With billions spent on wastewater treatment with very little being got out of the process, new, eco-friendlier approaches are needed.
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Since waste puts harmful gases such as methane and nitrogen into our environment’s atmosphere, increasing both costs and harm even more, the need for new eco-friendly methods are critical.
If you’re wanting inspiration on new technologies or just generally want to learn more about them, read on to find a few innovations being used to treat wastewater.
By compressing organic matter such as corn stalks, wood chips, and sewage, a product called eco-coal can be produced. Whilst it burns like normal coal, the carbon isn’t extracted from the ground, and it is also a renewable resource, making it better for the environment! Therefore, organic matter is transferred into syngas before renewable fuel technology converts it into coal.
This one might seem strange, but companies have found a way to recycle and reuse old plastic bottles with the use of microorganisms. The organisms in the microbial sewage break down and eat a melted down version of plastic bottles and metabolize the product into a new, usable version of plastic. This is great for decreasing the amount of non-renewable plastic that needs to be used, with recycling being one of the most popular ways to help reduce our carbon footprint.
An example of where a huge amount of wastewater is produced is pig farms. This wastewater must be recycled and disposed of properly to create the least harm to our environment. With pigs producing a lot of waste, the authorities’ requirements must be met by treating the produced wastewater in a treatment plant. The discharged water should be used for the irrigation of plants and trees.
Within the wastewater treatment process, biosolids and sludge are removed mechanically from the wastewater. This purifies it from solids and sludge so that it can then be transferred into an anaerobic digester. Within this digester, the organic matter present decomposes.
Forced aeration is then carried out to oxidise the organic matter. The enzyme and microbes combined with the air reduce the BOD and COD of the wastewater. Then, Merus rings are installed on the pipe. This means that all wastewater entering the next basin is treated properly. Previously, chemicals were used to reduce coliform bacteria in wastewater. However, chemicals have since been considered polluting and harmful, not to mention also being expensive. Merus is a cheaper and eco-friendly alternative, creating more sustainability.
Nutrient recovery technologies are used to extract nutrients such as phosphorous from wastewater. These nutrients are then recycled to be used in fertilizers, with hundreds of plants in America alone being affected by this developing technology. A large percentage of the nutrients can be extracted from a sewage sludge stream through a reactor to produce reusable materials for fertilizers globally.
All the technologies mentioned can be used to treat wastewater more sustainably.
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