Industrial waste water is generated as a consequence of industrial activities.

There is a
WASTE WATER

wide range of type of industrial wastewater with different types of pollutants.

Most industrial processes use water in one way or another. Once used, the water has
to be treated before being disposed, regardless of whether it is returned to the natural
environment or into the sewage network.
Waste Water Treatment
• It is a process used to remove contaminants from waste water or sewage and convert it into an
effluent that can be returned to the water cycle with minimum impact to the environment or
directly reused.
What are the materials in water and wastewater that we
must remove?

There are a wide range of these pollutants ranging from sewage to highly specific industrial
waste. The usual approach in discussing treatment schemes is to categorize pollutants into general
classes so that a general class of treatment methods can be applied.

The following materials can cause pollution:

Inorganic salts: which are present in most industrial wastes

as well as in nature itself, cause water to be hard and make
a stream undesirable for industrial, municipal and agricultural
usage.
Acids and Alkalis: discharged by chemical and other
industrial plants make a stream undesirable not only
recreational uses such as swimming and boating but also
for propagation of fish and other aquatic life.

Toxic Chemicals: Both organic and inorganic chemicals,

even in extreme low concentrations may be poisonous to
fresh water fish and other small aquatic microorganism.

Organic matter: exhausts the oxygen resources of rivers and creates unpleasant tastes, odours and general
septic conditions.

Radioactive materials: cumulative damaging effects on living cells.

Suspended solids: settle to the bottom of wash up on the
banks and decompose, cause sing odours and depleting oxygen
in the river water.

Floating solids and liquids: these includes oil, greases and

other materials which float on the surface, they not only make
the river unsightly but also obstruct passage of light through
the water, retarding the growth of vital plant food.

Heated Water: An increase in water temperature, brought about by discharging waste such as
condenser waters to stream, has various adverse effect. Streams waters which vary in temperature
from one hour to the next are difficult to process in industrial water treatment plants.