Why Wastewater Filtration Matters
As locations around the United States (and the entire world) grapple with issues of water shortages, it has become more important for municipalities to invest in wastewater treatment to allow for safe reuse of water. Today’s wastewater filtration systems are more sophisticated than ever before, and they will play a significant role in shaping the water supplies of the future. Read on to learn why clean wastewater in Camden County, MO is so important.
The process
There are several different stages associated with the wastewater filtration process to bring the water back to a usable condition.
The first stage involves the use of large filtering screens to remove inorganic solids found in the water, including garbage like paper, metal and plastic. Another series of screens removes sand and silt, which can damage wastewater filtration equipment due to their abrasiveness.
Once these early filtration processes are complete, the wastewater goes into a sedimentation tank, where the organic solids are removed through gravity. Those solids settle down to the bottom of the tank, and that sludge gets pushed to the center of the tank to be pumped away for treatment.
Next, the wastewater uses certain microorganisms to break down suspended and dissolved organic solids. The water then gets transferred to an aeration tank, where air provides oxygen to facilitate the growth of microorganisms that eat up the organic matter. The following phases are secondary sedimentation (for more settling), then the use of substances to remove biological pathogens present in the water and any final treatment necessary before the water can be considered clean and safe for use.
Benefits
Some of the primary benefits associated with the process of wastewater filtration include:
- Environmentally friendly: Wastewater treatment means a reduction in waste that gets released into the environment, which is better for the overall health of the environment and the people and animals that inhabit it.
- Reduced water loss: With reduced water pollution, there is also reduced water loss that occurs as a result of higher levels of water pollution.
- Reduced costs: Wastewater treatment reduces how much money an area spends on environmental rehabilitation projects caused by pollution from wastewater, and also the losses and damage caused by water shortages.
- Energy production: The gas that gets produced during anaerobic wastewater treatment processes contains a significant amount of methane, which can be harvested for use in the creation of electricity. In such a way, wastewater treatment plants can essentially become self sustaining. Any excess energy generated through the process could be put into the local, regional or national electric grid, cutting down on how much we rely on fossil fuels for producing energy.
- Fertilizer production: The organic solids that get removed from wastewater get pumped out and sent to refining facilities where they are turned into natural fertilizer, which can be highly beneficial for the agricultural world and can decrease the reliance on chemical fertilizers that can be harmful for the environment.
For more information about the various benefits of wastewater filtration and why wastewater disinfection is important, we encourage you to contact the water filtration specialists in Camden County, MO at Enviro-Line Co., Inc. today.
Categorised in: Wastewater Filtration