WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Wastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It
comprises liquid waste discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, and/or
agriculture. In the most common usage, it refers to a broad spectrum of contaminants resulting from the
mixing of wastewaters from different sources.

Everything that you flush down your toilet or rinse down the drain is wastewater. Rainwater and runoff,
along with various pollutants, go down street gutters and eventually end up at a wastewater treatment
facility. The same with agricultural and industrial wastewater.

After the water has been used, it enters the wastewater stream, and it flows to the wastewater treatment
plant. These wastewater plants are complex facilities and provide a high quality end product. Some
wastewaters are more difficult to treat than others; for example, industrial wastewater can be difficult to
treat, whereas domestic wastewater is relatively easy to treat.

IMPORTANCE OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT

We need to remove the wastewater pollutants to protect the environment and protect public health. When
water is used by our society, the water becomes contaminated with pollutants. If left untreated, these
pollutants would negatively affect our water environment. To achieve this, wastewater is collected and
treated in large plants before it is permitted to be released back into the environment. Increasingly another
important aim of wastewater treatment is to recover energy, nutrients, water, and other valuable resources
from wastewater.

For example, organic matter can cause oxygen depletion in lakes, rivers, and streams. This biological
decomposition of organics could result in fish kills and/or foul odors. Waterborne diseases are also
eliminated through proper wastewater treatment. Additionally, there are many pollutants that could
exhibit toxic effects on aquatic life and the public.

SOURCES OF WASTEWATER

Activities such as natural and human-made processes, produce some type of wastes. And these wastes or
pollutants are returned back into the environment. In fact, natural environmental processes have the
ability to remove some of these pollutants and correct most imbalances if given enough time. However, if
a persistent overload of a pollutant is allowed to continue then the environment has little chance to "self-
clean."

1. Point Sources
Pollution originating from a single, identifiable source, such as a discharge pipe from a factory or
sewage plant, is called point-source pollution. Point-source pollutants in surface water and
groundwater are usually found in a plume. Meanwhile, commercial and industrial businesses use
hazardous materials in manufacturing, and then discharge various wastes from their operations. Also,
municipal point sources might include wastewater treatment plants, landfills, utility stations, motor
pools, and fleet maintenance facilities.
 So basically, the various types of point-source pollutants found in waters are as varied as the types of
business, industry, agricultural, and urban sources that produce them.

2. Nonpoint Sources
Pollution that does not originate from a single source, or point, is called nonpoint-source pollution.
Nonpoint-source pollution occurs as water moves across the land or through the ground and picks up
natural and human-made pollutants, which can then be deposited in lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal
waters, and even groundwater. The water that carries nonpoint-source pollution may originate from
natural processes such as rainfall or snowmelt, or from human activities such as crop irrigation or
lawn maintenance.

Nonpoint-source pollution is usually found spread out throughout a large area. It is often difficult to
trace the exact origin of these pollutants because they result from a wide variety of human activities
on the land as well as natural characteristics of the soil, climate, and topography.

CHARACTERISTICS OF WASTEWATER

Physical Characteristics

1. Color - The color of wastewater mostly depends on its source. Domestic wastewater is usually
indicative of age. Fresh wastewater is usually gray, septic wastes import a black appearance to the
medium. Industrial wastes may contain many coloring substances. Color in the wastewater effluent,
whether from domestic or industrial sources, is to be avoided.

2. Odor - Odors in wastewater usually are caused by gases produced by the decomposition of organic
matter. Fresh wastewater has a distinctive somewhat disagreeable odor, which is less objectionable
than the odor of septic wastewater. Industrial wastewater may contain either odorous compounds or
compounds that produce odors during the process of wastewater treatment. Odors have been rated as
the first concern of the public relative to the implementation of wastewater treatment facilities. In
many areas, projects have been rejected because of the fear of potential odors.

3. Solids - The total solids content of a wastewater is defined as all the matter that remains as residue
upon evaporation at 103 to 105°C. Suspended solids are defined as the matter which can be removed
from water by filtration through prepared membranes. Volatile suspended solids for the most part
represent organics and may affect the oxygen resources of the stream, however, they are not direct
measure of total organics. Suspended solids may cause the undesirable conditions of increased
turbidity and silt load in the receiving water. A considerable amount of dissolved solids may be added
to water during its treatment and use. High concentrations of dissolved solids may adversely affect
receiving waters and or future water uses.

4. Temperature - The mean annual temperature of wastewater will vary, depending on geographic
location, from 10 to 21°C (27°C). The temperature of wastewater is an important parameter because
of its effect on aquatic life, chemical and biological reaction rates and the solubility limitations of
 gases such as oxygen depletion. Abnormally high temperature can increase the growth of undesirable
planktonic species and fungi, while low temperature can limit the form of wastewater treatment
selected as well as possibly increase treatment time and plant size.

Chemical Characteristics
Because the number of chemical compounds found in wastewater is almost limitless, we normally
restrict our consideration to a few general classes. These classes often are better known by
the name of the test used to measure them than by what is included in the class.

1. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) – represents the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria and
other microorganisms while they decompose organic matter under aerobic (oxygen is present)
conditions at a specified temperature.

The BOD test is widely used to determine the pollution strength of domestic and industrial wastes in
terms of the oxygen that they will require if discharged into natural water courses. It is the one of
the most important tests in stream pollution control activities. It is also useful in design of
wastewater treatment plant and also to measure the efficiency of some treatment processes.

2. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) – can be defined as the amount of oxygen required to chemically
oxidize organic matter using strong oxidizing agent like potassium dichromate under acidic
condition.

COD is faster than BOD, because a powerful chemical oxidizing agent can oxidize organics faster
than microbes. This makes it a more convenient measure, but less relevant to many treatment
methods.

3. Total Oxygen Demand (TOD) – defines the total oxygen demand of the water sample. It is based on
the same principle as the COD.

This is typically achieved by injecting wastes into a platinum catalyzed combustion chamber, where
we measure the amount of oxygen present before and after incineration. The incineration
techniques are the fastest of all. It's a useful measurement technique, but in terms of practical
treatment methods, we would never actually be able to incinerate millions of gallons of wastewater
every day.

4. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) – is the amount of carbon in an organic compound and is often used as
a non-specific indicator of water quality. Organic substances are monitored by oxidizing them and
detecting the resulting oxidation products

TOC detection is an important measurement because of the effects it may have on the environment,
human health, and manufacturing processes. TOC is a highly sensitive, non-specific measurement of
all organics present in a sample. It, therefore, can be used to regulate the organic chemical
discharge to the environment in a manufacturing plant. TOC is also of interest in the field of potable
water purification due to disinfection of byproducts.