One might think what does waste watertreatment mean. After all, water is used to eliminate waste in almost every part of the world. There are more industries in the whole world than we can count, about 10,000 desalination plants and cruise, ocean liners, navy and military ships more than that. All of these have one thing in common. Industrial and large scale reverse osmosis systems. The RO systems installed in these are mainly to get a certain profile of water. Where in industries the profile differs from the product they are trying to manufacture, (e.g., chemicals, drugs, confectionery, electronics etc.) desalination plants generate a more general water profile for drinking and fresh water purposes. Here is how waste water fits in all of this.
What is waste water management?
In the context of reverse osmosis and desalination, the water that is rejected after filtration is known as waste water. We all know reverse osmosis is a filtration process that employs barriers to reject certain elements and accept others. Waste water, therefore, comprises of unwanted microorganisms, elements like chromium, sulfur, and chlorine. This water is released into nature as a part of industrial excretion process but is treated before being disposed of. Hence it is called waste water management.
Why is there a need to manage waste water?
Glad you asked. In the process of reverse osmosis, the water is pretreated with chlorine to eliminate hard and rough products that can spoil the membrane and decrease its life. This pretreated water is then passed through the membrane and only the pure and wanted water passes to the other side. The left of it is released in nature. Before this, the water is treated because:
It contains harmful elements that can be dangerous for nature. These elements are in concentrated form like sulfur, chromium, and chlorine.
The release of toxic water can seep down into the ground and reach the water table where all the fresh water is reserved.
This freshwater is pulled up by the people around for drinking purposes and hence can cause diseases, health problems, and even death.
Along with humans, the water is also hazardous for animals and plants around.
Which is why every industry, plant, and ship is required to put the rejected water through a treatment process to avoid further degradation of the environment. An environment-friendly process, this helps increase the life of mankind flora and fauna on earth.
Sammy Farag, An owner of Ampac USA, Experise in Water industry more than 30 years.