Waste and Waste Water Treatment PDF

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WASTE AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT
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Water and waste water treatment
Introduction
Water and waste water treatment is a process that involves removal of contaminants from
wastewater and turning it into an effluent that can be brought back into the water cycle such that
it has minimum or reduced effect on the environment. It also enables the waste water to be
reused directly. The process is carried out in a waste water treatment plant (WWTP). It is also
commonly referred to as the water resource recovery facility (WRRF). The process involves
removing or breaking down pollutants in the municipal waste water that include waste water
from households and industries. Large water supplying agencies that serve many residential,
commercial or industrial premises often have a shared upstream waste water treatment system
that shares a similar principle to the one used by the municipal water treatment plants. This
implies that the water is fully treated before it can be supplied to the customers through a
distribution system from where the customers will consume it. The treatment of waste water also
forms a basis for the field of sanitation (Benefield, Judkins & Weand, 2012). Sanitation is an
activity that involves the management of solid waste, human waste and also the management of
storm water or drainage. The byproducts that come from waste water treatment plants such as
grit, screenings and sewage sludge can also be treated in the waste water treatment plant.
The activity if water and waste water treatment has got a number of benefits to the environment
as well as the locals. A number of contaminants are removed from the water hence making it
usable again. The government is also able to reduce a number of health risks that are usually
associated with the pollution of the environment (Parsons, 2014). Waste water treatment has
therefore become a major priority for al governments all over the world. Some of the benefits
that are associated with the treatment process include the following;

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 Prevention of diseases- waste water have a potential to contain chemicals and bacteria
that when consumed, it may result to diseases or even death to the people.
 Provision of clean water- with the rising world population, it is becoming a challenge to
maintain enough provision of water for all the people. It is therefore a guarantee for all
nations to produce more clean and safe water for everyone. This can be achieved by the
process of water and waste water treatment (Wang & Peng, 2010).
 Reduced water wastage- the whole process of water and waste water treatment revolves
around the principle of recycling and reuse. Almost all the biodegradable materials
removed from the whole process can be used for other secondary purposes.
 Helps the environment- the management of waste water removes the bacteria and
chemicals that are considered harmful in the water supply. All the natural resources and
the living creatures within the environment are therefore protected from this exercise
(Grady et al, 2011).
Assessment of existing water supply / sanitation
This report is aimed at carrying out an assessment of the some of the existing water supply and
sanitation system and the level of technology that they apply for water and waste water
management. The target area of report is comprised of a population of up to 250000. This
represents a huge population that greatly requires water on a daily basis in order to run most of
their activities. Being an urban area, it is necessary to have in place a reliable and operational
water supply system and also an effective waste water management plant. A number of projects
have been put up with a bid to help counter for the increasing urbanization and the growing
population within Malawi (Judd, 2010). Before coming with the most elaborative design, it is
important to perform a number of examinations that will ensure the intended goals and objectives

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are met. This is achieved through the usage of advanced computer modelling techniques in order
to carry out an analysis of each system while considering the water input, the optimum pump
sizing and the details of distribution.
The Technology
This report discusses a quality that is used in reduction of sludge and that is applicable for both
sludge treatment and waste water management processes. The technique handles the following
activities;
 Thermal, mechanical, chemical and electrical treatment
 addition of chemical un-coupler
 predation of protozoa in the treatment line of the waste water
 Physical, biological and chemical pretreatment in the treatment line of sludge.
The main objective of this technique is to reduce the amount of sludge that are required to be
disposed (Jiang & Lloyd, 2012). The most commonly used technique for treating sludge is the
anaerobic digestion. This is a process where a large percentage of the organic cells is broken
down into carbon (IV) oxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in the absence of oxygen. Close to half of
the amount is transformed to gases as the remainder is dried and becomes a material in the form
of soil.

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The equipment has a tank that is capped in order to prevent the entry of oxygen, to prevent
escape of odors, to capture the produced methane. The methane is a fuel that can be used to
achieve some of the energy requirement for the facility i.e. co-generation. After the process of
anaerobic digestion and subsequent drying, the sludge is produced in a soil-like nature and it can
be used as fertilizer given that it has higher levels of nitrate (Qu, Alvarez & Li, 2013).
Operating mechanism

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The technique operates in two major phases, from both primary and secondary treatment steps.
 Step 1: there is combination of all the incoming flow of sludge. After combination, the
mixture is then heated to slight temperature, say body temperature in order to accelerate
the biological conversion. This activity lasts for 10 to 20 days.
 Step 2: the mixture then undergoes further digestion in the second tank. At this point,
there is no active mixing. This is in order to enhance separation. The process also
generates own heat hence no heating is required.
The sludge that is settled is then dewatered and thickened in order to separate as much water as
possible. This further results to a decrease in the material volume. Finally, sludge stabilization
process lowers the pathogens levels in the residual solids, does away with offensive smells and
also lowers the putrefaction potential (Oller, Malato & Sánchez-Pérez, 2011).
Assessing the applicability of the technique
This section carries out an assessment on the operation scale and also the need for the
technology. It also considers the feasibility of the whole scheme. The analysis is carried out on
the basis of technology applicability framework (TAF). The technology applicability framework
principles that will be discussed for this project are the following; social, economic,
environmental, institutional &legal, skills and know-how and technology. The key perspectives
that will be looked at for all the principles are; the user/ buyer, producers/ providers and the
regulator/ facilitator/ investor (Lazarova & Manem, 2015).

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TAF Design Description
Social
The idea of developing a water and waste water treatment plant within an urban area in Malawi
has received major backing from both the locals and the prospective providers. Most urban
centers in Malawi have experienced a lot sanitation challenges in the recent periods. This is due
to the collapsed sewer treatment that has also led huge mess of waste water, sludge as well as
other debris that are drained into the rivers (Spellman, 2013). Considering that the rivers are a

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common source of water for many locals and commercial organizations, there was therefore a
great need for the development of the sewer treatment plant. The government and other relevant/
concerned authorities have also expressed a willingness to invest in the scheme and also cater for
its operation and maintenance.
Environmental
The proposed technology of waste water management has gone a number of benefits to the
environment. It is witnessed that there are more potentials for achieving positive impacts on the
local; environment and for the user that the possibility of having negative impacts. A clean will
be critical to both animals and plants. Proper sanitation also promotes the existence of wildlife
inhabitants. One of the few challenges of operating a waste water treatment plant is the smelly
odor that is associated with the plant (Zhou & Smith, 2012). The odor can be dangerous or
hazardous to the health of the locals who live nearby and also to the natural inhabitants. In the
occurrence of that the technology is scaled up, there is also a possibility that there will be more
emissions of hazardous gases to the surrounding. The emitted gases such as hydrogen sulfide and
ammonia, when constantly released to the environment in large portions, can be very dangerous
to the environment.
Organizational/ institutional/ legal
In order to control the possible dangerous emissions and other emerging health concerns for the
technology, it is important to have in place proper regulations for the provider that will ensure
that the operations for the proposed technology is operational at the required standards. The
regulations shown major on the quality of the components. The current administration has in
place effective regulations that we are certain will help enhance the operations of the scheme. It

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is also important to note that the technology is also set in alignment to the national strategies and
policies that have been set up by the authorities (Cheremisinoff, 2011). It has also met the quality
standards as required by the authorities.
Skills and know-how
The technology is considered very effective in relation to the ability to manage waste water. An
important advantage of the technology is that ii is very easy to operate and maintain. It therefore
makes it easy for the users to operate to its full potential. The operation of the technology does
not require advanced or complicated knowledge in order to operate. Just little and sufficient
training will be offered to the users and they will be able to operate it in accordance to the
operations and management principles (Mara & Horan, 2013). The available skills and know-
how within the providers and producers are therefore considered sufficient in relation to
promotion, marketing, product and business development and for the introduction and usage of
the technology.
Technological
The technological principle is mainly concerned with extent of user satisfaction with this specific
technology in all the parts of the targeted population. The level of satisfaction is considered at
the current development state of the technology. It also considers whether the technology will
be able to supply the intended yield of water. Before settling on the technology, the target
population was put to consideration and their level of expectations also measured. The required
yield of water for the target population was considered before coming up with the technology.
The technology therefore had to be to the required standards of the target population in order to
be considered effective (Benefield & Randall, 2016). At the current state of development, the

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technology is able to supply the expected yield of water that is enough to cater for up to 250000
people within the target population. The target is also seemingly impressed with the provision
given that there has been dire need of provision of enough water in the region. With the growing
population and increasing urbanization, the technology allows for further improvements and
innovations so as to cater for the expected increase in the population. It is located in a space that
that accommodate a large scale set up of the technology according to future requirements (Henze
et al, 2014).
Economic
This is mainly concerned with the financial bit of the technology. The financial costs required to
run the technology should be affordable for the target end users in the region. Being that water is
a basic requirement for all individuals, it is also the responsibility of the existing authorities to
ensure that they have in place a fully functional water supply system. The costs for setting up and
operating this technology is affordable for the concerned authorities. It also has reduced
operation costs that will be friendly and affordable for the end users as well when the costs are
transferred to them. The producer also caters for the costs that will be involved during the market
introduction. Such costs include the development of the technology, its promotion as well as
costs involved in supporting an effective supply chain (Barnes & Blisse, 2010). Such costs are
not covered by other financial actors such as NGOs or the government.

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Conclusion
Waste water often results from a number of human activities such as washing, bathing, from
toilets, rainwater runoff etc. Such used water is comprised of hazardous contaminants such as
chemicals, bacteria as well as other toxins. The process of waste water treatment therefore
involves converting the contaminated water into safe water that can be discharge back into the
environment. It involves removing the contaminants that have the possibility of causing harmful
effects to the health of the users if consumed in that state. The process of wastewater treatment
can be carried using two common processes namely; physical/ chemical treatment plant and
biological treatment plant. Physical waste water treatment plants use physical processes and
chemical reactions in order to treat the water. Biological treatment plants use bacteria and
biological matter in order to break down the waste matter. Waste water treatment has got a lot of
benefits to the environment as well as to the locals. It is therefore important to have proper and
functional water treatment techniques for every region so as to reduce the dangerous properties
of wastewater.

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References
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Wastewater treatment, 32(11), pp.2227-2245
Benefield, L.D. and Randall, C.W., 2016. Biological process design for wastewater treatment. In
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Benefield, L.D., Judkins, J.F. and Weand, B.L., 2012. Process chemistry for water and
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