Flocculation Gt (Camp Number) Calculator

Flocculation Gt (Camp Number) Calculator

Good floc needs the right total mixing energy — not just G, but G held for long enough. Enter your flocculation basin’s G and detention time to get the dimensionless Camp number Gt.



Camp Number
Item Value

How the calculation works

Formulas
Gt = G × t — G in s⁻¹, t in seconds, Gt dimensionless
t (s) = detention time (min) × 60

Notes & limitations

The Camp number Gt is dimensionless total mixing energy per flocculation stage (Camp & Stein, 1943). The 10⁴–10⁵ design range is from AWWA/ASCE Water Treatment Plant Design and Crittenden et al., Water Treatment: Principles and Design.
  • Evaluate Gt per stage, not for the whole basin at once — tapered flocculation uses decreasing G across 2–4 stages, and each stage should land in range.
  • Gt below ~10⁴ tends to give weak, pin floc; Gt far above 10⁵ can break formed floc apart, hurting settled-water turbidity.
  • Gt does not capture short-circuiting — a basin with poor baffling can have the right Gt on paper and poor floc in practice. Verify with settled-water turbidity.

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