Wastewater Treatment Activity

1. Based on the reading above, if your home is not serviced by a public sewer system, how are the wastes treated? Describe the system. First the waste would go through a septic system. The sludges that is in the wastewater would then sink into the bottom of the tank, the lighter substances would float, and the water that is in the middle would go into the surrounding soil through pipes. 2. If your home is serviced by a public sewer system please explain what happens to the water once it leaves your residence. The water would flow to a nearby waterway, or the ocean.

1. What color is the pipe containing dirty water? BROWN 2. What color is the pipe that takes water into the house? BLUE 3. What happens in preliminary treatment: Flow through a screen to remove most solids 4. What happens to large objects found in the water? The conveyor belt would then be cleaned out and dumped into a landfill. 5. What is a grit chamber and how is it used? It is used to make heavier materials sink down to the bottom. 6. Primary treatment removes 50 % of the pollutants in waste water. 7. What happens to oatable solids such as grease and oil? First they would remove those floatable solids and burn them in an incinerator. 8. What do you see coming from the smoke stack? Smoke 9. What happens to the sludge in primary treatment? It would get burned in the incinerator. 10. What happens in secondary treatment? Bacteria would be used to get rid of the organic materials that is in the water. Air would then be pumped into the water to increase the amount of bacteria that is in the water.

11. What are some examples of microorganisms used in secondary treatment? Floc, Tokophyra, Vorticella and Paramecium. 12. What happens to the remaining dirt? It would sink into the bottom of the tank and be removed. 13. What happens to the reaming water? (discuss the function of chlorine in your answer) Chemicals would then be added into the water to get rid of the remaining pollutants to clean the water. 14. What is the nal process of wastewater treatment? To eliminate chlorine, SO2 gets added into the water. 15. Summarize the steps in wastewater treatment 101 Wastewater would flow out of the residents house, then it flows through a screen ot remove large particles. Then it flow into the secondary treatment, and bacteria is used to get rid of organic materials. Water would then flow into the tertiary treatment and gets disinfected by chemicals, and UV rays. 16. Summarize what they suggest in ush responsibly To flush things that does not contains chemicals that are too harsh or hazardous. Things such as beauty products, pharmaceuticals, and herbicide/pesticides should not be flushed down the drain because there is a possibility that those products can flow into rivers or the ocean. 17.On page two what items should not go down the drain? Pharmaceuticals, beauty products, grease, diapers, feminine hygiene products. 18. Where does the water go after you ush the toilet or drain the sinks at home? It would flow into a wastewater treatment facility. 19. Examine gure A Describe a septic tank and how it works. (also look at the information on septic tanks on pages 2-3) Sludge sink to the bottom and decomposes. Lighter substances would flow onto the top. 20.Up until the mid 1800s what was the normal practice in dealing with waste? Dump into pots and then into ditches. 21. Examine gure B How long does water spend in the waste water treatment plant? 8 to 16 hours

22. Where is water released when it is nished being treated? Into lakes, rivers, or the ocean. 23.How many pounds of solids/sludge are produced annually per household? 500 lbs.

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30.Anything you ush down the toilet will eventually show up at the wastewater treatment plant (albeit not always in its original condition). Lets say, for example, you accidentally drop a small towel down the toilet and it makes its way through the plumbing to the wastewater treatment plant. What device is likely to catch the towel at the plant, and what would be its ultimate destination if this occurred at the proled treatment plant? The towel will get caught by the screens then be disposed in a landfill. 31. Why is the wastewater effluent treated with chlorine, bleach, or ultraviolet light after secondary treatment? Everything else that remains in the water will then be released by chemicals such as chlorine and bleach. UV would also be used to get rid of those remaining substances. 32.Describe how the organic solids collected in the wastewater treatment plant are processed after collection, and list their nal destinations at the proled plant. They are collected by bacteria and activated sludges. 33. Eutrophication occurs when bodies of water, usually lakes or rivers, experience algal blooms from large inputs of plant nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, which leads to low oxygen levels in the water and adverse impacts on aquatic organisms. Both nitrogen and phosphorus can occur in large concentrations in wastewater effluent. Describe, in detail, the approaches

taken at the proled treatment plant to deal with nitrogen and phosphorus removal prior to the release of the effluent into the environment. Nitrification gets rid of nitrogen and phosphorus. It turns the nitrogen that was in the ammonia into a gas form to be used as a carbon source. To maintain the pH level that is required, sodium hydroxide is added. 34. Explain why the proled plant should be particularly concerned about eutrophication given its release site. When eutrophication occurs, more bacteria are alive. By having more bacteria, then the secondary treatment can be more effective. But too many bacteria is not too beneficial because there is a possibility that it would get into the water that gets returned into house water.