Profile
Settings
Refer your friends
Sign out
Water is an essential element in daily life. Water is used by all living organisms on earth to perform their life processes. Contaminants are the suspended and dissolved impurities of the water. Humans contaminate water through their activities. Drinking contaminated water results in the development of diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and arrowhead. Polluted water can sometimes be fatal. The dirty black-brown water which drains from showers, sinks, toilets, laundries that is full of lather and oil is Wastewater. The cleaning process of eliminating impurities before it enters a water body or is reused is generally known as “Sewage Treatment” and it takes place in many stages.
Sewage
Sewage is liquid waste containing dissolved impurities called contaminants. Contaminants are harmful substances that can cause illness. Sewage comprises dissolved and suspended impurities.
The place where wastewater is ejected by offices, hospitals, houses, industries, and other users is Sewage. Rainwater that flows down the run during heavy rainfall or a storm also goes down into Sewage. The suspended solids, organic and inorganic impurities, nutrients, saprophytes, and bacteria that cause disease and other microbes in the Sewage are a complex mixture.
These include the following:
Organic impurities | Animal faeces, human wastes, petroleum, pesticides, herbicides, urea (urine), fruits, and vegetables trash, etc. |
Inorganic pollutants | Phosphates, metals, Nitrates. |
Nutrients | Phosphorus and Nitrogen. |
Bacterial Waste | Such as Vibrio cholera which results in cholera and Salmonella Paratyphi which results in typhoid. |
Other microbes such | Such as protozoans inflict dysentery. |
A sewer is a network of small and big pipes which form the Sewerage system. A Sewage system is like a carrier system that transmits sewage from the point of being elicited to the point of discarding, i.e., a treatment plant.
Wastewater Treatment:
Wastewater needs to be treated before it can be reused or released into a water body. Wastewater Water treatment removes impurities from waste water. Wastewater from households is treated at a treatment plant to remove the physical, biological, and chemical matter. Treatment of waste water reduces the toxicity of poisonous substances and pollutants in water resources.
Wastewater Treatment comprises chemical, physical, and biological procedures, which eliminates chemical, physical, and biological substance that pollutes the wastewater. A Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) has the subsequent stages:
The treated water contains a very lesser level of suspended matter and organic material and is thrown out into the ground, a river, or a sea. Nature further cleans the water. Sometimes disinfecting the water is required, with chemicals like ozone and chlorine before sending it into the distribution system.
By-products of wastewater treatment are sludge and biogas. Dried biosolids are used as manure, retreating organic matter and nutrients to the land. Also, the biogas can be used as fuel or can be used to produce electricity. It is generally advised to grow eucalyptus trees along with the sewage ponds as These trees quickly absorb any excess wastewater and discharge pure water vapour into the air.
Sewage disposal
Alternative arrangements for Sewage Disposal
- Chemical toilets, septic tanks, composting pits, etc. are the low-cost on-site sanitation process that can be used in the areas where below ground sewage systems and waste removal systems are not accessible.
- Hygienic on-site human waste disposal technology can also be employed in toilets that do not require scavenging. The excreta from the toilet drain goes through into a biogas plant that makes electricity.
- Vermi-processing toilets are another such technology in which human excreta are processed by earthworms. The human excreta is completely converted to Verm-cakes.
Sanitation and Disease:
Contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation are the biggest causes of many diseases.
- Untreated human excreta are a health hazard. It may cause water pollution and soil pollution and can result in water-borne diseases like dysentery, hepatitis, meningitis, polio, typhoid, and cholera.
- An open-drain scenario is a breeding place for mosquitoes, flies, and organisms that spur various illnesses.
“Swachh Bharat” is a new mission that is initiated by The Government of India. In this mission, a lot of campaigns such as proper sewage disposal and providing toilets for everyone have been commenced.
Conclusion-
Water is an important resource not just for humans but for all the organisms on earth. Therefore, contaminating this natural resource has dire consequences. The main reasons for water pollution are our commercial and industrial activities. All the waste effluents that reach water bodies result in water pollution. In the long run, this can cause many diseases and health hazards for us. Water should be boiled and filtered before it is used for drinking as it contains many impurities that are not visible to the naked eye. Wastewater is contaminated water that is often referred to as liquid waste. Liquid waste is mainly released from washrooms, kitchens, and other areas where sewage gets collected. Liquid wastes are usually disposed of through a closed drain. Adopting good sanitation practices should be our way of life. Mahatma Gandhi has said, “No one needs to wait for anyone else to adopt a humane and enlightened course of action.”
