Wastewater: 15 Important Basic Terms Used In Sewage or Wastewater

Wastewater is a byproduct of domestic, industrial, commercial, or agricultural activities.It contains a large number of physical, chemical, and biological pollutants at varying concentration levels.
This treated water can also be reused for various purposes.In wastewater engineering, some particular words are used.
Before knowing more about the sewage treatment procedure, the concerned people must have the basic details in this field.

So, Below you will find some most important terms used in wastewater treatment

  • Wastewater

So, the Domestic wastewater is 99.9% water and 0.1% solids.

When the pH of the raw wastewater is 8.0, it means that this is alkaline.

So, if it has a pH value of 6.5, it means that it is acidic.

  • Raw Wastewater

It is the wastewater before treatment.

  • Dissolved Solids

The Solids which cannot be removed by filtering are known as dissolved solids.

  • Mixed Liquor

It is the mixture of activated sludge, wastewater, and oxygen, wherein biological assimilation occurs.

  • Activated Sludge

It refers to a brownish flocculent culture of organisms developed in aeration tanks under controlled conditions.

It is also a Sludge flock produced in raw or settled wastewater by the growth of Zoological bacteria and other organisms in the presence of dissolved oxygen.

  • Flock

It is the Clumps of bacteria and particles that have come together to form clusters of small gelatinous masses.

  • Flocculation

It is a process where colloids come out of suspension in the form of a flock or flakes.

  • Bacteria

Bacteria are microscopic living organisms.

So, they are a group of universally distributed, rigid, essentially unicellular, microscopic organisms lacking chlorophyll.

  • Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

So, to measure the strength of wastewater the BOD test is used.

The BOD determines the milligrams per liter of oxygen required during the stabilization of decomposable organic matter by aerobic bacteria action.

Also, the total milligrams of oxygen required over a five-day test period to biologically assimilate the organic contaminants in one liter of wastewater maintained at 20 degrees Centigrade.

  • Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

It is the milligram quantity of oxygen required to chemically oxidize the organic contaminants in one liter of wastewater.

Aeration is the process by which air is circulated through or mixed with or dissolved in a liquid or sludge.

  • Digestion

It is the biological decomposition of organic matter in sludge resulting in partial gasification, liquefaction, and mineralization of putrefaction and offensive solids.

  • Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion is a bacterial process that is carried out in the absence of oxygen.

  • Aerobic digestion

Aerobic digestion is a bacterial process occurring in the presence of oxygen.

Hence under aerobic conditions, bacteria rapidly consume organic matter and convert it into carbon dioxide.

  • Sedimentation

It is the tendency for particles in suspension or molecules in solution to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a wall.

Besides this information, you are suggested to read something more from below engineering books

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