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wastewater management
u*x*l encyclopedia of water science
copyright 2005 the gale group, inc.
wastewater management
wastewater is any water that requires cleaning after it is used. includes water that has been used for laundry, , , toilets, garbage disposals, and industrial purposes. wastewater also includes rainwater that has accumulated pollutants as it runs into oceans, lakes, and rivers. pollutants are unwanted chemicals or materials that contaminate air, soil, and water.
the goal of wastewater management is to clean and protect water. means that water must be clean enough so that it can be used by people for drinking and , and by industry for commercial purposes. it also must be clean enough to release into oceans, lakes, and
wastewater is usually divided into two major groups: point source wastewater and non-point source wastewater.
point source wastewater includes wastewaters that enter natural waters (such as lakes, rivers, and oceans) from defined locations. the most common point sources are sanitary sewers and storm drains. non-point source wastewater is wastewater that is not connected to a specific source. includes runoff (water that drains away) from agriculture and urban (city) areas, and acidic waters from mines. in many ways, point source wastewater is much easier to manage because its source and the pollutants it contains are known. non-point source wastewater, on the other hand, is both hard to identify and
sewage treatment
one of the largest sources of wastewater is that comes from homes and industries. these wastewaters all flow into sanitary sewers, direct them into sewage treatment plants. wastewaters from homes contain human waste, food, soaps, and detergents. also contain pathogens, are organisms that can cause diseases. industrial wastewaters contain toxic (poisonous) pollutants, can endanger human health and harm other organisms.
these include pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs,) and heavy metals like lead, mercury, and nickel. these metals are generally toxic to plant and animal life. the goal of sewage treatment is to remove all of these pollutants from the wastewater so that it can be returned to natural
