The Importance Of Wastewater Treatment Environmental Sciences Essay

The Importance Of Waste wet Treatment Environmental Sciences EssayWater scarceness is the major difficulty that is faced all across the world. Although 2/3rd of the earths crust is made up of pissing be offices all this piss is not available for drinking and for sepa rove human activities as either it is locked in the air of ice or present in the form of vast saline oceans and seas. It has been found out that 97% of the fit pee is salty that is of no use to human and animals (except shipboard soldier animal) and the re principal(prenominal)ing three percent is available as novel pissing. More than half of this three percent is locked in glacier and less than 0.01% is available as fresh peeing. So pissing resources ar less as comparing to human demand for piddle.Above this, the major set out of piddle that foot be consumed is acquire bemire be buzz off of human activities. This polluted and untreated piss supply supply is ca development abundant water system bo rne diseases. Then the world is set about a huge climatic change which is further aggravating the water problem. Some of the regions argon getting more rain water than earlier and whatever argon getting al close negligible. Experts even conceptualise that the next World War would not be for oil or land but it get out alone be for water.Also because of improper use of water and lack of water interposition, the problem of water crisis leave alone further maturation where 884 one thousand thousand people atomic number 18 already not getting unaccented memory get at to safe drinking water. And a further 2.5 billion people be getting difficult access to water for disposable and sanitation. Agriculture is in addition overusing and polluting the ground water thus depleting the instinctive source of water. So here water discussion plants will play important role.Water crisis at present is the biggest problem according to the United Nations. Almost 25 countries of Africa, separate of China, Peru and Brazil in Latin America, some parts of Middle East worry Iran, Chile, Mexico, and Paraguay ar some of the countries that are facing the water crisis. Even other parts of the world are facing the varied levels of the water crisis. Because of acute shortage of water, the regimen problems are getting aggravated. About 40 million people in Africa are facing the problem of food shortage. It is expected that if the similar conditions will persist so there will be 500 million till 2025 who will suffer from these problems. Nature has its role but the major water problem is arising because of its change magnitude consumption and faulty usage. Major chunk of the problem can be solved if the superfluitywater intervention is eatn very seriously and precautions at every step are taken to improve the water quality.The supply and demandThe demand for fresh clean water delivered to our homes is ever increasing as more and more residential homes are being establi shed. Although 70% of the world is covered with water, only 1% is fresh water and thus raises a need to recycle waste water to satisfy our needs. Efforts to continuously recycle waste water are always stressed upon as a shortage would mean a disaster in heavily populated areas. Governments call for committed billions towards research and development to such(prenominal) projects. unfermented water is to a fault needed in cultivation. The demand for water in this sector is very high gear as farmer need fresh water for crops and cattle. in that locationfore, stresses the demand for cloaca water manipulation plants to be built. Water from rivers and lake are in fitted to support water for farm and residences alike.The supply of sewage water sermon facilities are slowly dwindling. A crisis may arise from a lack of sewage water interposition plants as this would greatly reduce the supply of fresh water. Governments are desperately trying to keep up with the pace of development of the population but are slowly lagging behind. The supply of fresh water will be adequate for the next few years but if the development of sewage water discourse plant continues at its current pace it without a doubt a shortage would take place. Furthermore, the agriculture constancy will be greatly matched and the supply of food will go follow up as sound leading to famine repayable to a shortage of water.The prospects of this industryThe wastewater handling industry most probably will be successful in future due to presence of brisk wastewater word technologies. Advanced Immobilized Cell Reactor technology is one of the unseasoned technologies which immobilize the organisms such as bacteria in the pores of the carbon matrix. This process can avoid the immobilized organisms from floor load application as the diffusion of the pollutants from bulk fluid phase to organisms follows Ficks law.Through assemblyal biologic wastewater handling, infinite electrical energy and vast land area are being consumed. anyhow that, a huge investment in electromechanical equipment is involved which will bring about a huge total cost of operating theatre. Generally, the total cost of operation for spic-and-span technology is lowered compared to the convention technology. By using the new technology, the total cost of operation can be cut down to approximately 50 percent of the total cost of conventional manipulation.Furthermore, the biologic oxygen demand and chemical substance substance oxygen demand are reduced by 94 percent and 90 percent respectively. type O consumption in the new technology is lower than in conventional technology. The oxygen gas is supplied in the form if compressed air from the bottom of the reactor. Both liquid and gas catamenias are in counter-current educational application which facilitates the oxidisation of dissolve originals and desorbs the converted products. This is to make sure the spark off carbon keep up its activity without the process.Moreover, with all those new wastewater technologies such as Advanced Oxidation Process, NERV (Natural Endogenous ventilation Vessel), Wet oxidation and more others processes, wastewater treatment can be done efficiently. For instant, through the new technologies less land is required to use to build plant the power consumption is lowered. similarly that, the want for electrical and mechanical equipment is lower compared to conventional technology.In a conclusion, wastewater treatment industries have a good prospect in the future with the help of new technologies. By using all those new technologies, waste water treatment can be done efficiently with lower overall lifecycle costs, lesser energy and equipment needed. We are sure that there is more new technologies will be invented in set to improve the wastewater treatment.The impact on the environmentWhen the waste water is mixed with the waste materials such like garbage, household waste, toilets liquid and disposable things, the resulting product called sewage or waste water. This sewage water is unremarkably will undergo a few process before it is release to the environment but there are still some impact on the environment. One of the impacts on the environment is boorish impacts. The sewage water contains salts which is soluble that may accumulate in the root zone with possible calumniatory effect on soil health and crop yield. The physiologic and mechanical properties of the soil, such as dispersion of particle, stability of aggregates, soil structure and permeability are very sensitive to the types of exchangeable ions present in irrigation water. Thus, when effluent use is being planned, several factors related to the soil properties must be taken into consideration. On the other hand the effect of dissolved solids in the irrigation water on the growth of plants is also some other aspect of agriculture which we have to concern. Dissolved salts development the osmotic potential of soil water and increment the osmotic pressure of the soil solution which increases the growth and the yield of most plants decline progressively as osmotic pressure increases. In addition the one of the environment impact is ecological impact where the waste pipe water from waste water irrigation schemes drains particularly into small confined lakes and water bodies and surface water, and if phosphatesin the ortho phosphate form are present, the remains of nutrients may cause eutrophication. Here the overloading organic materials resulting in decrease in dissolved oxygen may lead to changes in the composition of a aquatic life such as fish deaths and reduced fishery. The eutrophication potential of waste water irrigation can be assessed using biological indices, which in turn can be qualified in monitory units using economic valuation proficiencys. The unavowed impact on the environment is the increase on the production of green house emissions. The large agriculture reuse project might cause to the environmental externalities associated with pumping water uphill which emits greenhouse gas. Another impact is on the health. The sewage water contains pathogenic microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, protozoans and parasitic worms, the diseases and signs related with such infection are also diverse including typhoid,dysentry and cholera, diarrhea and vomiting. the concentration of he pathogens in waste water is dependent on the source population and the susceptibility to infection varies from one population to another. So basically he waste water is actually harm for the nature even though its treated and release to the environment so as a human being we should not dispose the waste into the water thus our water will be clean and the cost of the treatment can be reduced.The Processes involved in this industryPre-Treatment(prepared by Brian Lee CL, 0902669)Pre-treatment consists of three sub-stages which are Screening, Grit Removal and Fat and Grea se Removal. Pre-treatment is done to finish up materials which are easily cool such as debris, leaves and trash which would damage or clog up pumps and skimmers of the primary treatment.Screening is utilise to remove large objects such as leaves, twigs and cans in the sewage drift. This is normally done with a giant mechanical rake bar which is automated. The rake bar revolves around a central axis at a rate varying on the accumulation and flow rate of the sewage rain buckets. The screens vary in sizes to optimize solid removal. Objects accumulated are collected and disposed in landfills.Grit is minute granules such as sand or stone. The wastewater is channeled to a chamber where to pep pill of the water is adjusted so that the grit would placate at the bottom of the chamber. Grit may cause damage to the pumps or other equipment. Grit removal may not necessary in smaller plant.Fat and grease are groups of compounds which are generally insoluble in water. The fat and grease a re normally found floating on the surface of the water. In some plants, the fat and grease are removed by using skimmers to collect the fat and grease on the surface of the water in a small tank. However this can also be done in the Primary treatment stage in the same manner.2) Primary treatment (prepared by Tan HY, 0903497)Primary wastewater treatment is the second step in the wastewater treatment process ahead of the preliminary treatment of a headworks, involves the physical separation of suspended solids from the wastewater flow using primary clarifiers. The objective of primary treatment is the removal of settle able organic and inorganic solids by sedimentation, and the removal of materials that will float (scum) by skimming. Approximately 25 to 50% of the incoming biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), 50 to 70% of the total suspended solids (SS), and 65% of the oil and grease are removed during primary treatment. Some organic normality, organic atomic number 15, and heavy metal s associated with solids are also removed during primary sedimentation but colloidal and dissolved constituents are not affected. The effluent from primary sedimentation units is referred to as primary effluent.On the other hand, primary treatment is the minimum level of reapplication treatment required for wastewater irrigation. It may be considered sufficient treatment if the wastewater is utilize to irrigate crops that are not consumed by humans or to irrigate orchards, vineyards, and some impact food crops. However, to maintain potential nuisance conditions in warehousing or flow-equalizing reservoirs, some form of subsidiary treatment is normally requiredinthese countries, even in the case of non-food crop irrigation. It may be possible to use at least a portion of primary effluent for irrigation if off-line storage is provided.Primary sedimentation tanks or clarifiers may be round or rectangular basins, typically 3 to 5 m deep, with hydraulic retention time between 2 and 3 hours. Settled solids (primary sludge) are normally removed from the bottom of tanks by sludge rakes that scrape the sludge to a central well from which it is pumped to sludge processing units. Scum is swept across the tank surface by water jets or mechanical means from which it is also pumped to sludge processing units.2) Secondly treatment (prepared by Harintharan S, 1101379)The secondary treatment in this sewage treatment is one of the most important part in this process. This process is basically designed to remove the waste product from the sewage. This constitution is also assort as fixed-filmor suspended-growth transcriptions. The secondary treatment contain a few processes, the 1st process is activated sludge. This activated sludge is majority from the plants which encom persist the variety of mechanisms and processes that use dissolve oxygento promote the growth of biological flock that substantially removes organic material. This process basically change the ammoniat onitriteandnitrateand ultimately to newtongas. The 2nd process is this treatment is the Surface-aerated basins also known as Lagoons. This process basically removes the BOD from the sewage water. In an aerated basin system, the aerators provide two functions they transfer air into the basins required by the biological oxidation reactions, and they provide the mixing required for dispersing the air and for contacting the reactants (that is, oxygen, wastewater and microbes).However, they do not provide as good mixing as is normally achieved in activated sludge systems and therefore aerated basins do not achieve the same performance level as activated sludge units. The biological oxidation in the Surface-aerated basins is sensitive to the temperature and the rate of reaction increase with the temperature. The suitable temperature for this process is in between0 C and 40 C. Besides that the constructed wetland is one of the process also. This process is a process which cleans the draina ge of animals and apply to recycle the waste water. The constructed wetland are known to be highly productive systems as they copy natural wetlands, called the Kidneys of the earth for their fundamental recycling capacity of the hydrological cycle in the biosphere and they provide a high ground level of biological improvement but depending on design. The next process is the filter beds which is knows as oxidizing beds are used where the settled sewage liquor is spread onto the surface of a bed made up ofcoke, then liquor is typically distributed through perforated spray arms, then distributed liquor trickles through the bed and is collected in drains at the base, and thebiological films of bacteria, protozoa and fungi to reduce the organic content. The next process is the biological aerated filters are a combine filtration with biological carbon reduction,nitrificationor denitrification. Its a dual processer in purpose of to support highly active biomass that is attached to it and to filter suspended solids. Carbon reduction and ammonia conversion occurs in aerobic mode and sometime achieved in a single reactor turn nitrate conversion occurs inanoxicmode. This process is operated either in up flow or down flow configuration depending on design specified by manufacturer. In addition the Rotating biological contactors are the next process in this secondary treatment. This is actually a secondary mechanical treatment system which is capableof withstanding surges in organic load.The rotating disks support the growth of bacteria and micro-organisms present in the sewage, which submit down and stabilise organic pollutants. Oxygen is obtained from the melodic phrase as the disks rotate. As the micro-organisms grow, they build up on the media until they are sloughed off due to shear forces provided by the rotating discs in the sewage. Effluent from the system is then passed through final clarifiers where the micro-organisms in suspension settle as sludge. The slud ge is withdrawn from the clarifier for further treatment. After that the tissue layer bioreactor combine activated sludge treatment with a membrane liquid-solid separation process. The component on this system uses low pressure for microfiltration or ultra-filtration membranes and eliminates the need for clarification and 3rd filtration. The elevated biomass concentration in the system process allows for very effective removal of both soluble and particulate biodegradable materials at higher(prenominal) loading rates. The final process in this secondary treatment is the secondary sedimentation where the process is to settle out the biological flock or filter material through a secondary clarifier and to assign sewage water containing low levels of organic material and suspended matter.4) Tertiary treatment (prepared by Raiminder S, 0904743)The main purpose of the tertiary treatment is to ensure that the treated water which is to be released on to the environment is biologically ac cepted by all other fresh water organisms such as weeds and algae. This part of the treatment includes processes like physical water treatment, lagunaing, and excessive nutrient removal processes.to ensure that the dis turn ond water is raised in effluent quality before proceeding to the final stages.In physical water treatment, much of the residual suspended matters are removed using only physical processes such as sedimentationmethod and the infamous filtration method. In the sedimentationmethod, the water is place in a definite tank to allow all the remaining heaver objects to sink down to the bottom of the container. After few hours went most of the dense object are separated from the water, the cleared effluent or waste swarm is removed. sedimentation is one of the most common methods, quite often used at the beginning and the end of many water treating processes. Another physical method that is commonly used in the sewage water treatment system is the filtration method. I n filtration, the water is allowed to pass through filters to separate the contaminating solids from the water. Sand filter is a common filter used in this process. In a number of wastewater treatment methods, semi-solid contaminants like grease and oil are allowed to float on the surface of the water, and then they are physically removed.Besides the in lagunaing where lagoon is a stationary system having a continuous flow several ponds running(a) in parallel in which the inlet flow and the outlet flow are equals form lagoon plants. The lagooning technique is a natural and very efficient technique that consists in the accumulation of wastewater in ponds or basins, known as biological or stabilization ponds, where a series of biological, biochemical and physical processes take place. In these ponds or lagoons, certain types of the microorganism are actually supported as these biological factors help in treating the water further by removing the fine particulates. These types of bi ological ponds are usually classified as anaerobic ponds or oxidation ponds depending on the shape, depth, organic rate, level of treatment of that particular lagoon itself.The excessive nutrient removal is the most viral step in the last stages of the water treatment before the water is released to the environment. When the previously treated water comes to this area of the system, the nutrients level mainly nitrogen and phosphorus in the water is checked. Where when found in excess, the excessive nutrient removal step is carried out. This is because if the unchecked water supply is to be released into the natural water system (river, pond, etc.) it will cause a sudden increase in the native microorganism population of that certain water system. Some of the native microorganisms which are commonly found in ponds today are usually weeds, algae, and cyanobacteria. Therefore, after the sudden rapid grown in the population of these microorganisms, the number of algae for example, becom es unsustainable which causes most of them to die and eventually decay. The following decay process would substantially increase the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in that particular pond, which would cause the other fresh water living organism such as fishes to die as well.Firstly, the nitrogen removal process is carried out. There are various methods of removing nitrogen, each with advantages and disadvantages. However, the biological treatment method is used most commonly. With this method, organic nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen is converted into nitrous and nitrate nitrogen in an aerobic environment, and is dispersed into the atmosphere as anaerobic nitrogen gas. Therefore the gas is removed from the water and released to the atmosphere. And as there is no secondary pollution, this can be called an effective method.In the removal of phosphorus is usually carried out using a method called enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). The first process in EBPR is the mainstream b iological treatment process. Where the utilizing of aerobic and solids separation zones and the provision of return activated sludge are carried out. The next is a first side stream process for anoxic/anaerobic selection of desirable BPR organisms such as the polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs). Finally, a second side stream process serves to ferment organic material in some of the return activated sludge to heighten food utilized in the first side stream selection process. The system permits the three processes to be separated from each other by creating two side streams, allowing all three processes to be controlled separately and optimized in satisfying their own specific goals. Besides this biological method, the removal of phosphorus can also be done via chemical precipitation, usually with salts of iron, aluminum, or lime. chemical precipitation is usually more reliable, easier to operate, and requires smaller equipment footprint than biological removal. But the main back draws of this chemical method is that it may form excessive sludge production as hydroxides precipitates and the chemical used in this method might be considered expensive.5) Disinfection (prepared by Lim CS, 1001012)The main purpose of disinfection in the wastewater treatment is to provide a degree of protection from contact with infectants and pathogen organisms which will cause waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery and hepatitis. Disinfection is also used to reduce the load of microorganisms in the wastewater to be discharged to the environment. Primary, secondary and even tertiary treatments do not fully remove the incoming waste load and microorganisms in the water stream and as a result, many microorganisms still remain in the wastewater. Therefore, various methods of disinfection are introduced such as chemical methods, physical methods and biological methods.The intensity of disinfection depends on different factors including the quality of wastewater being t reated, antiseptic dosage, type of disinfection being used and others. For instant, cloudy wastewater will not be treated efficiently due to less contact time between ultraviolet dim and microorganisms. These microorganisms are shielding by those solid matters in wastewater stream and it reduces the contact time. Generally, long contact times, high concentration of antiseptic and optimum temperature and pH value will increase the effectiveness of disinfection.Chlorination is one of the chemical methods which is commonly used for disinfection in the wastewater treatment. It is widely used through the world due to its low cost and long-run history of effectiveness. centilitre can be applied in two general ways, liquid and gas. Chlorine in gaseous form is generally added to the wastewater stream rather than liquid form which is also known as hypochlorite because the former costs lesser than the latter. When chlorine dissolves in pure water, hypochlorous acid is form followed by hy pochlorites which are known as free residual chlorinesChlorine is an extremely active oxidizing agent which will react with many other substances in the water stream. For instant, it reacts rapidly with such compounds as total heat sulfide, ferrous iron and manganese which found in industrial wastewater. However, if all of the chlorine is consumed in these reactions, no disinfection will result. Hence, to accomplish disinfection, sufficient chlorine is added into wastewater stream to satisfy the chlorine demand and produce residual chlorine which will destroy bacteria.There are few factors which will affect the effectiveness of chlorination. Among the factors are pH, temperature, turbidity, control system and many others. However, chlorination brings some disadvantage to environment. Chlorination of residual organic material can generate chlorinated-organic compound which may be harmful to the environment. Those residual chlorines are virulent to aquatic species therefore, dechlor ination is needed, adding to complexness and cost of treatment.However, chlorination becomes less favoured as disinfectant due to rising cost and it had found to be toxic to aquatic species. As a result, ozone and ultraviolet begin to be used as disinfectant. Ultraviolet (UV) light is more environmental friendly to be used as no chemicals are used and leave no toxic residual. Ultraviolet radiation and damages the genetic material of microorganisms, destroying their ability to reproduce. Before pass through the UV disinfection unit, the wastewater must pass through an advanced pretreatment component. Wastewater flows in the stream parallel to the UV light in a thin film in order to increase the contact time.To increase the effectiveness of the UV light, the UV radiation must come in take aim with pathogen organisms and other microbial in the wastewater stream. The effectiveness of a UV disinfection system is affected by few factors including characteristics of the wastewater, the co ntact time, intensity of UV radiation and many others. Turbidity, flow rate of water stream and suspended solids are also play an important roles in UV disinfection. These factors must be unbroken at low levels to ensure proper treatment.Disinfection of wastewater, primarily by chlorination, has played an important role in the reduction of waterborne disease. However, there are more new disinfection processes are being developed in order to maximize the effectiveness of disinfection.Role of engineer in this industryThe Chemical Engineering is the commerce that combines chemistry and engineering concepts that help to solve problems related to world hunger, pollution of our environment, creating new materials, or run across demands for energy. Chemical engineers develop low cost processes for useful chemical products, which make it possible for both paltry nations and the United States to manufacture important fertilizers.The roles of a chemical engineer in waste water treatment h ave to minimize the waste across the plant or reduction of waste loading to the treatment plant. Other than that, chemical engineer need to state whether its systems for the treatment and reuse of wastewater, process water treatment for industry, high-purity water for sensitive medical or scientific applications, or systems to supply clean drinking water to people and their families.Besides that, as a chemical engineer also responsible for providing expertise in their respective discipline as it applies to the hazard analysis of the process being studied. Therefore, we also in charge for attending the initial hazard analysis kick-off meeting. On the other hand, we are also required to be available to the team as required with the understanding that the team leader will give adequate advance notice when their expertise is required. Lastly we are necessary to provide documents of any existing safeguards and procedures.Skills/ intimacy requiredMany types of skills and knowledge are re quired for chemical engineer in waste water treatment. They required intensive knowledge in wastewater treatment technologies, so that they will more easy to solve the problems when they face the difficulty. On the other hand, they also need expertise in equipment design, influent water treatment, effluent monitoring, and wastewater recycling.In addition, proficiency in computer, programming, modeling and data analysis, for example AutoCAD, Microsoft Office, FOTRAN, Origin, Maple, Polymath, and other software program are also the knowledge needed for chemical engineer. Moreover, strong technical writing, presentation, and project management skills are also useful skill for chemical engineer in order to present the researches after they have completed.Besides the skills at above the hazard and operability study (HAZOP) technique also needed for a chemical engineer working in industry. The HAZOP technique is most popular in most industry because that is technique which is structured and systematic examination of a planned or existing process or operation in order to identify and evaluate problems that may represent risks to personnel or equipment, or prevent efficient operation. Otherwise, HAZOP as well a qualitative technique based on guide-words and is carried out by a multi-disciplinary team (HAZOP team) during a set of meetings.