Write a short note on waste water management
Answers
Answer:
Wastewater is water whose physical, chemical or biological properties have been changed as
a result of the introduction of certain substances which render it unsafe for some purposes
such as drinking. The day to day activities of man is mainly water dependent and therefore
discharge ‘waste’ into water. Some of the substances include body wastes (faeces and urine),
hair shampoo, hair, food scraps, fat, laundry powder, fabric conditioners, toilet paper,
chemicals, detergent, household cleaners, dirt, micro-organisms (germs) which can make
people ill and damage the environment. It is known that much of water supplied ends up as
wastewater which makes its treatment very important. Wastewater treatment is the process
and technology that is used to remove most of the contaminants that are found in
wastewater to ensure a sound environment and good public health. Wastewater
Management therefore means handling wastewater to protect the environment to ensure
public health, economic, social and political soundness (Metcalf and Eddy, 1991).
Explanation:
Wastewater treatment is a fairly new practice although drainage systems were built long
before the nineteenth century. Before this time, “night soil” was placed in buckets along
streets and workers emptied them into “honeywagon” tanks. This was sent to rural areas
and disposed off over agricultural lands. In the nineteenth century, flush toilets led to an
increase in the volume of waste for these agricultural lands. Due to this transporting
challenge, cities began to use drainage and storm sewers to convey wastewater into
waterbodies against the recommendation of Edwin Chadwick in 1842 that “rain to the river
and sewage to the soil”. The discharge of waste into water courses led to gross pollution and
health problems for downstream users.
In 1842, an English engineer named Lindley built the first “modern” sewerage system for
wastewater carriage in Hamburg, Germany. The improvement of the Lindley system is
basically in improved materials and the inclusion of manholes and sewer appurtenances—
the Lindley principles are still upheld today. Treatment of wastewater became apparent
only after the assimilative capacity of the waterbodies was exceeded and health problems
became intolerable. Between the late 1800s and early 1900s, various options were tried until
in 1920, the processes we have today were tried. Its design was however empirical until
midcentury. Centralized wastewater systems were designed and encouraged. The cost of
wastewater treatment is borne by communities discharging into the plant
Today there have been great advances to make portable water from wastewater. In recent
times, regardless of the capacity of the receiving stream, a minimum treatment level is
required before discharge permits are granted (Peavy, Rowe and Tchobanoglous, 1985).
Also presently, the focus is shifting from centralized systems to more sustainable
decentralized wastewater treatment (DEWATS) especially for developing countries like
Ghana where wastewater infrastructure is poor and conventional methods are difficult to
manage (Adu-Ahyia and Anku, 2010).
Explanation:
Water management as such involves two manor aspects. One is prevention of wastage of water by providing water supply through pipes without leakage. At the individual level, minimizing the wastage in daily activities is an important step.
Another aspect is utilizing the rain water to recharge the ground water. This is called water harvesting or rain water harvesting. This can be done by installing water harvesting systems in the households.