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Industrial Wastewater Treatment Chemicals

Are you pouring your profits down the drain by paying high cost for industrial wastewater chemicals? Alar has the solution to your wastewater treatment problems.

Need to Know Information

After 35 years, ALAR knows wastewater treatement. We also know it's important to be familiar with some terminology that will help get your business started.

WHAT IS WASTEWATER?

Watch our Introduction to Wastewater Video.

Do you know what happens to your wastewater after you take a shower, wash dishes, or flush the toilet? Where exactly does it go? What is in it? How does it affect the environment? And should you care?

If you are like most people, you never give much thought to what happens to the wastewater from your home and community. But whether you think about it much or not, wastewater continues to affect your life even after it disappears down the drain.

Wastewater is sewage, storm water and water that has been used for various purposes around the community. Unless properly treated, wastewater can harm public health and the environment.

Wastewater is mostly water by weight. Other materials make up only a small portion of wastewater, but can be present in large enough quantities to endanger public health and the environment. The wastewater components that should be of most concern to homeowners and communities are those that have the potential to cause disease or detrimental environmental effects.

In addition to the many substances found in wastewater, there are other characteristics system designers and operators use to evaluate wastewater. For example, the color, odor, and turbidity of wastewater give clues about the amount and type of pollutants present and treatment necessary.

Did You Know.

Wastewater treatment is a relatively recent practice? Prior to the mid 1800's human and other wastes were usually just dumped or conveyed to the nearest body of water without treatment. As a result, groundwater and other sources for drinking and bathing were regularly contaminated with sewage. Epidemics of cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and other waterborne diseases killed thousands, and outbreaks were especially devastating in densely populated areas.

After 1854, when the connection between a cholera outbreak and sewage-contaminated water was first discovered, better attempts were made to treat and dispose of sewage separately from drinking water. However, until the latter part of this century, many U.S. communities still allowed discharges of untreated or inadequately treated wastewater from homes, industries, and combined storm and sanitary sewers. Treatment standards often varied from town to town, and as population grew, damage to the environment and risks to public health were reaching dangerous levels nationally.

Then in the 1970's, Congress passed legislation that led to the establishment of national water quality standards and limits for the discharge of pollutants. Recent amendments to the Clean Water Act have transferred implementation of pollution control to individual state governments.

Today, community leaders are responsible for ensuring the state standards for wastewater treatment and water quality are met consistently - not only at inspection time, but always to protect public health and the environment. In some cases, treatment plant operators and community leaders may be held personally liable for noncompliance. Homeowners also are personally liable for malfunctioning onsite systems. Onsite systems must be properly operated and maintained to protect groundwater and other drinking water sources, as well as health of family and neighbors.

Solid Materials in Wastewater:

Solid materials in wastewater can consist of organic and/or inorganic materials and organism. The solids must be significantly reduced by treatment or they can increase BOD when discharged to receiving waters and provide places for microorganisms to escape disinfection. They also can clog soil absorption fields in onsite systems.

Settleable solids: Certain substances, such as sand, grit, and heavier organic and inorganic materials settle out from the rest of the wastewater stream during the preliminary stages of treatment. On the bottom of settling ponds, organic material makes up a biologically active layer of sludge that aids in treatment.

Suspended solids: Materials that resist settling may remain suspended in wastewater. Suspended solids in wastewater must be treated, or they will clog soil absorption systems or reduce the effectiveness of disinfection systems.

Wastewater pH:

The acidity or alkalinity of wastewater affects both treatment and the environment. Low pH indicates increasing acidity, while high pH indicates increasing alkalinity (a pH of 7 is neutral). The pH of wastewater needs to remain between 6 and 9 to protect organisms. Acids and other substances that alter pH can inactivate treatment processes when they enter wastewater from industrial or commercial sources.

Total Coliforms & Fecal Coliforms

Coliform tests are useful for determining whether wastewater has been adequately treated and whether water quality is suitable for drinking and recreation. Because they are very abundant in human wastes, coliform bacteria are much easier to locate and identify in wastewater than viruses and other pathogens that cause severe diseases. For this reason, coliform bacteria are used as indicator organisms for the presence of other, more serious pathogens. Some coliforms are found in soil, so tests for fecal coliforms are considered to be most reliable. However, tests for both total coliforms and fecal coliforms are commonly used.

BOD: Biochemical Oxygen Demand

A standardized means of estimating the degree of contamination of water supplies, especially those which receive contamination from sewage and industrial wastes. It is expressed as the quantity of dissolved oxygen (in mg/L) required during stabilization of the decomposable organic matter by aerobic biochemical action. Determination of this quantity is accomplished by diluting suitable portions of the sample with water saturated with oxygen and measuring the dissolved oxygen in the mixture both immediately and after a period of incubation - usually five days.

The BOD test measures the amount of dissolved oxygen organisms are likely to be needed to degrade wastes in wastewater. This test is important for evaluating both how much treatment wastewater is likely to require and the potential impact that it can have on receiving waters.

COD: Chemical Oxygen Demand

Are measures of the quantity of oxidizable components present in water? Since the carbon and hydrogen, but not the nitrogen, in organic matter are oxidized by chemical oxidants, the oxygen consumed is a measure only of the chemically oxidizable components and is dependent upon the oxidant, structure of the organic compound, and manipulative procedure. Since this value does not differentiate stable from unstable organic matter, it does not necessarily correlate with the biochemical oxygen demand value (BOD). It is also known as (COD) and (DOC).

TSS: Total Suspended Solids

Total suspended solids found in liquid.

FOG: Fat, Oil and Grease

Fatty organic materials from animals, vegetables, and petroleum also are not quickly broken down by bacteria and can cause pollution in receiving environments. When large amounts of oils and greases are discharged to receiving waters from community systems, they increase BOD and they may float to the surface and harden, causing aesthetically unpleasing conditions. They also can trap trash, plants, and other materials, causing foul odors, attracting flies and mosquitoes and other disease vectors. In some cases, too much oil and grease causes septic conditions in ponds and lakes by preventing oxygen from the atmosphere from reaching the water.

Onsite systems can also be harmed by too much oil and grease, which can clog onsite system drainfield pipes and soils, adding to the risk of system failure. Excessive grease also adds to the septic tank scum layer, causing more frequent tank pumping to be required. Both possibilities can result in significant costs to homeowners.

From Pipeline* by National Small Flows Clearinghouse
This publication has been adapted for use in Indiana by Purdue University**

 

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The Leader in Water Pollution Control Equipment Since 1970