Understanding the Levels of Wastewater Treatment: What Each Stage Entails


Did you know that untreated effluent or wastewater poses a lot of environmental and health risks? Well, untreated effluent can lead to significant pollution of waterways (such as rivers and lakes) and encourage the spread of diseases to those living in the area where effluent ends up. This is why you should get rid of the constituents of the effluent before releasing it into waterways and dumping sites. If you own a commercial building, make sure that wastewater from the building undergoes proper treatment before being released into the environment. You can achieve this through the following three stages:

Primary Treatment Stage

The primary wastewater treatment stage is also referred to as the mechanical stage. Wastewater often contains solid waste that you should get rid of before releasing to the environment. This includes thorough screening to isolate and filter out gross solid waste that has found its way to the wastewater. Examples are sanitary towels and product wrappers thrown down the wastewater drain. Moreover, the wastewater undergoes gravitational sedimentation, which removes small solid particles suspended in the wastewater. Even though the process is considered mechanical, chemicals such as aluminium sulphate can be added to the wastewater to speed up the sedimentation process.

 Secondary Treatment Stage

After getting rid of the solid waste in the wastewater, the secondary stage follows to remove dissolved organic matter in the wastewater. The secondary stage is also referred to as the biological stage. The system's living microorganisms eat the dissolved organic matter, converting it into water, carbon dioxide and energy that they can use for their growth and reproduction. Essentially, these microorganisms are the reason you should avoid dumping domestic cleaning agents and other chemicals down the drain because they can kill the microorganisms.

After removing the dissolved organic matter, secondary sedimentation occurs to remove any additional suspended solids that escaped the primary stage.

Tertiary Treatment Stage

The tertiary stage improves the quality of the water so that it is fit for the specific purpose that you want. It involves chemical treatment and manipulation to make all impurities harmless, making it safe to use the water for drinking. With specific equipment and chemicals like chlorine, drinking water can be easily generated from the wastewater.

Treating wastewater not only reduces environmental and health hazards but also provides an alternative source of water. When installing the system, ask your service provider about the stages used that the wastewater will go through to make sure that you will get the right quality of effluent water that you desire.  

About Me

Considering Energy at Home, at Work, and on the Farm

Energy -- you need it to survive. Whether you live off the grid or in a totally conventional setting, you need energy to power your electronics, power tools, heater and other necessities. However, there are a vast range of choices you can explore when it comes to energy. You can embrace wind, water or solar power, and on top of that, there's coal-based power, propane, diesel, and lots of other substances that can help you generate power. In this blog, I'm going to talk about energy and how it impacts your home, business or farm. I will talk about everything from choosing an energy source, to reducing energy usage, to improving your relationship with energy. Thanks for reading.

Search

Categories

Archive

Latest Posts

12 July 2023
If you have a lot of junk at home, you may wonder what to do with it. You could have old furniture, renovation rubble or unused bicycles cluttering yo

16 February 2022
If you operate a mine, then you might be aware of fire risks. You might not be aware of the fact that mine fire pump systems are available and should

31 May 2017
Australia is one of the sunniest countries on the planet, and as a homeowner, you're in an ideal situation to use this to your benefit. Solar energy s