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A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete,fiberglass,or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics,but the treatment efficiency is only moderate. Septic tank systems are a type of simple onsite sewage facility. They can be used in areas that are not connected to a sewerage system,such as rural areas. The treated liquid effluent is commonly disposed in a septic drain field,which provides further treatment. Nonetheless,groundwater pollution may occur and is a problem.
Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle,the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environment. It is also possible to reuse it. This process is called water reclamation. The treatment process takes place in a wastewater treatment plant. There are several kinds of wastewater which are treated at the appropriate type of wastewater treatment plant. For domestic wastewater the treatment plant is called a Sewage Treatment. Municipal wastewater or sewage are other names for domestic wastewater. For industrial wastewater,treatment takes place in a separate Industrial wastewater treatment,or in a sewage treatment plant. In the latter case it usually follows pre-treatment. Further types of wastewater treatment plants include Agricultural wastewater treatment and leachate treatment plants.
Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. Much of the fermentation used industrially to produce food and drink products,as well as home fermentation,uses anaerobic digestion.
Industrial wastewater treatment describes the processes used for treating wastewater that is produced by industries as an undesirable by-product. After treatment,the treated industrial wastewater may be reused or released to a sanitary sewer or to a surface water in the environment. Some industrial facilities generate wastewater that can be treated in sewage treatment plants. Most industrial processes,such as petroleum refineries,chemical and petrochemical plants have their own specialized facilities to treat their wastewaters so that the pollutant concentrations in the treated wastewater comply with the regulations regarding disposal of wastewaters into sewers or into rivers,lakes or oceans. This applies to industries that generate wastewater with high concentrations of organic matter,toxic pollutants or nutrients such as ammonia. Some industries install a pre-treatment system to remove some pollutants,and then discharge the partially treated wastewater to the municipal sewer system.
Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) technology,normally referred to as UASB reactor,is a form of anaerobic digester that is used for wastewater treatment.
Secondary treatment is the removal of biodegradable organic matter from sewage or similar kinds of wastewater. The aim is to achieve a certain degree of effluent quality in a sewage treatment plant suitable for the intended disposal or reuse option. A "primary treatment" step often precedes secondary treatment,whereby physical phase separation is used to remove settleable solids. During secondary treatment,biological processes are used to remove dissolved and suspended organic matter measured as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). These processes are performed by microorganisms in a managed aerobic or anaerobic process depending on the treatment technology. Bacteria and protozoa consume biodegradable soluble organic contaminants while reproducing to form cells of biological solids. Secondary treatment is widely used in sewage treatment and is also applicable to many agricultural and industrial wastewaters.
Sewage sludge treatment describes the processes used to manage and dispose of sewage sludge produced during sewage treatment. Sludge treatment is focused on reducing sludge weight and volume to reduce transportation and disposal costs,and on reducing potential health risks of disposal options. Water removal is the primary means of weight and volume reduction,while pathogen destruction is frequently accomplished through heating during thermophilic digestion,composting,or incineration. The choice of a sludge treatment method depends on the volume of sludge generated,and comparison of treatment costs required for available disposal options. Air-drying and composting may be attractive to rural communities,while limited land availability may make aerobic digestion and mechanical dewatering preferable for cities,and economies of scale may encourage energy recovery alternatives in metropolitan areas.
Sanitary engineering,also known as public health engineering or wastewater engineering,is the application of engineering methods to improve sanitation of human communities,primarily by providing the removal and disposal of human waste,and in addition to the supply of safe potable water. Traditionally a branch of civil engineering and now a subset of environmental engineering,in the mid-19th century,the discipline concentrated on the reduction of disease,then thought to be caused by miasma. This was accomplished mainly by the collection and segregation of sewerage flow in London specifically,and Great Britain generally. These and later regulatory improvements were reported in the United States as early as 1865.
Biogenic sulfide corrosion is a bacterially mediated process of forming hydrogen sulfide gas and the subsequent conversion to sulfuric acid that attacks concrete and steel within wastewater environments. The hydrogen sulfide gas is biochemically oxidized in the presence of moisture to form sulfuric acid. The effect of sulfuric acid on concrete and steel surfaces exposed to severe wastewater environments can be devastating. In the USA alone,corrosion causes sewer asset losses estimated at $14 billion per year. This cost is expected to increase as the aging infrastructure continues to fail.
A grease trap is a plumbing device designed to intercept most greases and solids before they enter a wastewater disposal system. Common wastewater contains small amounts of oils which enter into septic tanks and treatment facilities to form a floating scum layer. This scum layer is very slowly digested and broken down by microorganisms in the anaerobic digestion process. Large amounts of oil from food preparation in restaurants can overwhelm a septic tank or treatment facility,causing the release of untreated sewage into the environment. High-viscosity fats and cooking grease such as lard solidify when cooled,and can combine with other disposed solids to block drain pipes.
In treatment of sewage one process used is the activated sludge process in which air is passed through a mixture of sewage and old sludge to allow the micro-organisms to break down the organic components of the sewage. Sludge is continually drawn off as new sewage enters the tank and this sludge must then be settled so that the supernatant can be separated to pass on to further stages of treatment.
Aerobic digestion is a process in sewage treatment designed to reduce the volume of sewage sludge and make it suitable for subsequent use. More recently,technology has been developed that allows the treatment and reduction of other organic waste,such as food,cardboard and horticultural waste. It is a bacterial process occurring in the presence of oxygen. Bacteria rapidly consume organic matter and convert it into carbon dioxide,water and a range of lower molecular weight organic compounds. As there is no new supply of organic material from sewage,the activated sludge biota begin to die and are used as food by saprotrophic bacteria. This stage of the process is known as endogenous respiration and it is process that reduces the solid concentration in the sludge.
A trickling filter is a type of wastewater treatment system. It consists of a fixed bed of rocks,coke,gravel,slag,polyurethane foam,sphagnum peat moss,ceramic,or plastic media over which sewage or other wastewater flows downward and causes a layer of microbial slime (biofilm) to grow,covering the bed of media. Aerobic conditions are maintained by splashing,diffusion,and either by forced-air flowing through the bed or natural convection of air if the filter medium is porous. The treatment of sewage or other wastewater with trickling filters is among the oldest and most well characterized treatment technologies.
Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application,thereby preventing water pollution from raw sewage discharges. Sewage contains wastewater from households and businesses and possibly pre-treated industrial wastewater. There are a high number of sewage treatment processes to choose from. These can range from decentralized systems to large centralized systems involving a network of pipes and pump stations which convey the sewage to a treatment plant. For cities that have a combined sewer,the sewers will also carry urban runoff (stormwater) to the sewage treatment plant. Sewage treatment often involves two main stages,called primary and secondary treatment,while advanced treatment also incorporates a tertiary treatment stage with polishing processes and nutrient removal. Secondary treatment can reduce organic matter from sewage, using aerobic or anaerobic biological processes. A so-called quarternary treatment step can also be added for the removal of organic micropollutants,such as pharmaceuticals. This has been implemented in full-scale for example in Sweden.
Sludge is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes,from water treatment,wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. It can be produced as a settled suspension obtained from conventional drinking water treatment,as sewage sludge from wastewater treatment processes or as fecal sludge from pit latrines and septic tanks. The term is also sometimes used as a generic term for solids separated from suspension in a liquid;this soupy material usually contains significant quantities of interstitial water. Sludge can consist of a variety of particles,such as animal manure.
Fecal sludge management (FSM) is the storage,collection,transport,treatment and safe end use or disposal of fecal sludge. Together,the collection,transport,treatment and end use of fecal sludge constitute the "value chain" or "service chain" of fecal sludge management. Fecal sludge is defined very broadly as what accumulates in onsite sanitation systems and specifically is not transported through a sewer. It is composed of human excreta,but also anything else that may go into an onsite containment technology,such as flushwater,cleansing materials,menstrual hygiene products,grey water,and solid waste. Fecal sludge that is removed from septic tanks is called septage.
Kartik Chandran is an American environmental engineer at Columbia University,where he is a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering. He primarily works on the interface between environmental molecular and microbiology,environmental biotechnology and environmental engineering. The focus of his research is on elucidating the molecular microbial ecology and metabolic pathways of the microbial nitrogen cycle. Applications of his work have ranged from energy and resource efficient treatment of nitrogen containing wastewater streams,development and implementation of sustainable approaches to sanitation to novel models for resource recovery. Under his stewardship,the directions of biological wastewater treatment and biological nutrient removal were established for the first ever time in the history of Columbia University.
The Thomas P. Smith Water Reclamation Facility (TPSWRF) is owned and operated by the city of Tallahassee,Florida. The facility provides sewage treatment services for Tallahassee,Florida and the surrounding areas.
References
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