Wastewater, also known as sewage, is a mixture of domestic and industrial wastes. It is 99.97 percent water, and the remainder contains organic matter such as human waste and food scraps, fats, oil and grease, debris, household chemicals, and industrial waste that can pose a threat to the environment and public health (1). As a result, effective treatment of wastewater is crucial to minimize the environmental impacts of wastewater.
Wastewater treatment is carried out in several stages, which resulted in the separation of wastewater into sludge and a dissolved fraction of water, organic materials, bacteria and salts (2). Treatment technology includes physical, biological, and chemical methods. The principal objective of wastewater treatment
…show more content…
As the world’s population grows and develops, it is important that the right measures are taken to make sure contaminated water is treated properly and recycled wherever possible. In many parts of the world, including New Zealand, health problems and diseases have often been caused by discharging untreated or inadequately treated wastewater. Such discharges are called water pollution, which has a serious impact on all living creatures, and can negatively affect the use of water for drinking, household needs, recreation, fishing, transportation, and commerce …show more content…
Effluents released from wastewater systems might contain various pollutants and chemicals because even the advance treatment systems are unable to remove all these substances from the water. Furthermore, some sewer collection and treatment systems are combined with storm water collection systems that can become overloaded during heavy rainfalls, resulting in the release of partially treated or even untreated effluents (5).
Several environmental and health impacts resulting from inefficient or insufficient wastewater treatment have been identified. These impacts can include negative effects on fish and wildlife populations, oxygen depletion, beach closures and other restrictions on recreational water use, restrictions on fish and shellfish harvesting, and restrictions on drinking water consumption. For instance, decaying organic matter and debris present in the discharged effluent can use up the dissolved oxygen in a water, leading to the depletion of oxygen content in the water (2). In addition, excessive nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, can cause eutrophication or over-fertilization of receiving waters, which can be toxic to aquatic organisms, promote excessive plant growth, reduce available oxygen, harm spawning grounds, alter habitat and lead to a decline in certain
Nitrogen and nitrates relate to Hypoxia via the process of eutrophication. Since Nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in most waters, the added input of nitrate causes massive growth in algae. The algae rapidly consume all available N, and once the nutrient is limited again, the alga dies en masse. As the alga decomposes, oxygen is depleted in the water. This lowers dangerously lowers the level of dissolved oxygen in the water, which harms living organisms in the area. Small organisms and organisms that are immobile or unable to escape low-oxygen areas are particularly vulnerable. Hypoxia and resulting “dead zones” are harmful to local fishing and shrimping industries and algal blooms hurt the tourism industry. Hypoxia has lead to a decrease of about 25% in the brown shrimp habitat, forcing shrimping operations further offshore. As the hypoxia issue continues to grow, negative human effects will only increase. Since nitrate runoff from ag. has been proven to be the dominant source of hypoxia, policies could be enacted to effectively deal with “point-source” pollution. This makes enacting environmental policy more easily adapted, possibly included in past policy such as the Clean Water Act.
...urkholder, J., Libra, B., Weyer, P., Heathcote, S., Kolpin, D., Thorne, P., et al. (2007). Impacts of waste from concentrated animal feeding operations on water quality. Environmental Health Perspectives, 11(2), 308–312. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817674/pdf/ehp0115-000308.pdf
About 80% of the State’s surveyed freshwater rivers and streams have good water quality that fully supports aquatic life uses, 17% have fair water quality that partially supports aquatic life uses, and 3% have poor water quality that does not support aquatic life uses. Ten percent of the surveyed rivers do not fully support swimming. The major sources of impairment are agriculture (responsible for 53% of the impaired river miles), urban runoff (responsible for 16%), and construction (responsible for 13%). These sources generate siltation, bacteria, and organic wastes that deplete disssolved opxygen.
Stephenson, R., & Blackburn, J. J. (1998). The Industrial Wastewater Systems Handbook. New York: Lewis Publishers.
our pipelines and sewers where it goes to a treatment plant to be treated, but
Waste water treatment plants are essential to communities of all sizes and must work efficiently. Waste water treatment plant primary priority and responsibility is the treatment of incoming sewage water by the removal of biological and chemical wastes so it can be treated and recycled for future use. There are many government agencies and standards set forth to govern and observe the successful treatment of sewage such as: the Department of Environmental Quality, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and the Clean Water Act of 1972. Compliance and constant monitoring of the treatment plant’s operations are important; as they protect the surrounding community. A spill or backflow of sewage due to a complete system malfunction could potentially be detrimental to the environment and local community. A precise system, of which must be compliant according to government standards, is critical to maintain low levels of wastes that are returned to neighboring water systems after treatment.
Clean water is needed for good human and animal health, but as DoSomething.org states, over 1 billion people worldwide don’t have a means of getting clean drinking water, an...
Today's waters are constantly being treated like sewage dumps or trash cans. We use them as garbage cans every day polluting the water more and more. "Pollution is often by way of rivers, drains and outflow pipes." Causing an outflow of sewage into our ocean waters. This is not only affecting the community but also the marine life and other sea creatures living in the ocean." This pollution includes human sewage and domestic waste water, factory outflows of acids and poisonous metals, engine oil from roadside drains and garages, farm chemicals washed off the land by rain, building-site rubble, nuclear waste from power plants, and oil from wells, refineries, and tankers." Stating that most of today's waste is from factory or factory ran products that shouldn't be polluting the water
Water Pollution is a current issue that has serious consequences; it progresses everyday in our lakes, oceans, rivers and other bodies of water.
Have you ever had to walk miles away just to get clean drinking water, or don’t even not have access to clean drinking water? People all over the world, even in North America, don’t have access to clean drinking water or have to walk very far just to drink water. The main areas where this problem is prominent is in third world countries, and this is due to the lack of money and sanitation (Millions Lack Safe Water). Due to this lack of sanitation, water borne diseases can grow and infect people who consume it. Clean water is very important for life, and within this paper I will explain why we need it, how it can affect us, and what it will take to obtain clean water.
lines, rope, and plastic nets are being caught in the rutter and the engine, but
The consumption of contaminated water can be dangerous for health reasons and several people have passed away from these water-borne diseases. Some of these diseases include Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery, Giardiasis, and Malaria. These unfortunate diseases are currently the cause of numerous deaths, especially in small children. The availability of clean water can prevent many problems in low-income communities. The available resources for clean water are very rare, so these water sources need to pass through a process of water sanitation in order to just be sustainable to drink, “The world’s surface is made up of approximately 80% water, which is an indestructible substance.
Domestic households and industrial and agricultural practices often produce wastewater that can cause rivers and lakes to become polluted. This is typically called sewage and wastewater pollution. Sewage is a term for wastewater that usually contains feces, urine, and laundry waste. With there being billions of people on earth, treating sewage is a big priority. Untreated sewage can contam...
Improvement and upgrading of wastewater treatment processes and also the need to reduce the environmental factors make the use of tertiary wastewater treatment important.
Chemicals and impurities removed from water may not be disposed properly thus polluting the environment. A sheet volume of discarded filters may add up to landfill mass. The system itself may take up large amount of spaces and cause lots of noises and destructions. There may also be chemical or wastewater spills if not handled properly.