Does Wastewater Treatment Really Affect the Water?

Wastewater treatment has become an absolutely critical process for communities around the world. As populations grow and industry expands, the volume of wastewater produced is increasing exponentially. At the same time, we need to be incredibly careful about protecting our freshwater resources that enable society to function and ecosystems to thrive. As a professional water treatment supplier, I am writing this article to explore the question: does wastewater treatment really affect the water?

does wastewater treatment affect the water

Why Wastewater Treatment Matters

Wastewater refers to any water that has been used, like water from household drains, sinks, baths, washing machines, toilets and industry. Without proper wastewater treatment, all of these contaminants would flow straight into rivers, lakes, wetlands, coastal waters and oceans.

The impacts would be devastating for a few key reasons:

  • Nutrient pollution: Wastewater contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. When released into waterways, these nutrients trigger algal blooms that can suffocate aquatic life.
  • Toxic contamination: Chemicals, heavy metals, microplastics and pharmaceuticals would accumulate in fresh and marine water ecosystems.
  • Disease transmission: Pathogens like bacteria, viruses and parasites would spread rapidly, threatening public health.
  • Habitat destruction: Aquatic and waterside habitats would be damaged, devastating wildlife populations.

Wastewater treatment is critical to avoid environmental contamination and catastrophe. By properly treating wastewater before release, we can maintain healthy waterways that support diverse aquatic ecosystems and public health.

Breaking Down the Wastewater Treatment Process

Wastewater treatment is a multi-step process that removes solids, pathogens, and chemical contaminants:

  • Primary Treatment: Screens, filters and gravity settling tanks remove oils, solids and greases.
  • Secondary Treatment: Aeration tanks spur biological processes so microbes consume organic matter. More settling removes residual solids.
  • Tertiary Treatment: Fine filtration, nutrient removal, disinfection and other advanced steps remove trace impurities.

Treated wastewater (effluent) can then usually be safely discharged into waterways or reused for irrigation and industrial purposes. The solids removed during treatment (biosolids) can even be used as fertilizer.

When functioning optimally, wastewater treatment extracts the most harmful elements before water re-enters natural systems.

How Treatment Failure Impacts Fresh and Coastal Waters

However, many wastewater treatment plants are outdated, poorly funded or overloaded. This leads to equipment failures and inadequate treatment – releasing untreated or partially treated wastewater. The EPA estimates 850 billion gallons of untreated wastewater are discharged each year in the US alone.

Freshwater Impacts

Our rivers, lakes, wetlands and groundwater are put at risk:

  • Algal blooms suffocate aquatic life populations.
  • Drinking water sources become contaminated.
  • Toxins accumulate up the food chain, threatening wildlife.
  • Habitats like wetlands are damaged.

One infamous example is Florida’s Indian River Lagoon. Decades of wastewater releases and agricultural runoff led to intense algal blooms. Almost 60% of the area’s critical seagrass meadows have since died off.

Coastal and Ocean Impacts

Coastlines and oceans also bear the brunt of wastewater pollution:

  • Pathogens prompt beach closures and shellfishing bans.
  • Hypoxic zones form from excess nutrients.
  • Estuaries and coral reefs suffer ecosystem collapse.
  • Plastics and toxins infiltrate marine food webs.

Mexico’s iconic tourist destination Cancun sees recurring issues where sewage spills lead authorities to ban swimming at beaches. Inadequate wastewater handling threatens both ecological and economic interests.

Clearly, when wastewater treatment fails or is absent, receiving waters suffer greatly.

Does Treatment Really Make a Difference?

Examples like Indian River Lagoon and Cancun showcase the environmental havoc when wastewater goes awry.

But does implementing wastewater treatment actually translate into benefits?

The answer is a resounding yes:

Water Quality Improvements

A study tracked water quality trends following a treatment plant upgrade in Israel. Installation of tertiary treatment led to sharp reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus and suspended solids in recipient waters. Marked improvements ensued in water clarity and aquatic life populations.

Habitat Rejuvenation

In Tampa Bay, Estuary Program initiatives since the 1980s targeted nitrogen pollution through upgraded treatment infrastructure among other measures. Seagrass extent in Tampa Bay has rebounded by over 40,000 acres as water conditions improved.

Economic Windfalls

China’s massive wastewater treatment investment under its last 5-year plan was estimated to have averted almost $7 billion per year in costs related to health impacts, fishery losses and more.

Climbing Back From Near-Extinction

Wastewater pollution once caused Lake Erie’s walleye population to completely collapse. But years of effort to reduce agricultural runoff and upgrade treatment capacities has facilitated a ten-fold recovery of walleye numbers.

The evidence clearly shows that wastewater treatment allows nature to revive itself. And that benefits our health, environment and economy.

Upholding Our End of the Bargain

Modern civilization depends profoundly on the reliable flow of clean, fresh water. As our reliance on this precious resource grows, so too does the volume of wastewater we produce.

Wastewater treatment represents a pragmatic compromise that lets humans and nature coexist. It curbs pollution levels so ecosystems can bounce back without forcing extreme restraint in development or resource use. We remove the most harmful byproducts of our society before they infiltrate the waters we depend upon.

But treatment only works if we uphold our end of the bargain – by ensuring treatment capacity expands continually to match needs and meet standards.

We cannot take for granted the assumption that “wastewater treatment will deal with it”. From residents avoiding pouring harsh chemicals down the drain to industries pretreating effluent – we all have a role.

And it is incumbent on both governments and businesses to invest in ongoing upgrades to treatment infrastructure. Only then can we moderate the impacts of modern life on our shared water resources.

Our waterways have demonstrated they can heal if afforded adequate environmental flows and water quality. But this relies entirely on whether wastewater treatment is in place to shoulder the pollution burden we would otherwise impose. The positive effects of treatment on water health resound clearly – we simply must deliver on its provision.

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