Waste Water and Solid Waste Management, Essay Example

Water is commonly contaminated through natural and manmade means. The man made sources of water contamination entails industrial, agricultural, mining as well as domestic activities of humans. These activities lead to alterations in the chemical, physical as well as biological water properties that consequently make the water to be harmful and unsuitable to the environment as well as public health. This situation can however be corrected through wastewater management that facilitates efficient disposal of sewage as well as industrial affluent without causing environmental damage and human life. This is achieved through application of biological, physical as well as chemical operations and processes in combination with the intentions of eradicating harmful solids, nutrients, chemicals and organic matter in the wastewater.

Regulations governing hazardous wastes have been formulated to address storage, treatment and transportation of wastewater. However, such regulations do not cover the wastewater that is discharged in the treatment systems as well as control system of air pollution, only on account of the fact that they surpass the ‘regulatory boundary’. Other regulations such as Clean Water Act and Clean Water Act are applicable past the said boundary. In 1948, the government enacted Federal Water Pollution Control Amendment intended to control pollution of water (Braio & Granhem, 2007). Amendments to regulations and control programs have later been initiated to make sure clean water is availed to the society and contaminants release in the waterways is adequately checked.

Effective knowledge of technologies of pollution control and the effects associated with water pollution requires a precise knowledge of classification of pollutants, which is usually either dispersed, or non point origin and point source origin. Wastewater characterization in to biological, physical and chemical is essential in identification of forms of contaminants in wastewater. Wastewater treatment principles also facilitate in disposal of effluents without causing danger to environment and human health.

Reference

Braio V.B. & Granhem, C.R. (2007). Effluent generation by the dairy industry: preventive attitude and opportunities. Journal of chemical Engineering, 24(4):487-497.