Every bespoke design starts here. Flow profiling, composite sampling and a full analytical screen establish the design basis that governs every downstream sizing, material and process decision — get this wrong and the whole design inherits the error.
The work that turns the brief into defensible engineering
Continuous logging of diurnal and seasonal flow to derive average, peak and minimum rates and the peaking factors that set hydraulic capacity.
Flow-weighted 24-hour composite sampling captures the true load rather than a misleading grab sample, so concentrations represent the real stream.
COD, BOD, TSS, FOG, nutrients (TN/TP), pH, alkalinity, heavy metals and conductivity — the parameter set that defines treatability and consent risk.
Jar tests and bench/pilot trials on the actual effluent confirm coagulant demand, settleability and achievable effluent quality before any sizing is fixed.
A treatment plant is sized to a load, not a flow: load = flow × concentration, and both vary through the day. Flow profiling gives the peaking factor (peak ÷ average) that sizes hydraulic structures, while flow-weighted composite sampling gives the concentrations that size biological, chemical and separation stages. Treatability testing then converts those numbers into real coagulant doses, settling velocities and removal efficiencies. Skip or shortcut this stage and every downstream calculation — mass balance, equipment duty, chemical consumption — rests on an assumption rather than a measurement. That is why characterisation is the first and most consequential step of the design.
The agreed table of design flows and loads that every subsequent calculation is traceable to.
Influent quality mapped against discharge or reuse limits to define the required removal at each stage.
Identifying load swings and shock potential so the design carries the right buffering and resilience.
The complete bespoke equipment design methodology.
Read MoreA companion step in the design methodology.
Read MoreA companion step in the design methodology.
Read MoreA companion step in the design methodology.
Read MoreReynolds & Bauhm delivers bespoke water and wastewater equipment design through a gated, fully documented methodology — every figure traceable from characterisation to fabrication.
Our expertise spans multiple industries with sector-specific water treatment solutions.