Team code: D069
Problem Statement-3
Low-cost Soak Pit Design
❏TABLE OF CONTENTS :
pg.no
❖ Problem statement………………………………………………….2
❖ Introduction…………………………………………………………..3
❖ Objective……………………………………………………………..3
❖ Why soak pits are important……………………………………….4
❖ Materials/Components used……………………………………….4
❖ Basic design…………………………………………………………5
❖ Design explanation………………………………………………….9
❖ Cost estimation……………………………………………………...10
❖ Problems faced……………………………………………………...12
❖ Solutions …………………………………………………………….12
❖ Conclusion…………………………………………………………...13
❖ References…………………………………………………………...13
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❏ PROBLEM STATEMENT:
As the wastewater ( mainly greywater or blackwater after primary
treatment) percolates through the soil from the soak pit. Design a
cost-efficient soak pit that should not negatively affect soil and groundwater
properties and avoid high daily volumes of discharged effluents with the
following points:
➢ Soakpit needs to be designed for a small family in a rural area having
4-5 members as daily users.
➢ The immersion well should be between 1.5 and 4 m deep, and not
less than 2 m above the water table.
➢ It must be located at a safe distance from a source of drinking water
(preferably more than 30 m).
➢ The immersion well must be kept away from areas of heavy traffic, so
that the soil above and around is not compacted.
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❏ INTRODUCTION:
A soak pit is essentially designed with the purpose of allowing this excess
wastewater to infiltrate into the ground. These are used for the discharge of
domestic wastewater. If there is no need to reuse wastewater, collected
stormwater or greywater, soak pits can offer a cost-efficient opportunity for
a partial treatment of waste- grey or stormwater from primary treatment and
a relatively safe way of discharging it to the environment and therewith
recharging groundwater bodies.
Groundwater is one of the most precious natural resources that need to be
protected from deterioration. Seepage of industrial and extensive pumping
has caused serious qualitative and quantitative problems in the aquifer.
The final effluents from the industry can't be sent to the recycling or reuse
purpose neither can they be discharged to an open atmosphere and hence
are discharged in a confined and more isolated place from the atmosphere
like in soak pits, the advantage being they even act as filtration mediums.
The effluent water percolates into the surrounding soil. An industrial effluent
with high Cr6+ and CN- has spread vertically and laterally and
contaminates the groundwater, which is the major source of domestic water
supply.
❏ OBJECTIVE:
Designing a cost-efficient, sustainable, eco-friendly Soak pit taking care of
the negative impacts caused due to it.
3
❏ WHY SOAK PITS ARE IMPORTANT:
➢ From the primary treatment unit, the soak pit serves the purpose of
receiving the effluent water.
➢ It undertakes the partial treatment of the effluent water coming out of the
primary treatment unit.
➢ To the ground, soak-pit discharges clear and non-harmful water.
➢ The treated water comes out of the porous walls of the soak pit
because of its design.
➢ It helps to recharge the groundwater bodies.
❏ Materials/Components used:
➢ Bricks,
➢ PVC pipe,
➢ PVC elbow (90 degrees),
➢ Cement,
➢ Plastic drums,
➢ Alum,
➢ Fine and coarse gravel,
➢ Organic microbes,
➢ wooden and activated charcoal,
➢ Bio rocks,
➢ Gravels,
➢ broken bricks
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❏ Design and its Specification:
Calculations:
➢ Daily water usage of a family having 5 members in rural areas:
Bathing and toilet - 85 ltr/per person * 5 = 425 liters of water
Washing utensils - 60 liters
Cleaning house - 15 liters
Approximate usage per day - 500 liters
Assume a detention period of wastewater - 2 days
Maximum wastewater generated in two days - 1000 liters
Each chamber is designed in such a way that it can hold wastewater generated in
two days.
➢ Soak Pit dimensions:
Chamber No. Diameter (m) Height (m) Volume (m3)
1 0.8 2 1.005
2 1.2 2 1.26
3 1.8 2 2.82
Table no.1
➢ Approximate no. of bricks require: 500 pieces
Standard brick size = 19cm*9cm*9cm
Surface area of a brick = 19*9 = 171 cm2
Surface area of outermost wall = 2*π*(.9)*2 = 11.3m3
Considering factors like holes in the wall (no bricks required), some bricks
could be broken
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Fig 1. Sectional view of soak pit Fig 2. Design drawing(top view
. and front view)
Note: We will use R1, R2, R3 throughout the report to represent chamber 1,
chamber 2, and chamber 3 respectively.
R1--> chamber 1 region
R2-->region between the inner wall and the middle wall
R3-->region between middle wall and outer wall
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Fig 3. Inner wall Fig 4. middle wall fig 5. outermost wall
Fig 6. top view of soak pit
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Fig 7. Front view of soak pit
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❏ Design Explanation:
➢ The soak pit basically consists of three concentric cylindrical
chambers as shown in fig.1. The outermost cylindrical wall is made of fly
ash bricks (made of waste product from the burning of coal, more
environment friendly). The bottom of this chamber is exposed to the
surrounding soil.
➢ Inner and middle cylindrical walls are made of plastic and designed
such that the holes in these chambers are made relatively small so that the
wastewater remains enough time to get treated. The bottom part of the
chamber 1 and 2 are covered to prevent direct seeping of greywater to the
surrounding soil.
Fig 8. Pictorial representation
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Working :
Step 1: Wastewater (mainly greywater) from the household is collected into
chamber 1 as shown in fig. 6, having at least a 20cm layer of soil and
organic microbes at the base which are helpful in the breakdown and
removal of organic wastes (eg. vegetable peels, etc.) from water present in
the greywater. Then, the wastewater moves into the next chamber i.e.
chamber 2 through the holes.
Step 2: Chamber 2 is filled with alum, bio rocks, and activated charcoal.
Alum precipitates the insoluble materials in the water and kills or lowers the
total bacterial content of the water. Bio rocks incorporate the aerobic
digestion process and filtration process and help in water purification.
Activated charcoal through the process of adsorption binds impurities
chemically on the surface of the charcoal filter. This floc then settles at the
bottom of the chamber and then the water flows into the last chamber
Step 3: The outermost chamber contains wood charcoal, stone, fine and
coarse-grained sand, gravel, and charcoal. They are arranged in a given
fashion: fine sand layer at the top, a coarse sand layer in the middle,
gravel, and then wood charcoal at the bottom. In the process, the layers of
sand and gravel act as filters. When water passes through these layers,
even the smallest of suspended particles are removed. After the removal of
suspended particles, it passes through wood charcoal which is well known
for its ability to decolorize and remove the bad odour and taste from water.
Also, stone and coarse-grained soil will prevent the wall from collapsing
while still providing adequate space for water. Finally, the cleaned water
from this chamber seeps into the soil from the bottom and through the
holes.
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❏ Estimate cost :
➢ Chamber 1:
Material Cost in rupees
Plastic container 1000Rs.
Organic microbes 200Rs
➢ Chamber 2:
Material Cost in rupees
Plastic container 1500Rs.
Alum (50kg) 500Rs.
Bio rocks and activated charcoal (2kg) 640Rs.
➢ Chamber 3:
Material Cost in rupees
Brick wall 2500Rs.
Wood charcoal 200Rs
Coarse sand 200Rs.
Fine sand 200Rs.
PVC Pipe (12m) 480Rs.
PVC elbow (90 degree) 300Rs.
Labor cost - 500Rs.
Table no.2
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Total cost 8220Rs.
We can further reduce its cost by mass-producing the materials used in it.
❏ PROBLEMS FACED:
1. Clogging.
2. It may negatively affect groundwater and soil properties.
3. Someday high volumes of discharged effluents.
❏ SOLUTIONS:
1. To prevent clogging primary treatment is done and the water after
primary treatment is called greywater. This greywater is sent through
a soak pit.
2. This greywater passes through alum and charcoal which filtrates
harmful substances and hence avoids the negative impact on
groundwater
3.There is a valve at the entrance of the soak pit when there is the
high discharge of water on any particular day the valve is closed and
the greywater is directed to drainage.
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❏ CONCLUSION
Clearly, we can see that this method is economical, easy to construct,
and effective in disposing of domestic wastewater safely to the
ground especially in rural areas where there is no sewage system.
This method not only solves the problem of unhygienic conditions
near the houses which leads to various diseases but also a great
concern of decreasing groundwater level. If this design is
implemented in villages then they can tackle drainage issues, it is
easy to construct as it requires a small piece of land and most of the
materials are locally available. Also, the government little support
(through subsidies, awareness programs etc.) can encourage the
citizens. Our team strongly encourages people to use such kind of
artificial ground water refilling techniques to enhance the use of
domestic water and to overcome the inadequacy of waters to meet
water demands.
❏ References:
https://dir.indiamart.com/impcat/plastic-drums.html
https://dir.indiamart.com/patna/bricks.html
https://indianjadibooti.com/Jadistore/Phitkari-Safed
https://www.amazon.in/PVC-90-Degree-Elbow-6/dp/B000Y4G86C
https://dir.indiamart.com/impcat/pvc-pipes.html
https://www.amazon.in/Charcoal-Angeethi-Grilling-Dehumidifier-Freshener/
dp/B07WP5261J/ref=asc_df_B07WP5261J/?tag=googleshopdes-21&linkC
ode=df0&hvadid=397009191589&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1221978730
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1065753925&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=
&hvlocphy=1007749&hvtargid=pla-866501506924&psc=1&ext_vrnc=hi
https://www.amazon.in/Astral-Plastic-Degree-Fitting-Yellow/dp/B07BKST7
Q9/ref=asc_df_B07BKST7Q9/?tag=googleshopdes-21&linkCode=df0&hva
did=397006129891&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16349654531088150467
&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1
007749&hvtargid=pla-838356584138&psc=1&ext_vrnc=hi
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