Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater is water that has already been used, such as the water from the bathtub, toilet, kitchen or sprinkler systems in your home. Businesses in your city also contribute to the amount of wastewater in the area. Once the water has been used, nature, along with the constant movement of the water, can help to eliminate some of the impurities. However, in a large city, it can be very unsanitary to simply leave the water cleaning process up to nature, due to the large population and constant use of water.

During the wastewater treatment process, certain machines are used to remove as many solid waste materials from the water as possible before it is released back into the city's public water system. The more solid materials there are in the water, the more oxygen the water is lacking, which means that both humans and plants will suffer. Primary treatment is done first, which gets rid of about 60 percent of the solids in wastewater; the water is aerated during the process in order to replenish the oxygen amount. Then, 90 percent of additional suspended solids are done away with in the secondary treatment. Then, the water is released back into the sewage system so that it can be used again.

Wastewater treatment has to be done in order to prevent sickness; impurities in the water could effect the crops that grow in a certain area. There have been several instances over the last few years of people contracting food-borne illnesses from plants--illnesses that are usually contracted from eating meat. Fish and other creatures that live in the nearby ponds, lakes, and rivers also rely on wastewater treatment for survival.

If you enjoy being in the water as a form of recreation, you'll want to make sure that the wastewater treatments in your area are working to remove hazardous waste from the public pools, boating areas, and public parks. Contamination in any of these areas can spread viruses and infection, and can cause anemia and respiratory ailments in babies and young children.

If you're concerned with wastewater treatment practices in your area, and want to know what you can do about it, you can visit the U.S. Department of the Interior at http://water.usgs.gov.