Wastewater, also written as waste water, is any water that has been adversely affected in quality

by anthropogenic influence. Wastewater can originate from a combination of domestic, industrial,

commercial or agricultural activities, surface runoff or storm water, and from sewer inflow or
infiltration.

Origions:
Wastewater can come from (text in brackets indicates likely inclusions or contaminants):

Human waste (feces, used toilet paper or wipes, urine, or other bodily fluids), also known
as blackwater, usually from lavatories;

Cesspit leakage;

Septic tank discharge;

Sewage treatment plant discharge;

Washing water (personal, clothes, floors, dishes, etc.), also known as greywater or sullage;

Rainfall collected on roofs, yards, hard-standings, etc. (generally clean with traces
of oils and fuel);

Groundwater infiltrated into sewage;

Surplus manufactured liquids from domestic sources (drinks, cooking

oil, pesticides, lubricating oil, paint, cleaning liquids, etc.);

Urban rainfall runoff from roads, carparks, roofs, sidewalks/pavements (contains oils, animal
feces, litter, gasoline/petrol, diesel orrubber residues, soapscum, metals from vehicle exhausts,
etc.);

Seawater ingress (high volumes of salt and microbes);

Direct ingress of river water (high volumes of micro-biota);

Direct ingress of manmade liquids (illegal disposal of pesticides, used oils, etc.);

Highway drainage (oil, de-icing agents, rubber residues);

Storm drains (almost anything, including cars, shopping trolleys, trees, cattle, etc.);

Blackwater (contains feces, urine and flushwater from flush toilets);

Industrial waste

Industrial site drainage (silt, sand, alkali, oil, chemical residues);

Industrial cooling waters (biocides, heat, slimes, silt);

Industrial process waters;

Organic or biodegradable waste, including waste from abattoirs, creameries, and ice
cream manufacture;

Organic or non bio-degradable/difficult-to-treat waste

(pharmaceutical or pesticide manufacturing);

Extreme pH waste (from acid/alkali manufacturing, metal plating);

Toxic waste (metal plating, cyanide production, pesticide manufacturing, etc.);

Solids and emulsions (paper manufacturing, foodstuffs, lubricating and

hydraulic oil manufacturing, etc.);

Agricultural drainage, direct and diffuse.

Hydraulic fracturing

Produced water from oil & natural gas production

Introduction to Wastewater Treatment Processes

Wastewater treatment is closely related to the standards and/or expectations set for the effluent quality. Wastewater
treatment processes are designed to achieve improvements in the quality of the wastewater. The various treatment processes
may reduce:
1.
2.

Suspended solids (physical particles that can clog rivers or channels as they settle under gravity)
Biodegradable organics (e.g. BOD) which can serve as food for microorganisms in the receiving body.
Microorganisms combine this matter with oxygen from the water to yield the energy they need to thrive and multiply;
unfortunately, this oxygen is also needed by fish and other organisms in the river. Heavy organic pollution can lead to dead
zones where no fish can be found; sudden releases of heavy organic loads can lead to dramatic fishkills.

3.

Pathogenic bacteria and other disease causing organisms These are most relevant where the receiving water is
used for drinking, or where people would otherwise be in close contact with it; and

4.

Nutrients, including nitrates and phosphates. These nutrients can lead to high concentrations of unwanted algae,
which can themselves become heavy loads of biodegradable organic load Treatment processes may also neutralize or
removing industrial wastes and toxic chemicals. This type of treatment should ideally take place at the industrial plant itself,
before discharge of their effluent in municipal sewers or water courses.
Widely used terminology refers to three levels of wastewater treatment: primary, secondary, and tertiary (or advanced).
Primary (mechanical) treatment is designed to remove gross, suspended and floating solids from raw sewage. It
includes screening to trap solid objects and sedimentation by gravity to remove suspended solids. This level is sometimes
referred to as mechanical treatment, although chemicals are often used to accelerate the sedimentation process. Primary
treatment can reduce the BOD of the incoming wastewater by 20-30% and the total suspended solids by some 50-60%.
Primary treatment is usually the first stage of wastewater treatment. Many advanced wastewater treatment plants in
industrialized countries have started with primary treatment, and have then added other treatment stages as wastewater
load has grown, as the need for treatment has increased, and as resources have become available.
Secondary (biological) treatment removes the dissolved organic matter that escapes primary treatment. This is
achieved by microbes consuming the organic matter as food, and converting it to carbon dioxide, water, and energy for their
own growth and reproduction. The biological process is then followed by additional settling tanks (secondary
sedimentation", see photo) to remove more of the suspended solids. About 85% of the suspended solids and BOD can be
removed by a well running plant with secondary treatment. Secondary treatment technologies include the basic activated
sludge process, the variants of pond and constructed wetland systems, trickling filters and other forms of treatment which
use biological activity to break down organic matter.
Tertiary treatment is simply additional treatment beyond secondary! Tertiary treatment can remove more than 99
percent of all the impurities from sewage, producing an effluent of almost drinking-water quality. The related technology can
be very expensive, requiring a high level of technical know-how and well trained treatment plant operators, a steady energy
supply, and chemicals and specific equipment which may not be readily available. An example of a typical tertiary treatment
process is the modification of a conventional secondary treatment plant to remove additional phosphorus and nitrogen.
Disinfection, typically with chlorine, can be the final step before discharge of the effluent. However, some environmental
authorities are concerned that chlorine residuals in the effluent can be a problem in their own right, and have moved away
from this process. Disinfection is frequently built into treatment plant design, but not effectively practiced, because of the
high cost of chlorine, or the reduced effectiveness of ultraviolet radiation where the water is not sufficiently clear or free of
particles.

Characterization of Wastewaters
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5)
(BOD5) means a 5-day biochemical oxygen demand. The idea of the analysis is that in polluted water
there is an oxygen demand caused by micro-organisms. The required oxygen demand was used to
measure the extent if the pollution. Oxygen demand increases as temperature and time of reaction
increases. See Figure of BOD concentration vs reaction time for various temperatures.

Different organics have different oxygen demands per gram of matter and this means that the BODanalysis only gives an approximate estimate of the weight of oxidized organic matter.

Details of the BOD test

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
COD is a measure of the oxygen equivalent of organic matter content of a sample that is susceptible to
oxidation by a strong chemical oxidant. The chemical oxidants include: potassium permanganate and
potassium dichromate. The COD-analysis may be carried out automatically and relatively fast (1-2 hours)
and the measured COD-values give a good picture of the total content of organic matter.

Total Organic Carbon (TOC)

TOC is calculated by measuring the difference between the carbon dioxide concentration before and after
oxidation. TOC is not unambiguously tied to other parameters for organic matter as it states the amount of
carbin atoms, but does not say anything about their state of oxidation. Hence, it conveys no information
as to how much oxygen should be used for the oxidation.

2.1 Physicochemical. Parameters

2.1.1 pH
2.1.2 Solids content
2.1.3 Temperature
2.1.4 Odour
2.2 Organic Content
2.2.1 Biochemical oxygen demand
2.2.2 Chemical oxygen demand
2.2.3 Other methods for estimation of organic content
2.2.4 Relationships between estimates of the organic content
2.2.5 Oil and grease
2.3 Nitrogen and Phosphorous
2.4 Characteristics of Fish Processing Wastewaters
2.5 Sampling
2.6 Discharge Limits
Page 46,47, 48 ED162

Physical testing
Common physical tests of water include temperature, solids concentrations (e.g., total suspended
solids (TSS)) and turbidity.

Chemical testing
Water samples may be examined using the principles of analytical chemistry. Many published test
methods are available for both organic and inorganic compounds. Frequently used methods
include pH, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD),[24]:102 chemical oxygen demand (COD),[24]:104 nutrients
(nitrate and phosphorus compounds), metals (including copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and mercury),
oil and grease, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), and pesticides.

Biological testing
Biological testing involves the use of plant, animal, and/or microbial indicators to monitor the health
of an aquatic ecosystem. They are any biological species or group of species whose function,
population, or status can reveal what degree of ecosystem or environmental integrity is present.
[25]

One example of a group of bio-indicators are the copepods and other small

water crustaceans that are present in many water bodies. Such organisms can be monitored for
changes (biochemical, physiological, or behavioral) that may indicate a problem within their
ecosystem.