In the modern lifestyle that we all live in, our comfort and ease have a common byproduct: wastewater. One way to manage the wastewater that has already been used for some purpose is to treat and operate to remove the impurities!

What do wastewater operations mean?

Wastewater operations refer to the procedure used to relieve the water from contaminants and convert the water safely back to the water cycle. The wastewater unit includes all the physical wastewater operations devised to remove the impurities present in the water and the wastewater. It is done via a chemical and biological conversion process that determines the status of the impurities present in the water and thus applies specific methods to remove them.

The water or the wastewater treatment plant, along with the help of the system operators, manages a chain of machines. These machines are used to transfer or treat water or wastewater. Once this water is treated, it is returned for reuse.

The entire process of collecting wastewater upon it and then releasing it back for use is termed to be water reclamation.

How do Wastewater Operations work?

You might wonder how the wastewater is treated. Wastewater operations or treatments can be done in the common three ways,

Physical Water Operation-

• Physical methods such as screening sedimentation and skimming are used to remove impure solids. A process called sedimentation is used for physical wastewater treatment. Through this process, the operator suspends the water, and the heavy or insoluble particles settle at the bottom from which the pure water can be separated.
• Another physical method of wastewater operation is aeration. Aeration refers to air circulation through the water to rejuvenate it with oxygen.
• The filtration process can also be used to filter the water out of all contaminants.

Biological Water Operation

Various biological processes break down the organic matter present in wastewater, for example, soap, human waste, oil, and food. The microorganisms metabolize the organic matter through biological treatment, which can be divided into three categories, namely,

• Aerobic processes- oxygen is used to filter.
• Anaerobic processes- oxygen is not used to filter.
• Composting mix and sawdust or other carbon sources to filter.

Chemical Water Operation

This involves the removal of chemicals and impurities from water. Chlorine, an oxidizing chemical, is often added to kill bacteria, which with time decomposes in the water by adding contaminants to it. Ozone is also used for this purpose. Another technique utilized for this operation is neutralization, where an acid or base is added to bring water to its natural pH level of 7.

What are the benefits of wastewater operation?

As only 3% of the earth’s water is consumable, wastewater gets operated using clean and safe water that can be utilized again. Furthermore, wastewater operations and treatments are also beneficial to the environment as groundwater is almost on the verge of depletion. All in all, wastewater operation is an extremely useful way of minimizing waste and reducing waste from the environment by counting it for recycling and reusing purposes.