Also known as sewage treatment, waste water treatment is a process that filters the waste products from water used in municipal sewage systems. By filtering and purifying waste water, it is possible to maintain an ample and healthy supply of water to everyone living within the jurisdiction. Cities, towns, counties, and parishes normally have one or more purification plants operating around the clock to handle the task of cleansing waste water and effectively handling domestic sewage.
Waste water treatment is conducted on all origins of water contamination found within the jurisdiction. This includes sewage coming from public buildings and businesses as well as residential sewage. During the course of the treatment, all types of waste products are filtered from the water supply. Some examples would include human waste, garbage, and household cleaning chemicals that were dumped into drains. Natural elements, generally referred to as effluents, that ran or leaked into the water supply due to events such as rain or mudslides are also addressed during the process of treating the water.
While the exact processes used in dealing with waste water vary around the world, there are a few basics that tend to apply in just about any approach to treatment. One common task used in many waste water treatment plants is the use of filters to remove larger residue from the water stream. The residue can sometimes be treated and utilized for other purposes, such as the creation of fertilizers.
After the initial filtering of larger objects, additional filtering is sometimes conducted in order to remove smaller contaminants from the water source. At this juncture, the water can either be treated chemically to deal with any lingering contaminants or rerouted for use in tasks such as irrigating farmland or watering grass found in parks or on golf courses.
When the water is routed for discharge into local lakes or rivers, the water must first pass through a treatment plant that further filters and cleanses the water. This action helps to prevent damage to the environment and ensure that nature can finish the task of cleansing the water for eventual reuse. A waste water treatment plant is often located on or near rivers or lakes, making the discharge of the treated water a relatively simple task.
The process of waste water treatment is usually monitored with great care. Since contaminated water can lead to a number of health issues for humans as well as damage the surrounding environment, many systems make use of naturally occurring biological organisms to remove a portion of the contamination. Over time, advances in technology have greatly improved the quality of water in parts of the world where water filtration and treatment were once unknown.
