Have you ever wondered about exactly what happens to the water that goes down through your toilets and drains? Most people just know that the drain pipe connects to the municipal sewage lines, and that’s it. Where does the water go from there? Is it dumped directly into the local rivers and seas, or is there a treatment process involved? Wastewater isn’t just freely released from houses. Factories and industries also need to find a viable method of disposal. Previously, because there were no laws in place, companies had the freedom to dump all of their wastewater into the local rivers.
Not only did this contaminate the environment, but it also led to a serious loss in local marine life. Before releasing water into the environment, proper wastewater treatment needs to be carried out. Here are some of the processes involved in the treatment of wastewater:
Phase Separation
The first step is phase separation. The water is kept in large pools and is allowed to remain stagnant until all of the solids and semi-solids have been separated. Liquids that have a lower density will rise to the top of the water’s surface, whereas the solids will begin to settle near the bottom. This makes it easy to separate the contaminants in the water.
Filtration
A number of different filtration processes are involved in wastewater treatment. First of all, ordinary filters are used to get rid of large solids in the water. Afterwards, biological filters are also used in order to get rid of the organic material and the smaller contaminants The purity of the water is regularly tested until it’s brought down to acceptable levels and the water can be released back in the environment.
These companies play a crucial role in preserving our environment.