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Eight billion people across the world create a lot more wastewater, referred to as sewage. This is enough to cause the water purification methods that are natural aren’t enough to eliminate harmful chemicals that can cause illness in people and fish.

The process for treating wastewater eliminates any pollutants or suspended solids from the water. The treated water can then be released back into the ecosystem, free of man-made pollutants.

Why does wastewater treatment exist? The environmental impacts of wastewater would be devastating if it wasn’t treated. It happens, in fact, in developing nations: Globally, over 80 percent of all waste is discharged without treatment. This is a major cause of illness and affects the supply chain of food.

The untreated water source poses significant health hazards and is responsible for over 1.7 million deaths each year in developing countries.

Untreated wastewater can also cause.

Campylobacteriosis

Cryptosporidiosis

Escherichia coli Diarrhea

Encephalitis

Gastroenteritis

Giardiasis

Hepatitis A

Poliomyelitis

Salmonellosis

Tyhphoid Fever

Yersiniosis

Cholera

Schistosomiasis

The above diseases are seen not only in countries with poorer infrastructure, but in the U.S. as well. The transportable sewage systems, one of the most effective defenses against these diseases, is vital in saving lives.

Effects of Wastewater Pollutants on the Ecosystem

Unusual plant growth can result from excessive levels of nitrogen, phosphates or decaying organic matter in the water bodies. These plants then secrete toxic substances that cause the depletion of oxygen. This leads to “dead zones” or inaccessible aqua ecosystems.

The untreated waste can be harmful to aquatic animals and humans. Ingesting wastewater isn’t the only issue. Pollution from upstream waterways causes food poisoning: Polluted algae can contaminate the fish who eat it, and they poisons bears that eat them, and so on.

Red tide3 can also be caused by the pollution of wastewater. It is a massive destruction of aquatic creatures. Large amounts of water could be polluted and render entire water systems unpotable.

Wastewater Treatment 101

The natural process of detoxifying wastewater is a burden — there’s just too much waste for nature to cope with. The goal of treatment for wastewater is to eliminate the waste and to maintain the health of the ecosystem.

Basic wastewater treatment takes place in three components: primary secondary, advanced, and primary. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has created the following infographic, Wastewater Treatment 1014, which provides the fundamentals of wastewater treatment plant.

As you can see the current pollution levels so severe that a single sifting process is seldom enough to make water potable.

The Goal of Wastewater Treatment

The primary objective of wastewater treatment facilities is to protect the inhabitants, and local ecosystems, from the harmful elements found in water.

The water treatment systems were created to accelerate the process of purifying water, since the natural process isn’t able to keep up with the amount of waste society produces. Everyday life would be much more hazardous without the treatment of wastewater and other recycling methods. Water Treatment Services Australia is particularly true in developing countries that lack existing wastewater treatment facilities.