Have you ever thought of where the water flows after flushing the toilet or draining the sink? You must have heard about wastewater treatment plants. Yes, that’s where the water goes, and it is cleaned to be reused naturally! The wastewater treatment process helps to protect public health and ecosystems.
Want to know how wastewater treatment plants work?
Here’s a proper guide to understand this simple process!
1) Collection & Screening
Wastewater from homes, offices, and factories travels via sewage pipes to the wastewater treatment plant, and the screening process occurs. Large objects such as sticks, rags, toys or plastic bags are trapped using metal screens.
This helps to protect machines and pumps from getting damaged. Grit chambers are also sometimes used to allow heavy gravel or sand to settle down.
2) Primary Treatment
The water enters large settling or sedimentation tanks where gravity separates heavier particles, which sink to the bottom, known as sludge.
Simultaneously, oils and grease float to the water surface and are skimmed off! This step removes half of the suspended solids and reduces organic material, making the next cleaning step easier.
Also read: How to obtain a borewell NOC: A Guide with Bharti Enviro Services
3) Secondary Treatment
Next, the remaining dissolved and organic matter has to be removed. Therefore, the wastewater is moved into aeration tanks, where air/pure oxygen is pumped in, which helps to grow bacteria. These microbes consume the organic & dissolved waste, breaking it down naturally.
Then the mixture is moved into another settling tank where the bacteria and other remaining solids settle down as “activated sludge”. This step helps to remove approximately 80% to 90% of pollutants.
4) Tertiary Treatment (Advanced Cleaning)
Next, the water has to undergo an advanced cleaning process that helps remove nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which can lead to algae blooms in lakes and rivers.
Different methods are used to purify the water, like chemical treatments, sand filters and membranes. Some wastewater treatment processes also include activated carbon to absorb minute contaminants.
5) Disinfection
Before the water is released, it is properly disinfected using chlorine or ultraviolet rays to kill harmful viruses and bacteria. The treated water is then released into oceans and rivers or reused for landscaping, irrigation, and industrial processes.
6) Sludge Treatment
The sludge that is collected earlier in the process is not wasted. It’s thickened and digested by bacteria to reduce its odour & volume.
In many wastewater treatment plants, this specific process produces biogas, which produce heat or electricity. Also, the remaining solid parts are composted or utilised as fertiliser.
In Conclusion
Wastewater treatment plants are essential to the modern infrastructure because they quietly protect communities from many problems, such as waterborne diseases, safeguard aquatic life and conserve water.
They make sure that the used water can safely rejoin the natural water cycle. By converting dirty water into safe liquid for nature & reuse, sewage wastewater treatment helps to keep our environment clean and healthy.
You can also take a stand for a cleaner, healthier future with Bharti Enviro Services — We deliver tailored, budget-friendly and sustainable solutions to drive the best results for your business!
