Waste water treatment is the process of removing contaminants from waste water and household sewage both runoff (effluents) and domestic. It includes physical, chemical and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants. Its objective is to produce a waste stream (or treated effluent) and a solid waste or sludge suitable for discharge or reuse back into the environment. This material is often inadvertently contaminated with many toxic organic and inorganic compounds. Industrial waste water treatment covers the mechanisms and processes used to treat water that have been contaminated in some way by anthropogenic industrial or commercial activities prior to its release into the environment or its reuse. Most industries produce some wet waste although recent trends in the developed world have been to minimize such production or recycle such waste within the production process. However, many industries remain dependent on processes that produce waste water. The industrial and domestic sector consumes significant volumes of water and consequently generates considerable amounts of waste water treatment is becoming more important due to diminishing water resources, increasing waste water disposal costs and stricter discharge regulations that have lowered permissible contaminant levels in waste streams.
This book deals with the various methods and technologies currently used in wastewater treatment, with emphasis on industrial and domestic wastewater. |
