WATER POLLUTION AND WASTE WATER TREATMENT

“Water pollution” is defined as the presence in groundwater of toxic chemicals and biological agents that
exceed what is naturally found in the water and may pose a threat to human health or the environment.

Additionally, water pollution may consist of chemicals introduced into the water bodies as a result of various
human activities. Any amount of those chemicals pollutes the water, regardless of the harm they may pose to
human health and the environment. (1)

Water is essential for the survival of all life forms. On an average a human being consumes about 2 litres of water
a day. Water accounts for 70% of the weight of the human body. About 80% of the earth surface is covered with
water. Out of estimated 1011 million km3 of the total water present on earth 33400m3 of water is available for
drinking, agriculture, domestic and industrial consumption. Owing to increase population and industrialization on
one hand considerable part of limited quantity of water is polluted by sewage industrial waste and a wide array of
synthetic chemicals. (2)

 326 million cubic miles of water on the planet

 97% of the earth's water is found in the oceans (too salty for drinking, growing crops, and most industrial uses
except cooling).
 320 million cubic miles of water in the oceans
 3% of the earth's water is fresh.
 2.5% of the earth's fresh water is unavailable: locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps, atmosphere, and soil; highly
polluted; or lies too far under the earth's surface to be extracted at an affordable cost.
 Less than 1 percent of the world's freshwater is readily accessible for drinking purpose.
 If the world's water supply were only 100 liters (26 gallons), our usable water supply of fresh water would be
only about 0.003 liter .(3)
 Water resources percentage on earth

Causes of water pollution:

Water is uniquely vulnerable to pollution. Known as a “universal solvent,” water is able to dissolve more
substances than any other liquid on earth. It’s the reason we have Kool-Aid and brilliant blue waterfalls. It’s also
why water is so easily polluted. Toxic substances from farms, towns, and factories readily dissolve into and mix
with it, causing water pollution.

Sources of Water Pollution:

Some of the most commonly occurring water pollutants are:

 Domestic Waste

 Industrial effluents

 Insecticides and pesticides

 Detergents and Fertilizers

Some of the water pollution that is caused is by Direct Sources, such as factories, waste management facilities.
refineries etc., that directly release waste and harmful by-products into the nearest water source without treating
them. Indirect sources include pollutants that enter the water bodies via groundwater or soil or via the atmosphere as
acid rain.

Effects of Pollution of Water

1. Diseases: In humans, drinking or consuming polluted water in any way has many disastrous effects on our
health. It causes typhoid, cholera, hepatitis and various other diseases.

2. Destruction of Ecosystems: Ecosystems are extremely dynamic and respond to even small changes in the
environment. Water pollution can cause an entire ecosystem to collapse if left unchecked.

3. Eutrophication: Chemicals in a water body, encourage the growth of algae. These algae form a layer on top
of the pond or lake. Bacteria feed on this algae and this decreases the amount of oxygen in the water body,
severely affecting the aquatic life there.

4. Effects the food chain: Disruption in food chains happens when toxins and pollutants in the water are
consumed by aquatic animals (fish, shellfish etc.) which are then consumed by humans.(4)

Methods and equipment used in waste water:

The various method used in sewage and waste water treatment are as follows:

Preliminary treatment:
Influent to treatment plants contains pieces of wood, rags, plastics and other debris. Sand, eggshells and other
coarse inorganic material is present in the flow in addition to organic matter from household, industrial,
commercial and institutional water use. Preliminary treatment provides for the removal of large debris and heavy
inorganic material contained in the wastewater flow. One of the first treatment operations involves screening of
the influent wastewater flow. Mechanical screens consisting of parallel bars or stepped plates placed at an angle in
the path of the wastewater flow are used to remove this debris. Mechanical rakes clear debris from the bars and
these screenings are washed and compressed to remove excess water and ultimately disposed of by burial in a
landfill. Removal of these materials protects the treatment plant’s piping and downstream equipment from
blockage and/or damage. Following screening operations the wastewater flow passes into aerated channels
designed to slow the flow velocity to 0.3 metres per second. Here heavy inorganic materials separate from the
wastewater and settle. The settled inorganic material is referred to as grit. Periodically, the settled grit is removed
from the channels washed and ultimately disposed of by burial in a landfill. Grit is very abrasive and its removal
early in the treatment process reduces wear on pumps and other equipment. This inorganic material would
otherwise eventually settle in other process areas and take up effective treatment volume or capacity.
In some larger plants, fat and grease are removed by passing the sewage through a small tank where skimmers
collect the fat floating on the surface. Air blowers in the base of the tank may also be used to help recover the fat
as a froth. Many plants, however, use primary clarifiers with mechanical surface skimmers for fat and grease
removal. (5)

Primary treatment:
After the removal of gross solid ,gritty material and excessive quantity of oil and grease the next step is to remove
the remaining suspended solid as much as possible. This step is aimed to reducing the strength of waste water.

Sedimentation:
Suspended solids that pass through screens and grit chambers are removed from the sewage in sedimentation
tanks. These tanks, also called primary clarifiers, provide about two hours of detention time for gravity settling to
take place. As the sewage flows through them slowly, the solids gradually sink to the bottom. The settled
solids—known as raw or primary sludge—are moved along the tank bottom by mechanical scrapers. Sludge is
collected in a hopper, where it is pumped out for removal. Mechanical surface-skimming devices remove grease
and other floating materials.
Sedimentation aids:
Finally divided suspended solid and colloidal particles cannot be efficiently removed by simple sedimentation
such cases mechanical flocculation and chemical coagulation is employed. (6)

Mechanical flocculation:
It is a process where in colloids come out of suspension in the form of floc, either spontaneously or due to the
addition of a clarifying agent. It is used in applications like water purification, sewage treatment, cheese
production and brewing, for example. It requires the detention time of 30 minutes while rotating paddle is at the
speed of 0.43m\s.
Chemical coagulation:
It is a chemical process that involves a neutralising charge on the particles. This occurs when a coagulant is added
to water to destabilise colloidal suspensions. The coagulation and flocculation in water and wastewater treatment
processes can be used as a preliminary or intermediary step between other water or wastewater treatment
processes like filtration and sedimentation. some coagulants are:
1: hydrated lime 2:alum 3:copperas(feso4.7H2o) 4:ferric chloride
 5: chlorinated copperas(7)

Equalization:

Flow equalization is the process of controlling hydraulic velocity, or flow rate, through a wastewater treatment
system. The equalization of flow prevents short term, high volumes of incoming flow, called surges, from
forcing solids and organic material out of the treatment process. Flow equalization also controls the flow through
each stage of the treatment system, allowing adequate time for the physical, biological and chemical processes to
take place.

Neutralization:

Highly acidic or highly alkaline waste should be properly neutralized before being discharged. Acidic wastes are
usually neutralized by treatment with limestone or caustic soda, depending upon the type or quantity of waste.
Alkaline wastes may be neutralized by treatment with sulphuric acid or carbon dioxide or waste boiler fuel gas.
(8)

Secondary treatment:
Secondary wastewater treatment processes use microorganisms to biologically remove contaminants from
wastewater. Secondary biological processes can be aerobic or anaerobic, each process utilizing a different type of
bacterial community. Coupled anaerobic–aerobic processes may also be employed under certain circumstances.

Aerobic – Aerobic biological processes are common in municipal wastewater treatment. In an aerobic system, the
organic contaminants are converted to carbon dioxide, water, additional microorganisms, and other end products.

Aerobic lagoons – Lagoons are typically large, shallow earthen basins that provide adequate residence time for
the wastewater to be treated naturally by both bacteria and algae.

Activated sludge – A suspended-growth aerobic biological process in which microorganisms remove

carbonaceous matter from wastewater in an aerobic environment.

Rotating biological contactor – An attached-growth process consisting of a series of closely spaced, parallel
discs mounted on a rotating shaft which is partially submerged in the wastewater being treated. Microorganisms
grow on the surface of the discs where aerobic biological degradation of the wastewater pollutants takes place.

Trickling filter – An attached-growth process where wastewater is distributed over a fixed bed of media such as
rocks, gravel, plastic substrate, etc. The wastewater flows downward over the media surface where
microorganisms form a layer of biomass and consume contaminants in the water.
Rotating biological reactors (contactors), another type of treatment system, consist of groups of large
plastic discs mounted close together on a rotating shaft. The device is positioned such that at any particular
instant half of each disc is immersed in wastewater and half exposed to air. The shaft rotates constantly, so
that the submerged portion of the discs is always changing. The discs, usually made of high-density
polyethylene or polystyrene, accumulate thin layers of attached biomass, which degrades organic matter in
the sewage. Oxygen is absorbed by the biomass and by the layer of wastewater adhering to it during the time
that the biomass is exposed to air.
Both trickling filters and rotating biological reactors are examples of fixed-film biological (FFB) or attached
growth processes. The greatest advantage of these processes is their low energy consumption. The energy
consumption is minimal because it is not necessary to pump air or oxygen into the water, as is the case with
the popular activated sludge process described below. The trickling filter has long been a standard means of
wastewater treatment, and a number of wastewater treatment plants use trickling filters at present.

The activated sludge process, is probably the most versatile and effective of all wastewater treatment
processes. Microorganisms in the aeration tank convert organic material in wastewater to microbial biomass
and CO2. Organic nitrogen is converted to ammonium ion or nitrate. Organic phosphorus is converted to
orthophosphate. The microbial cell matter formed as part of the waste degradation processes is normally kept
in the aeration tank until the microorganisms are past the log phase of growth at which point the cells
flocculate relatively well to form settle able solids. These solids settle out in a settler and a fraction of them is
discarded. Part of the solids, the return sludge, is recycled to the head of the aeration tank and comes into
contact with fresh sewage. The combination of a high concentration of “hungry” cells in the return sludge and
a rich food source in the influent sewage provides optimum conditions for the rapid degradation of organic
matter.(5)
The degradation of organic matter that occurs in an activated sludge facility also occurs in streams and other
aquatic environments. However, in general, when a degradable waste is put into a stream, it encounters only
a relatively small population of microorganisms capable of carrying out the degradation process. Thus, several
days may be required for the buildup of a sufficient population of organisms to degrade the waste. In the
activated sludge process, continual recycling of active organisms provides the optimum conditions for waste
degradation, and a waste may be degraded within the very few hours that it is present in the aeration tank.
The activated sludge process provides two pathways for the removal of BOD.2
BOD can be removed by:
(1) oxidation of organic matter to provide energy for the metabolic processes of the microorganisms.
(2) synthesis, incorporation of the organic matter into cell mass.
In the first pathway, carbon is removed in the gaseous form as CO2. The second pathway provides for
removal of carbon as a solid in biomass. That portion of the carbon converted to CO 2 is vented to the
atmosphere and does not present a disposal problem. The disposal of waste sludge, however, is a problem,
primarily because it is only about 1% solids and contains many undesirable components. Normally, partial
water removal is accomplished by drying on sand filters, vacuum filtration, or centrifugation. The dewatered
sludge can be incinerated or used as landfill.
To a certain extent, sewage

sludge can be digested in the absence of oxygen by methane-producing anaerobic bacteria to produce
methane and carbon dioxide2
2{ CH2O } → CH4 + CO2

Anaerobic – Anaerobic biological treatment processes employ organisms that function in the absence of
molecular oxygen. Anaerobic processes convert organic contaminants to a biofuel gas comprising carbon dioxide,
methane, and other end products. Anaerobic processes are generally used to treat high-strength wastewaters
where it is impractical to utilize aerobic processes or where producing a biofuel gas is desired. Anaerobic
processes also use considerably less energy than mechanical aeration processes. Anaerobic processes are loosely
organized as either suspended or attached-growth systems. (9)
Tertiary treatment:
As the wastewater reaches the tertiary treatment stage, it still has residual suspended matter and fine particulates.
Further, it has a relatively high level of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and has microbes and odor in it.
During tertiary treatment process, different methods are used to remove all these contaminants and properties
from wastewater.

Filtration:

The first stage of tertiary treatment is filtration which helps primarily to remove residual suspended matter in
wastewater. Sand filtration is the usual method that is used for this purpose. In some cases, residual toxins may be
present in wastewater and to filter them out, activated carbon is used to adsorb the toxins and remove them from
wastewater.

Biological process:

After filtration, some fine particulate matter may still remain in the wastewater. To treat the wastewater further, it
is transferred to lagoons with and filter feeders such as Daphne. In the lagoon’s aerobic and biologically enriched
environment, further removal of fine particulate matter takes place. The wastewater may still have high nutrient
concentration.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are usually found in high concentration in wastewater and this, if untreated and
released into the natural water environment, can cause excessive growth, consequent death (due to nutrient and
space limitation) and eventual decomposition of algae. As the dead algae due to bacterial action, the amount of
oxygen becomes much less than is necessary for other aquatic life to survive. Therefore, reduction of nitrogen and
phosphorus concentrations is critical before wastewater release into natural water bodies. Both nitrogen and
phosphorus can be removed using biological processes involving different bacteria. Nitrogen in the form of
ammonia is first oxidized to form nitrates and then nitrates to nitrogen gas which is released to the environment.
On the other hand, phosphorus can be removed biologically as well by chemical precipitation with salts of iron,
aluminium, or lime. accumulating bacteria can accumulate high percentage of phosphorus and the biomass thus
generated can further be of good value as fertilizer. Similarly, phosphate-rich sludge which is produced as a result
of precipitation during chemical treatment for removal of phosphorus has good value as fertilizer.(10)
Use of disinfectants reagents:

The final steps in tertiary wastewater treatment, before release into the environment, are removing any
undesirable microbes through the process of disinfection and also removal of odors from wastewater. The clear
and less cloudy nature of wastewater at this stage is critical for efficiency and effectiveness of the disinfection
process. Several disinfection agents can be used depending on wastewater condition (pH, clarity etc.) And among
them chlorine, ozone, ultraviolet (UV) light are most common. These have their advantages and disadvantages.
Chlorine is a time-tested effective disinfection agent. However, long term use and unregulated dosage can lead to
generation of chlorinated-organic compounds from chlorination of residual organic matter in water. Such
compounds may be carcinogenic in nature. Therefore, a de-chlorination step is important if the water is to be
discharged into larger aquatic bodies. Ultraviolet light treatment for disinfection does not leave any residues or
compounds behind in the water but for it to be effective, the wastewater must be clear. Proper lamp and equipment
maintenance is necessary for long term usage of UV light. Ozone is also a very effective disinfection agent and
does not need any storage place as it can be generated on site using the necessary equipment for passing oxygen
through high voltage current.

Odor in wastewater is mainly a result of release of gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, from anaerobic processes in
wastewater. Carbon reactors, regulated amounts of chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, calcium nitrate etc. Can be
effectively used to manage hydrogen sulfide levels and thus reduce odors from wastewater.

Eventually, the wastewater after the tertiary treatment is fitting, after necessary tests, to be released into the
environment for further re-use.(5)