1 / 23

“Let’s talk about poop, baby”

“Let’s talk about poop, baby”. The day every five-year old boy dreams of …. Warm Up. True/False. Shower, sink, and toilet water leave your home through the same pipe. Where does wastewater from your home go?. ?. ?. Not in here, buddy.

colin
Download Presentation

“Let’s talk about poop, baby”

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. “Let’s talk about poop, baby” The day every five-year old boy dreams of…

  2. Warm Up • True/False. Shower, sink, and toilet water leave your home through the same pipe. • Where does wastewater from your home go? ? ?

  3. Not in here, buddy • Developing world: human waste disposal similar to pre-modern times • Waste Ditches and cesspools • Outhouses • 1596- John Harington designed the toilet; Thomas Crapper an early toilet maker in U.K. • “The Great Stink” of 1858- London smelled so bad the government decided to construct an underground sewer for the city

  4. Cesspool Design

  5. Wastewater- water that contains waste from homes or industry Goal of WWT- make water clean enough to return to a water source (river or lake) without damaging ecosystem Wastewater Treatment

  6. Primary Treatment • Filtration- wastewater passed through large screen to remove solid objects • First Settling Tank (sedimentation)- WW moved to large tank where solids settle and are later removed as sludge Settling Tank

  7. Secondary Treatment • Aeration Tank- WW mixed with oxygen and aerobic bacteria to break down waste biologically • 2nd settling tank- bacteria and other solids are removed as sludge • Chlorination- chlorine is added to disinfect water before being released to water body Question: What is the difference between aerobic and anaerobic?

  8. Aeration Tanks

  9. Tertiary Treatment • Goal- remove anything primary and secondary didn’t remove such as: • Nutrients- Nitrogen and Phosphorus • Odor and other pathogens • UV light • Ozone • More chlorine Question: Why would we want to remove nitrogen and phosphorus?

  10. Wastewater Treatment Process

  11. What about the sludge? • Sludge can contain toxic substances • Heavy metals: Mercury, Lead, Cadmium • Organic pollutants • Pathogens • Where does it go? • Land: hauled to landfills • Oceans: Europe still dumps 35-45% of total vol. • Air: incinerated (burned); ash brought to landfill

  12. Sludge Alternatives • Fertilizers for crops • Soil conditioner (like compost) • Reclaiming a landfill for open space or park • Recycled into different materials • Bricks • Biofuels But...the sludge needs to be treated first to remove heavy metals and other toxins- $$

  13. Septic Systems • A home WWTP for rural areas • Residential wastewater flows into buried tank on property • Solids settle in tank, liquids are distributed throughout pipe network in soil called the “drain field” • Soil bacteria break down liquid waste, purifies water before it re-enters the aquifer • Sludge gets removed periodically

  14. Septic Systems

  15. Septic Systems 1. Septic Tank 2. Drainfield 3. Sludge Removal 1 2 3

  16. Raised septic systems for high water tables

  17. When it hits the fan…Issues • Unmaintained septic systems • E. Coli, fecal coliform bacteria in water • Water-borne diseases: Cholera, Dysentary • Dumping hazardous chemicals into toilet, sink

  18. Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) • In older towns and cities, storm water and wastewater sewers are connected- all goes to WWTP • During heavy rainstorms, WWTP cannot handle the extra load of wastewater • So…what do you think happens?!

  19. Georgia flooding- 2009

  20. Untreated Wastewater in River

  21. What can you do at home? • Do NOT pour hazardous materials down the drain, toilet, or shower • Paint • Paint Thinner • Chemicals • Do NOT pour excessive fats, grease, oils, or dead pets down the drain

  22. Wrapping Up… Complete Poop Day recap before you leave today

More Related