Ecological Wastewater Treatment

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Ecological wastewater treatment encompasses three control methods for keeping wastewater from harming the environment: odor control, methane control, and discharge cleanliness. Odors from gases like hydrogen sulfide emitted from anaerobic digestion do not harm human health but make the surroundings unpleasant for neighbors of treatment facilities. Anaerobic digesters help solve most of this problem, and methane collection devices over manure tanks also reduce odors. Methane collection as previously discussed in this chapter is a critical part of ecological wastewater treatment because it can have a meaningful effect on greenhouse gas levels. The third factor, discharge of cleaned water, represents the wastewater industry’s major responsibility and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces strict laws on the quality that treated wastewater must achieve. The government expects treatment plants to keep the amounts of treated wastewater constituents within certain predetermined limits. The following table describes the constituents in wastewater that the EPA monitors to avoid harm to the environment. These constituents must be controlled within the EPA’s acceptable limits whether a treatment

 facility runs traditional wastewater treatment or wastewater-to-energy processes.

 Wastewater treatment methods offer the following advantages: (1) easy to install and use; (2) small energy demand by most methods; and (3) inexpensive, except for ozone disinfection, ultraviolet disinfection, and ion exchange.