Saturday 6 October 2012

Microbial Wastewater Treatment Is One Method Of Treating Waste

By Sharlene Fleming


By treating sewage the end purpose is to prevent harm to the receiving source in which it is discharged. Generally, the wastes are mainly produced domestic sewage and industrial and farming processes. Microbial wastewater treatment is a method that treats this waste.

Should the effluent be discharged untreated, the sources receiving it get polluted. This can cause harm in different ways. Diseases can result from this failure as well. Consequently a great deal rides on appropriately handling this released material preceding its release. The various ways material is treated can be identified by the functional type that is used. Internationally, regulatory agencies supervise compliance standards. The EPA is the supervising body in the U. S. Which regulates observance of the prescribed standards of the Clean Water Act.

The three basic methods are physical, biological and chemical. A complete system can utilize the application of a number of these processes to the sewage. It was in the early twentieth century that the biological method was first devised. Since then it has become an important constituent part of the processes applied worldwide.

The concept is not complicated. Basically this means confining naturally occurring bacteria in high concentrations in tanks. The bacteria, along with additional microbes, are referred to as activated sludge in the industry. The bacteria removes organic carbon molecules by consuming them. The result is it grows and cleanses effluent. The treated result may be discharged into recipient sources.

However, while the concept is simple, the actual implementation can be quite complex. This is because a significant number of variables could affect it. These include changes in the composition of the bacterial agents and changes in the sewage. Municipal plants also have to treat rainwater that flows into them from drains after storms. Chemical from industrial wastes can inhibit the bacterial degrading activity. Large concentrations of toxic chemicals may even kill the biological agents.

The treated solids are mainly organic in nature. But inorganic material is usually also included. Mechanisms used are numerous and normally are a combination of the three basic methods utilized in practice. They can be divided into six steps stretching from preliminary to tertiary treatment.

Differing remedies result in the varying quality of end products. The treated matter not released in some water source must be used in some other way. The manner in which the dischargeable effluent can be used depends on treatment levels. In the U. S., for instance, a class A biosolid is sufficient for human consumption, but not a class B product. Currently, facilities in a dozen states are licensed to fabricate a class A byproduct by the EPA. Hence, not many can produce this high quality sludge. But, to reduce the amount of byproducts, more are looking to upgrade their processes in order to be able to do this.

Producing the top quality product requires an additional tertiary process. The general procedure begins when raw sewage is thickened in a centrifuge which separates liquid from the sludge. The sludge is heated to kill all pathogens. Then it is pumped into a non pressurized tank. By moving from a high pressure environment thereby ruptures cell membranes in the material. Next, microbes feast on this material reducing it substantially. The remainder is rolled on a filter belt press to squeeze any remaining water. Then the result is mixed with sawdust or sand to create top grade fertilizer products. Microbial wastewater treatment is a critical part of the procedures in the transformative process.




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