![]() What can you do to protect local waterways?, centralized_brochure.pdf, Accessed March 12, 2020.A recycling and waste-to-energy plant for waste that is not exported.World Water Assessment Programme (UNESCO WWAP),, Accessed March 10, 2020.Without wastewater treatment and other recycling processes, everyday life would be considerably more hazardous it remains so in developing nations lacking established wastewater treatment systems. Water treatment facilities were designed to speed up the natural process of purifying water because the natural process can’t keep up with the amount of waste society produces. The main goal of wastewater treatment facilities is to protect people, as well as local ecosystems, from toxic elements found in wastewater. The following infographic, Wastewater Treatment 101 4, from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains the basic operation of wastewater treatment.Īs the above illustrates, modern pollution levels are so great that a single sifting process is seldom enough to make water potable. Wastewater treatment helps to remove the waste and keep our ecosystem healthy.īasic wastewater treatment occurs in three treatment parts: primary, secondary and advanced. The natural wastewater detoxification process is overloaded - there is simply too much sewage for nature to keep up with. Wastewater pollution is also responsible for what’s known as red tide 3, a mass killing-off of aquatic animals that can pollute large volumes of water, making entire human-serving water systems non-potable. Upstream wastewater contamination poisons the food chain: Polluted algae contaminates the fish that eat it, which poison the bears that eat them, and so on. But ingesting wastewater itself is not the sole problem. Untreated wastewater is toxic to non-aquatic animals, including people. And that’s what causes so-called “dead zones” or uninhabitable aquatic ecosystems. These plants then secrete toxins which leads to oxygen depletion. When nitrogen, phosphates, or rotting organic matter pollute bodies of water in large amounts, the result is unusual plant growth. Effects of Wastewater Pollutants on the Ecosystem Wastewater treatment is one of the best defenses we have against stopping these diseases and saving lives. The above diseases are seen not just in developing nations but in the U.S. Untreated wastewater poses significant health risks, accounting for 1.7 million deaths annually -over 90 percent of those in developing nations 1. This leads to mass illness and severe disruption of the food chain. ![]() It does so, in fact, in developing nations: Globally, over 80 percent of all wastewater is discharged without treatment. Why do we treat wastewater? Without treatment, the amount of wastewater in the environment would cause devastation. Wastewater treatment removes contaminants and suspended solids from wastewater this treated, potable water can then be dispatched back into the ecosystem free from man-made contaminants. The world’s eight billion people create a lot of wastewater - another word for sewage - enough that the natural water purification process is insufficient on its own to remove the harmful chemicals that cause disease in not just people but flora, fish and wildlife. ![]() HALO® Chromatography Columns and Consumables+. Sartorius laboratory instruments, consumables and services PerkinElmer - Innovating for a Healthier World ![]() Lab Thermometers & Temperature Measurement EquipmentĪgilent Chemistries and Supplies Portfolio Quality Products from Sheldon Manufacturing ![]() Life Science Research Solutions, Products, and Resources VWR will support you from the latest life science products to the guaranteed purity of organic building blocks. A strong, vibrant research and development group is the lifeblood of all industries. ![]()
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