While so far, wastewater has mostly been seen as a treatment challenge, a paradigm shift toward its recognition as a resource for sustainable development is emerging. In this sense, wastewater can be reframed from being a problem to be disposed of to being a resource with social and economic value [ 5 ].
Full Answer
Why is the evaluation of social aspects of wastewater management important?
The evaluation of social aspects allows the identification of strengths and weakness for improving wastewater management. It provides a social profile of the facility that highlights the best and worst performances.
How does wastewater treatment help the environment?
Through the treatment of wastewater, the amount of waste that is usually released into the environment is reduced thus improving environment’s health. By doing so, the government in turn reduces the health risks associated with environmental pollution, and reduces the water loss induced through water pollution.
Is wastewater treatment a sustainable solution to the world’s water crisis?
In summary, the combination of these benefits along with water production makes wastewater treatment a sustainable short and long-term solution to the world’s water crisis, which will only increase as the world population increases.
What is the wastewater treatment process?
The wastewater treatment process must be divided into different treatment stages to ensure good water and sanitation quality. The preliminary stage of the treatment process uses large filtering screens that remove large solid inorganic material such as paper, plastic, and metal.
How does wastewater treatment affect society?
So, when wastewater receives inadequate treatment, the overall quality of the world's water supply suffers. Locally, the amount of wastewater homes and communities produce, its characteristics, and how it is handled can greatly impact residents' quality of life.
What role does water treatment play in society?
One of the importances of water treatment process is to ensure that water is more suitable to be used by industries and individuals. The purpose of water treatment process is to remove contaminations from water, so that it would be more suitable for it to be used.
Why is wastewater treatment so important?
Wastewater treatment protects humans and ecosystem Wastewater contains elements toxic to humans and the ecosystem. Wastewater treatment facilities help to purify the water and eliminate situations like what is currently seen in developing countries.
How does wastewater treatment benefit the environment?
A wastewater treatment plant cleans the water so it can be safely returned to the environment. It removes various solids, which includes everything from rags and sticks to sand and smaller particles found in wastewater.
How does wastewater treatment affect the economy?
Wastewater treatment offers a double value proposition, the report says. In addition to environmental and health benefits, wastewater treatment can bring economic benefits through reuse in different sectors. Its by-products, such as nutrients and biogas, can be used for agriculture and energy generation.
Why is wastewater treatment important in developing countries?
Proper wastewater management forms basic public infrastructure to maintain a clean and healthy environment by preventing spread of waterborne diseases and groundwater contamination.
What are the benefits associated to water and waste water management?
The Benefits of a Modern Wastewater Treatment SystemRids Potential Diseases. Wastewater treatment systems eliminate disease-causing bacteria and kills harmful organisms. ... Low-Cost. ... Minimal Odour Emissions. ... No Water Bills. ... Little Maintenance. ... Break Down Solids Faster. ... Less Wasteful.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of wastewater treatment?
The advantages and disadvantages of wastewater treatment systemsCompact (less than 10m2 of floor space for a complete installation)As efficient as a conventional sewer.Reliable.Can be installed on difficult and compact sites.Cost effective (taking into account installation, running costs and maintenance)
How does wastewater affect the environment?
The most immediate effect of wastewater on the environment is when it contributes toward the contamination and destruction of natural habitats and the wildlife that live in those habitats by exposing them to harmful chemicals that would otherwise not be present over the natural course of things.
Why Treat Wastewater?
It's a matter of caring for our environment and for our own health. There are a lot of good reasons why keeping our water clean is an important priority:
Wastewater treatment
The major aim of wastewater treatment is to remove as much of the suspended solids as possible before the remaining water, called effluent, is discharged back to the environment. As solid material decays, it uses up oxygen, which is needed by the plants and animals living in the water.
What are the different levels of wastewater treatment?
There are several levels of wastewater treatment; these are primary, secondary and tertiary levels of treatment. Most municipal wastewater treatment facilities use primary and secondary levels of treatment, and some also use tertiary treatments.
Why is oxygen important in wastewater treatment?
The oxygen helps the bacteria to digest the pollutants faster. The water is then taken to settling tanks where the sludge again settles, leaving the water 90 to 95 percent free of pollutants. The picture below shows the settling tanks in the Winnipeg Wastewater Treatment Plant.
How to reduce pressure on septic system?
Following some water conservation practices can greatly reduce pressure on your septic system. For more information about conserving water, see the fact sheet about Water Consumption. Here are a few things that you can do to care for your septic system: 1 Do not use your drain or toilet as a garbage disposal; avoid putting dental floss, diapers, coffee grounds and paper towel down the drain, as they can clog up your septic system. 2 Spread your loads of laundry out over the week. When too much water is added to the septic tank, it does not have time to treat wastes, and you could be flooding your drainfield with wastewater. 3 Plant grass on your drainfield, but keep trees and shrubs away from it, because roots can clog the system and cause damage. 4 Do not drive on your drainfield, because this can compact the soil and damage the septic system components.
What is the process of removing pollutants from water?
Another natural method is called rapid infiltration, which is a process where a basin is filled with wastewater, which has already gone through a pre-treatment. The ground acts as a filter and removes the pollutants from the water. This method is similar to what happens in a septic system.
What is tertiary wastewater treatment?
Tertiary (or advanced) treatment removes dissolved substances, such as colour, metals, organic chemicals and nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen.
What is the process of tertiary treatment?
One of the biological treatment processes is called Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR). This diagram shows the treatment steps that Saskatoon wastewater goes through. Biological Nutrient Removal Process.
How much oxygen is removed from water?
The primary treatment generally removes up to 50 percent of the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD; these are substances that use up the oxygen in the water), around 90 percent of suspended solids, and up to 55 percent of fecal coliforms.
Abstract
The chapter discusses how adopting a holistic methodology that acknowledges sociological factors, including community participation, public involvement, social perception, attitudes, gender roles and public acceptance, would lead to improvements in wastewater management practice.
1. Introduction
The global water crisis, the shortage of fresh water, contamination of water and increasing volumes of wastewater being produced have eventually necessitated the use of wastewater.
2. The Global Demand for Water
The development of human societies is heavily dependent on the availability of water of suitable quality in adequate quantities. However, the demand for water is ever increasing due to population growth, technological advancement, industrial expansion, pollution and urbanization, which put great stress on the natural water cycle [ 1 ].
3. Wastewater crisis
With increasing urbanization and changing lifestyles, increasing amounts of wastewater is being generated and where these are not sufficiently treated, freshwater bodies are continuously threatened [ 9 ].
4. Wastewater as a resource
Depending on the treatment or lack of it, as well as the degree of dilution, wastewater can be rich in resources such as nutrients, inorganic and organic compounds as well as energy, making it worthwhile for recovery and reuse.
5. The overlooked social dimension
The focus of most wastewater‐related research has been on the technical aspects of the problem and improvements in terms of water quality and in minimizing environmental and health impacts, with very limited attention to its basic social and cultural sustainability dimensions [ 5, 9 ].
6. Key improvement areas
There is little known about public perceptions of wastewater reuse in the literature, and it is mostly documented in a limited number of locations, that is, the United States, Australia and Western Europe.
How does wastewater treatment affect the environment?
By treating wastewater one reduces the maximum impact to the environment caused by hazardous materials. The idea behind Wastewater Treatment is to treat the wastewater efficiently via various methods by removing all pollutants and release water that’s safe for the environment.
How is secondary water treated?
The water in secondary stage will go through an in-depth process where it will be treated via bio-filtration using sand fillers, aeration by using air to treat waste water and increase the oxygen saturation in the chamber. In this method the water will be ready to let off safely to the environment.
How many cities will run out of groundwater in 2020?
With the recent data only stating that 21 major cities are poised to run out of groundwater in 2020, according to a 2018 report by government-run think tank NITI Aayog.
What is recycled water?
The Recycled waste water after being effectively treated is reused to replenish the groundwater, surface water or can be used effectively in fields, agriculture or can be released into lakes.
Why is the third process important?
The third process is very important so that the water is free of any pathogens for re-use and consumption. Conserving water and utilizing it properly is the need of the hour. There is a great risk of running into scare water situations or polluted water if proper measures are not taken now.
Why is treated water important?
For consumers with proper management, treated water can be an essential resource for supporting livelihoods. Wastewater treatment and reuse can provide benefits to farmers and different users in conserving fresh water resources, improving soil integrity, preventing discharge to surface and groundwater waters, and improving economic efficiency. Untreated wastewater is often used in the informal, unregulated sector and directly benefits poor farmers who would otherwise have little or no access to water for irrigation. The use of treated water represents eco-systemic, environmental, health and economic benefits to the community.
What is WWTF in wastewater?
In wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF), technical and financial aspects have been considered a priority, while other issues, such as social aspects, have not been evaluated seriously and there is not an accepted methodology for assessing it. In this work, a methodology focused on social concerns related to WWTF is presented. The methodology proposes the use of 25 indicators as a framework for measuring social performance to evaluate the progress in moving towards sustainability. The methodology was applied to test its applicability and effectiveness in two WWTF in Mexico (urban and rural). This evaluation helped define the key elements, stakeholders and barriers in the facilities. In this context, the urban facility showed a better overall performance, a result that may be explained mainly by the better socioeconomic context of the urban municipality. Finally, the evaluation of social aspects using the semi-qualitative approach proposed in this work allows for a comparison between different facilities and for the identification of strengths and weakness, and it provides an alternative tool for achieving and improving wastewater management.
What is the data collection step?
In the data collection step, raw data are obtained, converted into information that is useful for the methodology proposed and summarized by stakeholder category. This process is influenced by the data collection strategy, the type of variables and the accuracy required. The information is usually gathered from three main sources: direct observations, direct interviews and questionnaires.
What is scope in science?
This section serves as a guide for elaborating the goal and scope. The goal must state the intended application, the purpose and the reasons for carrying out the study. The scope should be sufficiently well defined to ensure that the breadth, depth and detail of the study are compatible to address the stated goal. The scope includes the description of the system to be studied and its boundaries.
What are the steps of the proposed framework?
The steps of the proposed framework are 3.1) defining goal and scope, 3.2) developing evaluation criteria, 3.3) gathering data, 3.4) scoring selected indicators, and 3.5) interpretation and applicability. Each of these steps and the case study under consideration are explained as follows:
What is the purpose of identifying and selecting criteria?
The purpose of identifying and selecting criteria is to provide a mechanism to determine and translate the goal identified in step 1 into a set of guiding principles that serve to select stakeholders involved and the indicators that will be analyzed. This step also comprises the process for establishing the scoring tools to assign quantitative values to the selected indicators.
Why is wastewater reused?
Many parts of the world suffer from a temporary or even chronic water deficit and treated wastewater can be reused to compensate for the lack of water resources. They can be used for watering green spaces and golf courses, irrigation of agricultural areas, industrial needs or for the production of drinking water [19] (direct reuse in a drinking water production plant or indirectly by recharging water reservoirs or water bodies by infiltration). Depending on the destination of the water, wastewater leaving a treatment plant must undergo appropriate after-treatment, ranging from simple disinfection to a succession of much more complex treatments.
What is urban wastewater?
Urban wastewater contains a large number of organic and inorganic compounds found in black water (loaded with urine and faeces), dirty water from food preparation, laundry and bathrooms and in runoff water. From an analytical and regulatory point of view, the characterization of raw and treated wastewater uses global parameters (expressed in mg/l) that include a set of pollutants:
What is reaction 5 in wastewater treatment?
Biological denitrification (reaction 5) reduces nitrate ions (NO 3 -) to nitrous oxide (N 2 ). In wastewater treatment plants, denitrification is only possible in the absence of oxygen. It is carried out by heterotrophic bacteria and requires the presence of organic matter.
How much phosphorus is removed from wastewater?
In wastewater treatment plants, biological phosphorus removal only removes about 40 to 60% of the phosphorus.
What are the main families of micropollutants in urban wastewater?
The main families of micropollutants are cosmetics, pesticides and pesticide residues, solvents, natural and synthetic hormones, drug residues, metals, etc.
How much COD is in wastewater?
For raw domestic wastewater, about 50% of the COD is in dissolved form and 50% in particulate form. Biological oxygen demand over 5 days (BOD5) is the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria after 5 days of reaction to degrade biodegradable organic matter.
How does microbiological pollution affect the water quality?
Microbiological water pollution can make water quality unfit for certain uses.
How does sewage affect the environment?
When the waste water is mixed with the waste materials such like garbage, household waste, toilets liquid and disposable things, the resulting product called sewage or waste water. This sewage water is normally will undergo a few process before it is release to the environment but there are still some impact on the environment. One of the impacts on the environment is agricultural impacts. The sewage water contains salts which is soluble that may accumulate in the root zone with possible harmful effect on soil health and crop yield. The physical and mechanical properties of the soil, such as dispersion of particle, stability of aggregates, soil structure and permeability are very sensitive to the types of exchangeable ions present in irrigation water. Thus, when effluent use is being planned, several factors related to the soil properties must be taken into consideration. On the other hand the effect of dissolved solids in the irrigation water on the growth of plants is also another aspect of agriculture which we have to concern. Dissolved salts increase the osmotic potential of soil water and increase the osmotic pressure of the soil solution which increases the growth and the yield of most plants decline progressively as osmotic pressure increases. In addition the one of the environment impact is ecological impact where the drainage water from waste water irrigation schemes drains particularly into small confined lakes and water bodies and surface water, and if phosphatesin the ortho phosphate form are present, the remains of nutrients may cause eutrophication. Here the overloading organic materials resulting in decrease in dissolved oxygen may lead to changes in the composition of a aquatic life such as fish deaths and reduced fishery. The eutrophication potential of waste water irrigation can be assessed using biological indices, which in turn can be qualified in monitory units using economic valuation techniques. The hidden impact on the environment is the increase on the production of green house emissions. The large agriculture reuse project might cause to the environmental externalities associated with pumping water uphill which emits greenhouse gas. Another impact is on the health. The sewage water contains pathogenic microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, protozoan’s and parasitic worms, the diseases and signs related with such infection are also diverse including typhoid,dysentry and cholera, diarrhea and vomiting. the concentration of he pathogens in waste water is dependent on the source population and the susceptibility to infection varies from one population to another. So basically he waste water is actually harm for the nature even though its treated and release to the environment so as a human being we should not dispose the waste into the water thus our water will be clean and the cost of the treatment can be reduced.
What is the problem with water scarcity?
Although 2/3rd of the earths crust is made up of water but all this water is not available for drinking and for other human activities as either it is locked in the form of ice or present in the form of vast saline oceans and seas. It has been found out that 97% of the total water is salty that is of no use to human and animals (except marine animal) and the remaining three percent is available as freshwater. More than half of this three percent is locked in glacier and less than 0.01% is available as fresh water. So water resources are less as compare to human demand for water.
