balance between the numbers contained in the flows entering and exiting four full scale centrifuge dewatering systems indicated a minimum 63 % increase in E.coli numbers between the input feed and sludge cake for a digested sludge input to the centrifuge. For two of the centrifuge sites this increase was statistically significant and corresponded to an increase in E.coli concentration ranging up to 1.4 Log after centrifugation. However, E.coli variation was found to be dependent on the type of sludge, as centrifuge dewatering of raw sludge at full scale resulted in a 40 % decrease in E.coli numbers. The complementary laboratory centrifuge work confirmed that E.coli numbers decreased in raw sludge after centrifugation. E.coli numbers were not observed to increase in digested sludge which had been dewatered using a belt press. A decrease of 44 % was observed.
The Ancient Roman water supply systems still leave us astonished when admiring the solidity of the ruins of aqueducts surviving around Europe. Some parts of these systems are still in use at present and prove the practical efficiency of Roman hydraulics in the principles acquired from the populations living in the different regions of the Empire. In Pompeii the urban water supply system stands as a clear example of the Roman planning of urban complex networks by using small water towers to serve a limited numbers of users. This allowed to control the derivations and their maintenance and operated a disconnection from the high pressure mains and the low pressure pipes, maintaining a fixed maximum height of water over the final points of discharge. Considering the techniques for pressure reduction as a method to control leakages, this paper examines the ancient Roman water supply system to deduce some applications to modern urban networks built in new housing establishments.
The term lacus generally identified the public fountains in the main streets of ancient Roman towns, providing for the population daily water demand. The simplest lacus consisted of a stone basin and a spout stone, concealing one or two supply pipes. 35 street fountains of this type have been surveyed in Pompeii, to gather information on their supply and its variation in time. A new method was devised for calculating the discharge through the overflow channel of each lacus, and this value was taken as an estimate of the water supplied to each fountain. The overflow channel internal cross-section width was measured at four elevations, and the cross-section profile was reconstructed based on these data. Three water levels of 1 cm, half of the cross-section height and entire cross section height, were considered at each channel’s inlet, obtaining a corresponding channel discharge. The values obtained, ranging from 0.03 to 2.9 l/s, were checked against the trajectory of the fountain water jet, making sure that it remained within the basin length. For 28 fountains the average discharge was found to be 0.08 l/s when the water was at the lowest level, 0.43 l/s for the intermediate level and 1.18 l/s for a full inlet. The average time of residence of the water, in the lacus draw basin, was estimated between 11 min and 3 h. An estimate of the demand of all the town lacus was compared with the capacity of the aqueduct channel entering at Porta Vesuvio: the town lacus could have been supplied contemporaneously at the minimum and intermediate discharges.
An experimental investigation was conducted on two lengths of Roman lead water pipe excavated near Corbridge, Northumberland, England. The pipes date from approximately AD 80. One length of pipe contained a sleeve joint. The pipes were linked to a pump system using 3D-printed connectors, and the hydraulic head loss along the pipe was measured. The pipe without a joint was used to determine a value for the wall roughness height, fitting the results to the Darcy-Weisbach equation. The wall roughness height obtained was assumed to apply to the pipe with the joint, and the additional head loss observed was then assumed to be due to the joint, allowing determination of a local loss coefficient. The pipes have a sinter encrustation, indicating that they had typically flowed partially full. Using this as an indication of water depth and deriving topographical information from the excavation report, the likely flow the pipes carried during their operational life was estimated. It was concluded that the pipe wall roughness coefficient ks was 0.9 mm, the joint local loss coefficient was 1.159, and that during operation the pipe probably carried around 17 litres/minute.
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