Briefly discuss the problem of wastewater

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The most acute water pollution problems in the world come from wastewater. Wastewater is water that has been used for some purpose and is returned to the environment as a liquid. Wastewater problems are greatest when the volume is large in proportion to the amount of stream flow that is available to dilute it. Wastewater comprises about 15 percent of the flow of U.S. rivers, and so good wastewater treatment is critical.

Rich, industrialized countries like the United States generate more wastewater than do poorer nations, but they also have greater capacity to treat this wastewater. In rich countries, strict legislation requires treatment facilities to be upgraded making their rivers cleaner than a few decades ago. In developing countries, untreated sewage often goes directly into rivers that also supply drinking water. A combination of poor general sanitation, nutrition, and medical care can make drinking this water deadly. Waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery are major causes of death in developing countries. Because of improper sanitation, millions of people in Asia, Africa, and South America die each year from waterborne diseases.

As people in these rapidly growing regions crowd into urban areas, drinking water becomes less safe, and waterborne pathogens flourish. In a typical sewage-treatment plant, large solid particles are screened from the water or allowed to settle and the remaining water is oxygenated to allow bacteria to break down organic matter. The water is then discharged to the environment. In advanced systems, some of the products of that breakdown, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are removed. Most of the world's population living in developed countries is served by some kind of sewage collection and treatment system. In developing countries, however, sewage systems are less common, particularly in rural areas.