Wastewater Treatment Issues - Essay Example

Memo Ref: Wastewater Treatment Water is a scarce resource in all part of the world. This has been occasioned by tripling of the human population. Safe water is useful for drinking and food production. Global warming has led to changes in the global climate, and this may lead to water scarcity even in the future. Various countries have begun the process wastewater treatment. In US Conventional wastewater treatment plants have been set up to help ease the burden of inadequate water. This process of adapting to new water treatment technologies has posed various challenges that need to be addressed. Wastewater treatment has brought into light various ethical dilemmas facing the transport industry (Hall, Prichard, Kirkbriod et al. 2012). Conventional WWTP and Human Consumption Preliminary Treatment Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) needs to adopt stringent environmental regulations aimed at ensuring good water quality. Over the years, waste water treatment plants have changed their management practices. The WWTP highly depends on a technical body of knowledge based on past practice, applied engineering and environmental sciences. This is an effort to ensure that the environment is kept safe and in an acceptable condition. WWTP are considering installing more additional treatment tanks to achieve very low phosphorous levels. To as low as 0.009 to 0,05 mg/l (EPA 5). Additionally, the WWTP are considering installing additional treatment so as to meet the growing water needs for the rapidly growing population. The conventional wastewater treatment method involves the physical, chemical, and biological processes and operations to remove solids, Organic material and some nutrients from wastewater .in stage one, the preliminary treatment stage, coarse and other large solid materials are left to settle out of the wastewater and later taken to the landfill (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2003). This stage involves course screening, removal of grit and comminution of large objects. In the grit chambers, the water velocity is maintained sufficiently high, and air is used to prevent the solids from settling down. Comminutors are sometimes used in place of coarse screening to ensure reduced size of large particles s that they can be removed in the form of sludge in the subsequent treatment processes. In this stage, flow measurement devices, mainly the standing-wave flumes are used (Hall, Prichard, Kirkbriod et al. 2012). Primary Treatment This is the second stage. In this stage, settleable organic and inorganic solids are removed through sedimentation process. Floating materials are also removed through skimming. Similarly, around 25 to 50 percent of biochemical oxygen demand, 50to 70percent of suspended solids and 65 percent of oils and greases are removed (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2003). Nitrogen, phosphorous and heavy metals associated with solids are also removed. These effluents are referred to as primary effluent. In the last stage, which is also referred to as the secondary treatment stage, residual organics and suspended solids are removed. The aerobic biological treatment process is used to remove biodegradable dissolved and colloidal organic matter (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2003). This process involves the use of oxygen by aerobic microorganisms that metabolize the organic matter producing more microorganisms and inorganic end-products. The high-rate biological processes are characterized by relatively small reactor volumes and high concentrations of microorganisms compared with low rate processes. In high-rate systems, the growth rate of new organisms is higher because they are controlled by the natural environment. The secondary or biological sludge removed is usually combined with the primary sludge for further processing. The high-rate processes involve activated sludge processes, trickling filters, oxidation ditches and rotating biological contactors (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2003). Tertiary Treatment The last stage referred to as Tertiary, or advanced treatment involves the removal of water constituents that cannot be removed by secondary treatment. This stage follows high-rate secondary treatment in this stage nitrogen and phosphorous are removed. The effluent from the primary stage passes through the biological reactor which has five zones: the anaerobic fermentation zone, anoxic zone, aerobic zone, secondary anoxic zone and final aeration zone (Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, 2013). The water is then disinfected by the use of chlorine solution, ozone or ultraviolet radiation. The chlorine solution has to be in contact with the water for 120 minutes if the water would be used for agricultural purposes. The effects of the various disinfectants used depend on the water PH, time of contact, the organic content and the temperature of the effluents. Lastly, the effluents from the water are stored to ensure minimal variations in flow and meet higher irrigation demands in excess of the average wastewater flow (Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, 2013). Implementing Waste Water-To-Potable an Approach in US In US, there has been a high conservation push as a result of drought. Though there are expected shortages in the future, US is likely to experience a change very soon. This will result in many people irrigating their lawns and washing their cars with water coming from the wastewater treatment plant. The president of U.S Water Alliance, Benjamin Grumbles said that wastewater is the component of tomorrow’s drinking water (Natural Resources Management and Environment Department 2013). WWTP”S Accepting Industrial Wastewater If Wastewater to Potable Approach Is Implemented The WWTP will not accept industrial water even if the wastewater-to-portable approach is applied. This is because industrial wastes are contaminating underground water hence increasing the cost and risks to the community. Industrial pollutants like oxygen scavengers cause corrosion on pipes and equipment in the sewage collection points as well as in treatment plants. Grease and other suspended matter cause pipe blockages and bad odors (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2003). Industrial wastewater may be treated through Membrane Biological Reactor (MBR) together with tertiary treatment stages (Hall, Prichard, Kirkbriod, et al. 2012). Treatment of the industrial wastewater will lead to reduced levels of phosphorous levels in the waterways in the long-term. It also leads to changes in the structure and species mix of aquatic animals. Responsibility of paying for Plant Modifications The US government partners with various organizations, other governmental agencies, drinking water utilities, associations, and industries. The US local government provides sewer and water services and infrastructure. Additionally, the municipal, county, township and other non-profit organizations pay $ 50 for constructing new or expand the existing wastewater treatment facilities (Indiana Department of Environmental Management) Non-Technical Issues That May Interfere With Wastewater to Portable Approach and How to Overcome Them There are various issues that interfere with wastewater to portable approach include financial, and institutional challenges. Most regulations are not reasonable. In many instances, the international guidelines are adopted directly without taking into mind the local conditions. There has the decreased political will to give waste water the appropriate treatment. Installation, operation and maintenance of treatment plants require high finances (Hall, Prichard, Kirkbriod et al. 2012). Therefore, lack of good will from the political class to operate and maintain the system after its installation, treatment plants are designed for failure. Many people neither had nor accepted the new technologies used in wastewater treatment. In many instances, the entity entitled with treatment plants lacks a proper budget to cover all expenses that arise from maintenance and monitoring of treatment plant. To the address these challenges, the government should put in place reasonable rules and regulations governing wastewater treatment. Similarly, the government should encourage political elites to support water treatment projects. The government should take precedence in encouraging people to accept the new technologies involved in wastewater treatment. This can be done through campaigns against global warming (Hall, Prichard, Kirkbriod et al. 2012). Ethical issues of completely changing conventional plants There are various ethical issues that arise due to the use of conventional wastewater treatment plants. One major ethical issue is the use of fecal sludge, excreta and biosolids (Hall, Prichard, Kirkbriod, et al. 2012). Many individuals are faced with the dilemma as to whether it is right to use water whose origin has been from fiscal matter. These practices are also seen to pose significant risks to public health and have a high disease impact on workers emptying the sewers. For many years, sludge has been looked at as waste and should be disposed of without a cost. This presents the ethical challenge of having to dispose of the sludge at a high cost. The water treatment plants are viewed as a source of environmental degradation. As water is being treated, the processes used to treat the water also pose a greater challenge to the environment. This, therefore, leads to the thought why wastewater treatment plants should be set up yet they lead to pollution of the environment. These wastewater treatment plants are also a major cause of soil pollution and degradation. Many farmers use sludge and excreta to ensure that nutrients are returned to the agricultural land with the sole purpose of improving soil fertility. However, some people have historically considered sludge and excreta as obnoxious and an object of shame. Works Cited Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, “The Environmental Impacts of sewer treatment plant Effluents. Thinking Beyond the Near and Now, ECO Annual Report Toronto, ON: Environmental Commissioner of Ontario.” (2003). Retrieved on April 23, 2015 from EPA. Advanced Wastewater Treatment to Achieve Low Concentration of Phosphorous.2007. Available at: bU5Vf-8KYbmaP7XgdAF&usg=AFQjCNEPDrqWNOc3FygRF_zbHJfSGd-ohg&sig2=UrPCMdec_03fAYjDpRIvIA&bvm=bv.91427555,d.d2s. Retrieved on April 24, 2015 Hall Wayne, Prichard Jeremy, Kirkbride Paul, Bruno Raimondo, Thai, K, Phong, Gartner Coral, Yin Foon Lai, Ort Christoph, and Mueller Jochen F., “An Examination of Ethical Issues In Using Wastewater Analysis To Monitor Illicit Drug Use.” (2012). Retrieved on April 23, 2015 from Read More