Protecting the water supply means not only reducing freshwater used but also treating wastewater. This process helps the environment in multiple ways. It also has a significant impact on human health. Wastewater treatment is still a changing process. As more technology develops, it will become an even greater boon to the environment than it is today. Here’s a list of all that it does.
1. Reduces Water Pollution
Wastewater treatment draws most pollutants out of used water from sewage treatment plants and manufacturing facilities. Returning the water to the source after treatment is a much better option than sending untreated water into the source. With fewer pollutants in the treated water, plants and animals are not killed off as they might be from raw sewage or untreated wastewater going directly into rivers and streams.
The consequences of not treating wastewater are dire. For instance, in September 2016, untreated sewage reached the River Trent in Staffordshire, England. This issue led to the deaths of more than 15,000 fish. Had the sewage gotten into the drinking water supply, it could have sickened or killed people as well.
2. Protects the Water Supply
The amount of fresh, potable water on Earth is limited. Untreated wastewater can taint fresh water supplies. If it does, it reduces the already limited resource for drinking. Treating wastewater protects the fresh water supply used by people, plants and animals. In this way, wastewater treatment protects people and the environment.
Wastewater contains contaminants that can cause illness and death in humans. Pathogens in sewage include hepatitis A, diarrhea-causing bacteria and e. Coli. Treating wastewater removes these dangerous pathogens, making it safer when it reaches the natural fresh water supply.
3. Generates Energy
You read that right. Wastewater treatment can produce energy. Existing wastewater treatment facilities can generate power by adding a combined heat and power, CHP, system. These systems use the biogas given off by the wastewater to create energy. At the East Bay Municipal Utility District wastewater treatment facility in San Francisco, 90 percent of the plant’s energy comes from power produced by CHP.
Imagine getting clean energy from sewage. It’s currently happening in some parts of the country, and the impact could be greater if more places did it. You don’t have to imagine how much energy it would create if all wastewater plants did it. Here are the calculations. The energy created by installing CHP on all 544 major municipal wastewater treatment plants in America could generate 340 megawatts of energy.
Even if a facility cannot generate its own energy, some equipment reduces energy use by the plant. The right equipment can cause a reduction in energy use up to 25 percent by increasing oxygen transfer. In places where adding CHP is not feasible, adding more energy efficient equipment is a viable option for making wastewater treatment more environmentally friendly.
4. Creates Useable Water
Wastewater treatment facilities can even clean water enough to reuse it. While it may be years before you’ll drink the results of a treatment facility, you may benefit from other uses for treated wastewater. These advantages could include flushing toilets, industrial cooling and agriculture.
Currently, an estimated 20 million hectares of land may be irrigated with raw sewage. The nitrogen and phosphorus involved pose environmental threats, but treating the wastewater could solve the problem of overusing fresh water for irrigation. Research to make treated wastewater a more environmentally friendly option is still needed, but this step could be a future solution.
Wastewater Treatment and the Environment
It’s clear that wastewater can’t be left in a raw state. Treatment facilities help the environment, preserve the water supply and protect health. Additionally, technology to make wastewater treatment almost self-sufficient reduces energy use. Protecting the water supply through wastewater treatment helps preserve the existing water supply for the current and future generations — clearly a step in the right direction.