Introduction

H2O, as we all know, is the chemical formula of a water molecule. This simple molecule is
responsible for sustaining most of the life that is present on our blue planet. It was the flashpoint
that started life, and also the reason for the evolution of human civilization. As we are moving
towards the 22nd century the demand for potable water is ever-increasing, the reason being the
explosion in human population and insufficiency of uncontaminated and potable water sources.
Due to human activities, most of the potable water which has been derived from rivers, lakes,
and reservoirs is getting polluted at an alarming rate. And the rapidly accelerating climate
change leading to environmental disasters is also a cause for concern. As a result, in the
contemporary world water sources are becoming the major reason for disputes among nations
and also within the nations. Given this various attempts are being made to find alternative water
sources and methods to recycle and reuse water. For now, let's dive deep into different recycling
methods.

Recycling

According to the Oxford dictionary, the term recycling means “return to the previous stage of the
cyclic process” or “convert waste into usable form”. And using it we can define recycling as “The
process of converting waste materials into reusable objects to prevent waste of potentially
useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials”. As mentioned earlier, as
the human population is increasing, the use and need for fresh water is also increasing
exponentially. Apart from individual needs, water is required at large for Industrial and
Agricultural purposes. And these activities are leading to the deterioration of our fresh water
sources. As a result it is becoming more and more difficult to find and sustain the fresh water
sources we have .As the climate change is becoming more and more severe, the reliability of
traditional water sources are also decreasing. So for a sustainable future, and to reduce the
dependency on natural sources recycling of water seems the logical step.

So in order to understand recycling of water we need to understand what we are recycling.

We are recycling wastewater, it is water that is mainly affected by human activities and if
discharged to the environment, causes pollution, which further affects our water availability.
As we know, any contaminant when present in water above a certain concentration causes
toxicity and becomes harmful for consumption. And qualitatively, the type of contaminant
depends on the source which are either Industrial, agricultural or municipal. And they can also
be classified as organic, inorganic or biological. And these contaminants remain in water as
sediments, dissolved or in colloidal form.

Wastewater treatment and its reuse are one of the biggest research areas and scientists are
trying to find a financially viable and sustainable recycling technology to do so. Currently the
recycling technology and its processes are combined under one unit. With the processes being
primary, secondary and tertiary treatment processes.The waste water first undergoes primary
treatment process wherein the heavily polluted water is treated to remove physical and chemical
contaminants and then to secondary process wherein the biological waste, especially the
microbes and organic contaminants are removed from the wastewater. Tertiary treatment
processes are the final and most important process, in which the waste water finally becomes
suitable for human consumption.

Let's understand the primary treatment process in detail.

Primary treatment process

It is a preliminary process in which the solid wastes are removed from the wastewater.In this
process, the waste water is placed in large basins and depending upon the density differences
different contaminants are removed and can be pushed forward for secondary process.Some
organic nitrogen, organic phosphorus, and heavy metals associated with solids are also
removed during primary sedimentation but colloidal and dissolved constituents are not affected.
The effluent from primary sedimentation units is referred to as primary effluent. This treatment
process is considered sufficient, if the wastewater is used for irrigation of crops but not for
human consumption, domestic uses or for food processing. At primary level water is treated
using screening, floatation,sedimentary and gravity separation, coagulation, centrifugal
separation and filtration
Lets understand it one by one

● Screening is the first step in wastewater treatment and is mainly used to remove solid
wastes like cloths, papers, kitchen wastes, plastics, fecal matter etc from the wastewater.
In this process screens of different sizes are used, depending upon the size of the solid
wastes present in it.
● Floatation is the most essential component among these processes.The suspended
Solids, oils, greases, biological solids etc. are removed by this process In which air
bubbles are introduced as a transport medium by passing compressed air through the
water. The suspended particles that are hydrophobic moves into the air bubble surface
and then these bubbles comes up to the water surface, which can be skimmed off
easily.
● In sedimentation and gravity separation, the water moves slowly, causing the heavy
particles to settle to the bottom of the tank. They settle under the influence of gravity.
Only about 60% of the particles separates out from water in this process under the
influence of gravity.The size and density of the solids influences the taken by the
particles to settle down.It is a very useful method for the treatment of effluents obtained
from the paper and refinery industries.
● In coagulation, the particles that do not settle down under the sedimentation process
are made to settle by addition of certain chemicals. Alum,starch, iron materials, activated
 silica and aluminum salts are the most common coagulants that are used. The process
is controlled by certain factors like pH, temperature and contact time.
● Centrifugal separation is used to separate the suspended non-colloidal solids from the
water. Centrifugal devices are used for this method. In this method wastewater placed
inside centrifugal devices are subjected to different speeds. The waste particles separate
out due to the difference in their densities and then they are removed. Mainly used to
separate oils and greases.
● Filtration is primarily used to remove suspended solids, grease, oils etc. Water flows
through a filter designed to remove particles from within it and these filters have fine
pores in the sizes of up to 0.5𝝁m. Filtration collects the suspended impurities in water,
enhancing the effectiveness of disinfection. Different filters are used, which mainly
consists of membranes, cartridges etc. The filtration process produces potable water.

After the above processes the water moves onto secondary treatment processes for disinfecting
it and removing various harmful microbes present in it through aerobic and anaerobic processes
and finally to tertiary treatment processes which is used to remove dissolved origin and
inorganic chemicals which remains in the water after primary and secondary process. Which will
be covered in detail going forward.
As water sources are becoming scarce and more getting polluted, water recycling is our only
way to have a sustainable source of water, reduce the over reliance on exhaustible water
sources and to keep the misuse and pollution of our precious resources in check.
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MCQ Samples
Question 1:
Out of all the processes mentioned here, in which process pressured air is used to
separate the sediments:
a) Floatation
b) Coagulation
c) Sedimentation
d) Screening

Answer: Option a) Flotation

Question 2:
Which of the following statements are incorrect:
a) Centrifugal separation is used to separate the suspended colloidal solids from the
water.
b) Secondary treatment processes are used to disinfect the water
c) Sedimentation process completely removes suspended solids, grits and silts and
heavy solid particles from water
d) Population explosion is one of the major reasons for increase in water scarcity.
Answer: Option a) & Option c)

Question 3:
Which among the following are the most important factors that controls coagulation

a) pH, temperature and size of contaminant particles

b) pH, temperature and pressure
c) Pressure, contact time and size of membrane used
d) pH, temperature and contact time

Answer: Option d)

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Sources:
1. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2012/RA/c2ra20340e
2. https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Microbiology/Book%3A_Microbiology_(Bou
ndless)/17%3A_Industrial_Microbiology/17.3%3A_Wastewater_Treatment_and_Wa
ter_Purification/17.3B%3A_Wastewater_and_Sewage_Treatment
3. https://www.fao.org/3/t0551e/t0551e05.htm
4. https://www.hunterwater.com.au/our-water/water-supply/water-quality/how-we-prot
ect-our-water-supply/water-treatment-processes
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