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Population equivalent

Population equivalent (PE) or unit per capita loading, or equivalent person (EP), is a parameter for characterizing industrial wastewaters. It essentially compares the polluting potential of an industry (in terms of biodegradable organic matter) with a population (or certain number of people), which would produce the same polluting load. In other words, it is the number expressing the ratio of the sum of the pollution load produced during 24 hours by industrial facilities and services to the individual pollution load in household sewage produced by one person in the same time. This refers to the amount of oxygen-demanding substances in wastewater which will consume oxygen as it bio-degrades, usually as a result of bacterial activity.

Equation and base value

A value frequently used in the international literature for PE, which was based on a German publication, is 54 gram of BOD (Biochemical oxygen demand) per person (or per capita or per inhabitant) per day. This has been adopted by many countries for design purposes but other values are also in use. For example, a commonly used definition used in Europe is: 1 PE equates to 60 gram of BOD per person per day, and it also equals 200 liters of sewage per day. In the United States, a figure of 80 grams BOD per day is normally used.{{cite book

If the base value is taken as 60 grams of BOD per person per day, then the equation to calculate PE from an industrial wastewater is:

Population equivalents for industrial wastewaters

:::{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"

+ BOD population equivalents of wastewater from some industries
! Type
! Activity
!Unit of production
! BOD PE
[inhab/(unit/d)]
-
Food
Canning (fruit/vegetables)
1 ton processed
500
-

Pea processing
1 ton processed
85-400
-

Tomato
1 ton processed
50-185
-

Carrot
1 ton processed
160-390
-

Potato
1 ton processed
215-545
-

Citrus fruit
1 ton processed
55
-

Chicken meat
1 ton processed
70-1600
-

Beef
1 ton processed
20-600
-

Fish
1 ton processed
300-2300
-

Sweets/candies
1 ton produced
40-150
-

Sugar cane
1 ton produced
50
-

Dairy (without cheese)
1000 L milk
20-100
-

Dairy (with cheese)
1000 L milk
100-800
-

Margarine
1 ton produced
500
-

Slaughter house
1 cow / 2.5 pigs
10-100
-

Yeast production
1 ton produced
21000
-
Confined animals breeding
Pigs
live t.d
35-100
-

Dairy cattle (milking room)
live t.d
1-2
-

Cattle
live t.d
65-150
-

Horses
live t.d
65-150
-

Poultry
live t.d
15-20
-
Sugar-alcohol
Alcohol distillation
1 ton cane processed
4000
-
Drinks
Brewery
1 m3 produced
150-350
-

Soft drinks
1 m3 produced
50-100
-

Wine
1 m3 produced
5
-
Textiles
Cotton
1 ton produced
2800
-

Wool
1 ton produced
5600
-

Rayon
1 ton produced
550
-

Nylon
1 ton produced
800
-

Polyester
1 ton produced
3700
-

Wool washing
1 ton produced
2000-4500
-

Dyeing
1 ton produced
2000-3500
-

Textile bleaching
1 ton produced
250-350
-
Leather and tanneries
Tanning
1 ton hide processed
1000-3500
-

Shoes
1000 pairs produced
300
-
Pulp and paper
Pulp
1 ton produced
600
-

Paper
1 ton produced
100-300
-

Pulp and paper integrated
1 ton produced
1000-10000
-
Chemical industrial
Paint
1 employee
20
-

Soap
1 ton produced
1000
-

Petroleum refinery
1 barrel (117 L)
1
-

PVC
1 ton produced
200
-
Steelworks
Foundry
1 ton pig iron produced
12-30
-

Lamination
1 ton produced
8-50
}

References

(20 November 2001). "Population Equivalent". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
(2008). "Biological Wastewater Treatment: Principles, Modelling and Design". IWA Publishing.
(7 August 2019). "Glossary of terms related to Urban Waste Water". European Commission.
"Central Statistical Office, Poland".
Von Sperling, M.. (2015). "Wastewater Characteristics, Treatment and Disposal". Water Intelligence Online.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

environmental-science waste-treatment-technology sewerage equivalent-units

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