Sewage or wastewater originates in toilets, sinks and bathtubs as people continue through their daily lives. This wastewater goes into a drain that is connected to the municipality’s large sewer pipe that is often situated underneath roads. This leads to a much larger system that directs the sewage to a treatment center. The wastewater is then subjected to its first stage. This stage is a screening process that removes objects that are large as well as smaller, grit-sized waste. However, this stage is seen as screening and not as a treatment phase. The next stage is the initial treatment phase. It is in this stage that human waste is separated from the screened sewage. This separation is achieved by diverting the screened wastewater into large circular holding tanks. The holding process allows the solids to settle to the bottom of these tanks. This settled gunk is referred to as sludge. The sludge is removed by massive scrapers that are situated in the tank’s floor, and they scrape the sludge continuously into the center of the tank. The sludge is then taken from the center of the tanks with pumps. The remaining water is then diverted into its secondary treatment phase. The secondary treatment phase occurs when the water is released into large rectangular tanks. These tanks are designed to facilitate aeration and referred to as aeration lanes. The aeration lanes utilizes bacteria to further breakdown the small sludge material that has inadvertently escaped the screening and scraping process. The bacteria growth is maximized with the addition forced air. This creates an environment that is conducive to bacteria growth, but this bacteria load also adds additional sludge into the treated wastewater. In order to rid the water of this sludge, the water is then directed its final treatment stage. This final stage includes placing the water into an additional settlement tank to rid the treated water of the added bacterial sludge. These holding tanks include the scrapers that push the sludge into the middle of the circular tank to be pumped out. At this stage, the water is free of most particulates and harmful substances. However, it is then directed into filtering sand beds to completely remove all additional particles. At this stage, the water is clean enough to be directed into large bodies of water. These bodies of water are most often...

Wastewater is one of the most important issues that needs to be addressed within our modern society. Alarming new statistics have revealed just how dangerous wastewater can be and the impact it makes on our environment. Over 50 billion dollars are spent on an annual basis in order to dampen the negative impact that this water has on our environment. It is believed that 70% or more of our coral reef and aquatic habitat is damaged from water being untreated and threatening the surrounding areas. You may be asking yourself what tactics or techniques can be used in order to prevent drinking or consuming wastewater. The most common practice that one can immediately start using is boiling the water you may be using in the future. Boiling your drinking water helps eliminate bacteria and chemicals that may be contained within the water you’re using. Doing this will also help the environment should you decide to dispose of the water down the drain. Another approach that can be taken in order to purify your water is using Chlorine Bleach on a regular basis. Much like the boiling method, Chlorine Bleach chemically eradicates the harmful additives that can sneak into our drinking water. This method should be used in a safe environment that helps protect the user during the treatment process. Avoid getting the chemical into the eyes, nose, mouth, or ears as this can lead to sickness or even death in rare circumstances. Always use protective clothing and rubber gloves as these chemicals can be lethal in certain circumstances. The last point that should be made is that of social awareness about wastewater and how it impacts our communities, industries, and planet. Just 1 liter of wastewater can contaminate as much as 8 liters of clean water in a short period of time. We need to raise our concern about these issues and help organizations fight back against the contaminants within our water supply. Not only does it hurt our health, it also lowers the real estate prices, hurts the fishing economy, and trickles down into other parts of our...

Here are the most common wastewater treatment jobs if you’re interested to make a career in that field. Please note some of these jobs are local or Federal government jobs: Wastewater Plant Operator: Oversees the wastewater treatment plant equipment and processes; also controls operations. Salary $90,000 to $100,000 yearly. Wastewater Treatment Plant Operations Manager: manage the operation and maintenance of the wastewater treatment plant. Salary $45,000 to $60,000 yearly. Wastewater Treatment Supervisor: Management and Supervision of treatment plant operations and operations team. Salary $80,000 to $120,000 yearly. Wastewater Plant Engineer: Performs engineering, technical work, analyzes operations equipment and processes. Salary $40,000 to $48,000 yearly. Wastewater Electrical Technician: Electrical maintenance and repair work on Wastewater treatment facilities and systems. Salary $40,000 to $50,000 yearly. Wastewater Technician: Inspects facilities, prepares water quality reports and permits. Salary $60,000 to $75,000 yearly. Laboratory Sampler: Collects and prepares wastewater samples. Salary $20,000 to $30,000 yearly. Maintenance Worker: Performs a wide variety of maintenance activities including installion, maintenance and repairs of water pipes, sewer pipes, drainage, etc. Salary $20,000 to $30,000 yearly. Need Help Getting one of these Jobs? Let a Professional resume writer Help...

For those wondering what is wastewater, here is a definition: Also spelled in two words as waste water, wastewater is any used water coming from bathrooms, toilets, washing, industrial, agricultural activities and which ends up in sewers through...