"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Month: July 2024
Catchment Areas
07/31/24
“What is the area of land that collects water after rain?”
Rain brings water down onto the ground. Usually, the water will merge onto a single area that’s bounded by areas of higher elevation. These Catchment Areas are important for studying how floods can occur and what interventions to take.
Secondary Sludge
07/30/24
“What is the sludge resulting from secondary treatment?”
Sewwe sludge is formed during wastewater treatment processes. Secondary Sludge comes from the secondary biological treatment. Primary sludge is composed of both organic and inorganic material while secondary sludge is mostly organic.
Image credit https://www.geo.fu-berlin.de/
Primary Sludge
07/29/24
“What is the sludge that comes out from primary processes?”
Wastewater treatment processes create sewer sludge. The sludge that comes from the first treatment systems (such as sedimentation and chemical precipitation) is called Primary Sludge.
Image credit https://upload.wikimedia.org/
Sewer Sludge
07/28/24
“What is that sludgy material that accumulates during wastewater treatment?”
Wastewater treatment plants separate pollutants from water. Suspended solids can accumulate and coalesce together during this process to become Sludge. Sludge hampers wastewater treatment and can contain pollutants.
Image credit
Nitrogen Water Pollution Remediation
07/27/24
“Why is it bad for water to have too much nitrogen?”
Nitrogen is one of the key ingredients for plant and animal life. However, algae can grow excessively when there’s too much nitrogen in a body of water. This Algae will then suck up the oxygen present in water, block sunlight, and even release toxins. This leads to mass-depth in the bodies of water. Nitrogen Water Pollution is serious and needs to be considered in industrialized developments.
Image credit: images.newscientist.com.
Phosphorus Water Pollution
07/26/24
“Why is it bad for water to have too much phosphorus?”
Phosphorus is one of the key ingredients for plant and animal life. However, algae can grow excessively when there’s too much phosphorus in a body of water. This Algae will then suck up the oxygen present in water, block sunlight, and even release toxins. This leads to mass-depth in the bodies of water. Phosphorus Water Pollution is serious and needs to taken into account in industrialized developments.
Image credit oaklandside.org
Effluent
07/25/24
“What is wastewater that flows into surface waters?”
Wastewater comes in all sorts of forms. However, once it’s discharged into surface waters, it gets labeled as effluent. Effluent may be treated or untreated and typically has regulatory guidelines for handling.
Image Credit https://watertreatmentservices.co.uk/
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems
07/24/24
“How can we organize infrastructure to transfer stormwater into local streams and rivers?”
Stormwater can be a great difficulty to deal with. It destroys infrastructure, harms people, and makes life generally more difficult. City planners and engineers have created a series of structures to bring the stormwater to a central location and then discharge it into nearby streams and rivers. These Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems, or MS4, coordinate infrastructure such as basins, ditches, inlets, and discharges to create a successful urban wastewater runoff protection system. Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems are separate from wastewater sewer systems and typically do not involve decontamination treatment.
Why Passive Wastewater Filtration Systems Make Communities More Resilient to Power Outages
07/23/24
“Why do passive wastewater filtration systems make communities more resilient to power outages?”
Many wastewater filtration systems rely on electricity for operation. When power outages occur, these systems stop working, creating large issues for the communities they serve. But if these mechanisms don’t rely on electricity, then they can still provide wastewater treatment for the community regardless of grid operation. This is Why Passive Wastewater Filtration Systems Make Communities More Resilient to Power Outages.
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