WPWT - Wastewater Treatment (Lesson)

Wastewater Treatment

Water Treatment

The goal of water treatment is to make water suitable for such uses as drinking, medicine, agriculture, and industrial processes.

People living in developed countries suffer from few waterborne diseases and illnesses because they have extensive water treatment systems to collect, treat, and redeliver clean water. Many underdeveloped nations have few or no water treatment facilities.

Wastewater contains hundreds of contaminants, such as suspended solids, oxygen-demanding materials, dissolved inorganic compounds, and harmful bacteria. In a wastewater treatment plant, multiple processes must be used to produce usable water:

• Sewage treatment removes contaminants, such as solids and particles, from sewage.
• Water purification produces drinking water by removing bacteria, algae, viruses, fungi, unpleasant elements such as iron and sulfur, and man-made chemical pollutants.

The treatment method used depends on the kind of wastewater being treated and the desired end result. Wastewater is treated using a series of steps, each of which produces water with fewer contaminants.

 

 

 

 

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