Design of self-cleansing sanitary sewer systems with the use of flushing devices

Many European countries tend to shift from constructing combined sewer systems to separate ones, in order to optimise wastewater treatment efficiency and reduce CSO impact on surface waters. An economic design minimises maintenance requirements by aiming at self-cleansing pipes. However, providing the necessary slopes for self-cleansing sanitary sewer pipes often is unfeasible in flat regions, resulting in an increased risk of loss of hydraulic capacity or blocking. To reduce these risks, flushing tanks can be installed in the sewer system. Where most other researchers contribute to a better understanding of the hydraulics of flushing, this paper rather tries to formulate a methodology to design and test flushing devices in sanitary sewer systems using standards and hydrodynamic simulations. Therefore, several aspects that require consideration when incorporating flushing devices into a sanitary sewer system are discussed. For instance, when flushing sanitary sewers the increase in discharge has to be explicitly considered. A Belgian case study is used to investigate the suitability of the developed methodology. Although the pipe slopes in the methodology are derived assuming uniform flow, the simulation results comply with it. Furthermore, pressurisation of the conduits due to multiple flushing waves remains within acceptable limits.