LAB

: 4
LAB
: Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS)
NO.
TITLE
LEVEL OF OPENNESS
: Level 0
CLASS
: EC110 5F
GROUP LEADER:STUDENT NO:
GROUP MEMBERS
NO.
NAME
STUDENT NO.
1.
Ahmad Syahir bin Zaimi
2014665258
2.
Hazwani binti Ab Rashid
2014829162
3.
Nur Amelia Syarina binti Amidin
2014224262
4.
Nur Alya Khairina binti Shaiffullail
2014880742
5.
Hanis Eizzati binti Ahmad
2014449588
ASSESSMENT OF THE LAB ACTIVITIES
NO. ELEMENT TO ASSESS

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

DATE : 24thJune 2016

SIGNATURE

STUDENT
1
2
3

REMARK

INDIVIDUAL IN-LAB ACTIVITIES

PUNCTUALITIY
DISCIPLINE
(DRESS
CODE,SAFETY
SHOES,SAFETY
REGULATIONS)
KNOWLEDGE ON OPEN ENDED LABORATORY
GROUP IN-LAB ACTIVITIES
LEADERSHIP SKILL
COMMUNICATION
ORGANISATION/TEAMWORK
LAB REPORT
INTRODUCTION
BASIC CONCEPTS
SUMMARY OF PROCEDURES/ METHODS
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
DISCUSSION OF RESULT
CONCLUSION

LECTURERS
SIGNATURE:

REMARKS:

UiTM Pahang
THE
MUST BE SUBMITTED 1 WEEKAFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE LAB.
Faculty
ofREPORT
Civil
Engineering

ECW 351
ENGINEERING

INTRODUCTION

WATER

AND

WASTE

WATER

Level 1 refer to previous lab.

In this lab, students will be exposed to the volatile suspended solids determination. VSS
refers to the organic content of the suspended solids.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the amount of Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS) of water samples.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the laboratory activities, students would be able to:
i.
ii.

Determine the amount of volatile solids in water.

Analyse data and present in technical format.

THEORY.
Volatile suspended solids are determined by igniting the dried filtered solids (Test 4) , at 550
C +/- 50 C in an electric muffle furnace . Dried solids are burned for 15 to 20 mins. Loss of
weight on ignition is reported as milligrams per litre (mg/L) of volatile suspended solids.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Each group is required to determine VSS from either
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

Tap water
River/ pond water or
Raw sewage and check whether the permissible limit is exceeded.

APPARATUS

PROCEDURES
1) After the final weight was determined in the total suspended solids analysis (Test 4),
the filter and dish were placed in the muffle furnace and ignited at 550 C +- 50 C for
20 mins.
2) Allow to partially air cool, desiccated and weighed.
3) The VSS was calculated quoting the result in mg/l using equation as follows:
Volatile Suspended Solids , mg/L = (A B) x 1000/C
Where : A = weight of filter and dish + dried residue in mg from total SS (Test 4)
B = weight of filter and dish in mg + residue in mg after ignition
C = volume of sample filtered in mL.

DATA ACQUISITION
Type of
water

Tap Water
Pond
River

Weight of
filter and
dried residue
in mg from
total
suspended
solid (A)
147.50
153.80
150.40

Weight of
filter and
residue in
mg after
ignition
(B)

Volume of
water
sample
filtered in
mL (C)

Amount
of
suspende
d solid in
mg(A
B)

TSS
(mg/L)

VSS
(mg/L)

147.48
153.65
150.20

300
50
50

0.02
0.15
0.20

1.67
14.0
18.0

0.067
3.00
4.00

Calculation
1. Find VSS value
volatile Suspended Solids , VSS=

VSS=

AB
1000
C

VSS=

0.02
1000
300

weight of filter dried residueweight of filterresidue after ignition

10
volume of sample filtered

VSS = 0.067 mg/L

2. Determine the ratio of VSS to TSS

Ratio VSS to TSS = VSS value / TSS value
Tap water

Pond

River

0.067 / 1.67

0.04

3.00 / 14

0.21

4.00/ 18

0.22

DISCUSSION
After the total suspended solids value is determined a volatile suspended solids (VSS)
test may be performed in order to determine the concentration of volatile suspended solids.
The filter used for total suspended solids (TSS) testing is ignited at 550 C for 20 minutes.
The weight lost on ignition of the solids represents the volatile solids in the sample.
We calculated volatile suspended solids for each sample by using the formula given.
The value of volatile suspended solid for tap water, river water and pond water are
0.067mg/L, 3.00mg/L and 4.00 mg/L. Those 3 samples shown different amount of volatile
suspended solids contain in water per liter.
The value of VSS for tap water is lower than river water and pond water. This is
because in river, the excess of volatile came from the industrial that disposed their waste into
the river. The industrial disposal wastes such as chemical which contain organism that effect
the volatile suspended value. The higher the amount of suspended solid in water, the higher
the value of volatile suspended solid.
The amount of solids in wastewater is frequently used to describe the strength of the
waste. The more solids present in wastewater, the stronger that wastewater is. If the solids in
wastewater are mostly organic, the impact on a treatment plant is greater than if the solids are
mostly inorganic. Thus, the various type of solid are importance in water.
The precaution must be taken in VSS determination. The time taken to took out the
filter paper from the desiccator too long, so that it will effect the reading of weight because
the moisture content is decrease.

CONCLUSION
As conclusion, we can say that we achieved the objective of the experiment which is
to determine the amount of volatile suspended solids of water sample. Volatile suspended
solids (VSS) normally represents the amount of organic solids in water. The greater the
concentration of organic or volatile solids, the stronger the waste water.

REFERENCES
1. https://www.corrosionpedia.com/definition/1154/volatile-solids
2. https://www.coursehero.com/file/p7lb5rq/Determination-of-volatile-suspended-solidsis-useful-and-it-can-give-a-rough/
3. http://www.ebsbiowizard.com/2011/01/total-suspended-solids-tss-volatile-suspendedsolids-vss-2/