SEWAGE TREATMENT

Domestic wastewater will contain both solid and dissolved pollutants including faecal matter, paper, urine, sanitary items, food residues and a variety of other contaminants. The sewer network will usually also receive wastewaters from office and commercial properties and from industrial premises. Rainwater from roofs and roads may also drain into the sewer network. The combined flow from these various sources travels through the sewer system and u ltimately to a sewage works where it receives treatment before discharge of the effluent to a stream, river, estuary or the sea. Why do we need to treat Sewage? Treatment of sewage is essential to ensure that the receiving water into which the effluent is ultimately discharged is not significantly polluted. However, the degree of treatment required will vary according to the type of receiving water. Thus, a very high degree of treatment will be required if the effluent discharges to a fishery or upstream of an abstraction point for water supply. A lower level of treatment may be acceptable for discharges to coastal waters where there is rapid dilution and dispersion. What does Sewage Treatment involve? Sewage treatment involves:

The removal of solids by physical screening or sedimentation The removal of soluble and fine suspended organic pollutants by a biological oxidation process. Both forms of treatment produce sludge as by-products and these have to be treated and disposed of separa tely in an economical and envionmentally r acceptable way.

Process Flow Diagram for a typical large-scale treatment plant