Wastewater

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Wastewater treatment plant in Cuxhaven, Germany

Wastewater, also written as waste water, is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. Municipal wastewater is usually conveyed in a combined sewer or sanitary sewer, and treated at a wastewater treatment plant. Treated wastewater is discharged into a receiving water via an effluent sewer. Wastewaters generated in areas without access to centralized sewer systems rely on on-site wastewater systems. These typically comprise a septic tank, drain field, and optionally an on-site treatment unit.

Sewage is the subset of wastewater that is contaminated with feces or urine, but is often used to mean any wastewater. Sewage includes domestic, municipal, or industrial liquid waste products disposed of, usually via a pipe or sewer (sanitary or combined), sometimes in a cesspool emptier.

Sewerage is the physical infrastructure, including pipes, pumps, screens, channels etc. used to convey sewage from its origin to the point of eventual treatment or disposal. It is found in all types of sewage treatment, with the exception of septic systems, which treat sewage on site.

Origin

Wastewater or sewage can come from (text in brackets indicates likely inclusions or contaminants):

  • Human waste (fæces, used toilet paper or wipes, urine, or other bodily fluids), also known as blackwater, usually from lavatories;
  • Cesspit leakage;
  • Septic tank discharge;
  • Sewage treatment plant discharge;
  • Washing water (personal, clothes, floors, dishes, etc.), also known as greywater or sullage;
  • Rainfall collected on roofs, yards, hard-standings, etc. (generally clean with traces of oils and fuel);
  • Groundwater infiltrated into sewage;
  • Surplus manufactured liquids from domestic sources (drinks, cooking oil, pesticides, lubricating oil, paint, cleaning liquids, etc.);
  • Urban rainfall runoff from roads, carparks, roofs, sidewalks, or pavements (contains oils, animal feces, litter, gasoline, diesel or rubber residues, soapscum, metals from vehicle exhausts, etc.);
  • Seawater ingress (high volumes of salt and microbes);
  • Direct ingress of river water (high volumes of micro-biota);
  • Direct ingress of manmade liquids (illegal disposal of pesticides, used oils, etc.);
  • Highway drainage (oil, de-icing agents, rubber residues);
  • Storm drains (almost anything, including cars, shopping trolleys, trees, cattle, etc.);
  • Blackwater (surface water contaminated by sewage);
  • Industrial waste
  • industrial site drainage (silt, sand, alkali, oil, chemical residues);

Wastewater constituents

The composition of wastewater varies widely. This is a partial list of what it may contain:

Wastewater quality indicators

Main article: Wastewater quality indicators

Any oxidizable material present in a natural waterway or in an industrial wastewater will be oxidized both by biochemical (bacterial) or chemical processes. The result is that the oxygen content of the water will be decreased. Basically, the reaction for biochemical oxidation may be written as:

Oxidizable material + bacteria + nutrient + O2 → CO2 + H2O + oxidized inorganics such as NO3- or SO4--

Oxygen consumption by reducing chemicals such as sulfides and nitrites is typified as follows:

S-- + 2 O2 → SO4--
NO2- + ½ O2 → NO3-

Since all natural waterways contain bacteria and nutrients, almost any waste compounds introduced into such waterways will initiate biochemical reactions (such as shown above). Those biochemical reactions create what is measured in the laboratory as the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Such chemicals are also liable to be broken down using strong oxidizing agents and these chemical reactions create what is measured in the laboratory as the chemical oxygen demand (COD). Both the BOD and COD tests are a measure of the relative oxygen-depletion effect of a waste contaminant. Both have been widely adopted as a measure of pollution effect. The BOD test measures the oxygen demand of biodegradable pollutants whereas the COD test measures the oxygen demand of oxidizable pollutants.

The so-called 5-day BOD measures the amount of oxygen consumed by biochemical oxidation of waste contaminants in a 5-day period. The total amount of oxygen consumed when the biochemical reaction is allowed to proceed to completion is called the Ultimate BOD. Because the Ultimate BOD is so time consuming, the 5-day BOD has been almost universally adopted as a measure of relative pollution effect.

There are also many different COD tests of which the 4-hour COD is probably the most common.

There is no generalized correlation between the 5-day BOD and the ultimate BOD. Similarly there is no generalized correlation between BOD and COD. It is possible to develop such correlations for specific waste contaminants in a specific wastewater stream but such correlations cannot be generalized for use with any other waste contaminants or wastewater streams. This is because the composition of any wastewater stream is different. As an example an effluent consisting of a solution of simple sugars that might discharge from a confectionery factory is likely to have organic components that degrade very quickly. In such a case, the 5 day BOD and the ultimate BOD would be very similar since there would be very little organic material left after 5 days. However a final effluent of a sewage treatment works serving a large industrialised area might have a discharge where the ultimate BOD was much greater than the 5 day BOD because much of the easily degraded material would have been removed in the sewage treatment process and many industrial processes discharge difficult to degrade organic molecules.

The laboratory test procedures for the determining the above oxygen demands are detailed in many standard texts. American versions include the "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater."[1]

Sewage disposal

Industrial wastewater effluent with neutralized pH from tailing runoff. Taken in Peru.

In some urban areas, sewage is carried separately in sanitary sewers and runoff from streets is carried in storm drains. Access to either of these is typically through a manhole. During high precipitation periods a sanitary sewer overflow can occur, forcing untreated sewage to flow back into the environment. This can pose a serious threat to public health and the surrounding environment.

Sewage may drain directly into major watersheds with minimal or no treatment. When untreated, sewage can have serious impacts on the quality of an environment and on the health of people. Pathogens can cause a variety of illnesses. Some chemicals pose risks even at very low concentrations and can remain a threat for long periods of time because of bioaccumulation in animal or human tissue.

Treatment

Further information: Sewage treatment, Agricultural wastewater treatment, and Industrial wastewater treatment

There are numerous processes that can be used to clean up wastewaters depending on the type and extent of contamination. There are two basic approaches: to use the waste in the water as a resource (such as constructed wetlands) or strictly as a pollution (such as the majority of today's treatment plants). Most wastewater is treated in industrial-scale energy intensive wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) which include physical, chemical and biological treatment processes. However, the use of septic tanks and other On-Site Sewage Facilities (OSSF) is widespread in rural areas, serving up to 20 percent of the homes in the U.S.[2]

The most important aerobic treatment system is the activated sludge process, based on the maintenance and recirculation of a complex biomass composed by micro-organisms able to absorb and adsorb the organic matter carried in the wastewater. Anaerobic wastewater treatment processes (UASB, EGSB) are also widely applied in the treatment of industrial wastewaters and biological sludge. Some wastewater may be highly treated and reused as reclaimed water. Increasingly, for most wastewaters ecological approaches using reed bed systems such as constructed wetlands are being used. Tertiary treatment is being increasingly applied and most common technologies are micro filtration or synthetic membranes. After membrane filtration, the treated wastewater is indistinguishable from waters of natural origin of drinking quality (without its minerals). Nitrates can be removed from wastewater by natural processes in wetlands but also via intensive microbial denitrification, for which a small amount of methanol is typically added to provide the bacteria with a source of carbon. Ozone wastewater treatment is also growing in popularity, and requires the use of an ozone generator, which decontaminates the water as ozone bubbles percolate through the tank but is energy intensive.

Disposal of wastewaters from an industrial plant is a difficult and costly problem. Most petroleum refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants[3][4] have onsite facilities to treat their wastewaters so that the pollutant concentrations in the treated wastewater comply with the local and/or national regulations regarding disposal of wastewaters into community treatment plants or into rivers, lakes or oceans. Constructed wetlands are being used in an increasing number of cases as they provided high quality and productive on-site treatment. Other industrial processes that produce a lot of waste-waters such as paper and pulp production has created environmental concern, leading to development of processes to recycle water use within plants before they have to be cleaned and disposed.[5]

Reuse

Treated wastewater can be reused as drinking water, in industry (cooling towers), in artificial recharge of aquifers, in agriculture (70 percent of Israel's irrigated agriculture is based on highly purified wastewater)[citation needed] and in the rehabilitation of natural ecosystems (Florida's Everglades).

Use of untreated wastewater by agriculture

Around 90% of wastewater produced globally remains untreated, causing widespread water pollution, especially in low-income countries. Increasingly, agriculture is using untreated wastewater for irrigation. Cities provide lucrative markets for fresh produce, so are attractive to farmers. However, because agriculture has to compete for increasingly scarce water resources with industry and municipal users, there is often no alternative for farmers but to use water polluted with urban waste directly to water their crops.

Health hazards of polluted irrigation water

There can be significant health hazards related to using the water in this way. Wastewater from cities can contain a mixture of chemical and biological pollutants. In low-income countries, there are often high levels of pathogens from excreta, while in emerging nations, where industrial development is outpacing environmental regulation, there are increasing risks from inorganic and organic chemicals. The World Health Organization, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), has developed guidelines for safe use of wastewater.

The International Water Management Institute has worked in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mexico and other countries on various projects aimed at assessing and reducing risks of wastewater irrigation. They advocate a ‘multiple-barrier’ approach to wastewater use, where farmers are encouraged to adopt various risk-reducing behaviours. These include ceasing irrigation a few days before harvesting to allow pathogens to die off in the sunlight, applying water carefully so it does not contaminate leaves likely to be eaten raw, cleaning vegetables with disinfectant or allowing fecal sludge used in farming to dry before being used as a human manure.[6]

Etymology

The words "sewage" and "sewer" came from Old French essouier = "to drain", which came from Latin exaquāre. Their formal Latin antecedents are exaquāticum and exaquārium.

Legislation

European Union

Council Directive 91/271/EEC on Urban Wastewater Treatment was adopted on 21 May 1991,[7] amended by the Commission Directive 98/15/EC.[8] Commission Decision 93/481/EEC defines the information that Member States should provide the Commission on the state of implementation of the Directive.[9]

United States

The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution.[10]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wastewater.

References

  1. ↑ Clescerl, Leonore S.(Editor), Greenberg, Arnold E.(Editor), Eaton, Andrew D. (Editor). Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (20th ed.) American Public Health Association, Washington, DC. ISBN 0-87553-235-7. This publication is also available on CD-ROM and online by subscription.
  2. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. (2008). "Septic Systems Fact Sheet." EPA publication no. 832-F-08-057.
  3. ↑ Beychok, Milton R. (1967). Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants (1st ed.). John Wiley & Sons. LCCN 67019834. 
  4. ↑ Tchobanoglous, G., Burton, F.L., and Stensel, H.D. (2003). Wastewater Engineering (Treatment Disposal Reuse) / Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Book Company. ISBN 0-07-041878-0. 
  5. ↑ J. F. Byrd, M. D. Ehrke, J. I. Whitfield. (1984) "New Bleached Kraft Pulp Plant in Georgia: State of the Art Environmental Control" Water pollution control federation 56(4): 378–385.
  6. ↑ Wastewater use in agriculture: Not only an issue where water is scarce! International Water Management Institute, 2010. Water Issue Brief 4
  7. ↑ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31991L0271:EN:NOT
  8. ↑ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31998L0015:EN:NOT
  9. ↑ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31993D0481:EN:NOT
  10. ↑ United States. Clean Water Act. 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. Pub.L. 92-500, October 18, 1972; as amended.
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