The large volume of sewage generated every day globally is a cause of serious concern. Experts believe that the rising population will make the handling of sewage wastewater even more challenging. With an improved lifestyle, people are preferring urban cities and all the facilities, services and products along with it. The mass production of such products has led to industrialization. And most of the industries all over the world generate waste as well as chemicals in their process.
Unsurprisingly, the amount of toxins, chemicals and harmful substances are found to have increased in the sewage wastewater. The use of plastics, medicines, household products, building material, electronics, pesticides, soap, etc. contains some form of chemicals. In short, everything that we use contains chemicals. These, when reacting with other chemicals or liquids in wastewater form dangerous substances. It is this toxin-filled sewage wastewater which needs treatment.
The untreated sewage, when released into the environment, can pollute water resources. This can lead to the destruction of the natural ecosystem of aquatic life. It also causes the growth of algae in ponds and rivers causing deprivation of oxygen to aquatic life and ultimately death. The same sewage wastewater contains pathogens due to the presence of human excreta. This increases the concentration of fecal coliform which is fatal for humans. Globally, more than 80 per cent of wastewater—and more than 95 per cent in some least developed countries—is released to the environment without treatment. Along with that, 2.4 billion people still do not have access to improved sanitation.
In places like India, people use this water for cooking, bathing, farming and irrigation, especially in rural areas. Lack of treatment facilities or poor functioning of sewage treatment plants due to heavy load has made the water dangerous for consumption. Globally, it is noted that unclean water causes diarrhea, infections and malnutrition, accounting for 1.7 million deaths annually, of which over 90 per cent are in developing countries and almost half are children. The effects of water pollution also include various types of bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases. Additionally, it can affect animal life and plant life, thereby damaging the ecosystem as a whole.
Moreover, the mistreatment of sewage wastewater has now become a major problem. As extensive research and new studies are conducted on sewage wastewater regularly, it has been noted that health and environment concerns remain even after wastewater treatment. This is known as mistreatment.
The latest techniques and tools testing the quality of wastewater has revealed that wastewater released from existing treatment facilities may still contain pollutants and other pathogens. There is no sufficient information on how these pathogens may be affecting health. The technology-enabled testing is capable of detecting even the chemicals which are low in concentration and it casts a shadow on the efficiency of treatment processes today to remove them. These chemicals include n - nitroso dimethylamine and methyl tertiary butyl. Processes like chlorination which is a part of the tertiary treatment of wastewater is a concern if chlorine residues are left in the effluent. It reacts with organic matter and creates carcinogens. This calls for better disinfection mechanisms and solutions to the sewage mistreatment problems as it harms human and environmental health.
A huge load of waste is required to be treated frequently and the existing sewage treatment plants and the processes followed are not capable of doing it successfully. In order to stop the mistreatment of sewage, biological solutions can be the key to solve the challenges. Cleanmaxx STP from Organic Biotech is one of the leading products which supports the biological treatment of organic waste in wastewater at STP’s with a special consortium of natural microbes. It makes the secondary treatment of sewage waste exponentially productive and reduces the stress over STP’s remarkably. In this way, wastewater is well treated and the released effluent does not harm the environment or human health.
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