How Does a Waste Water Treatment Plant Work?
At a waste water treatment plant the water is recycled from sewage lines with water that comes from toilets, sinks and garbage disposals. This water then goes thorough a sterilization process to get rid of chemicals, bacteria and other harmful toxins.
Arrival of Water
The waste water travels to the treatment plant by way of sewage lines. At this time it is checked for waste materials by going through the waste area. Any waste material found is then dumped into a basin. Workers scrape the bottom of the basin continuously to get rid of the material.
Once the water has been checked for waste and the particles are dumped into the basin, it travels to yet another basin where it goes through a sterilization process. During this process, "good" bacteria does away with any remaining waste that didn't get removed in the first basin. Oxygen then enters the tank and is filtered through the water. Next, it is pumped through two additional basins for aeration and sludge removal.
Sludge Removal
The sludge removal involves a spinning process. During this process, amorphous material is removed. The leftover sludge is then moved into digesters that decompose it and then modify it making it suitable to use in the future for fertilizer. Once the complete separation of sludge is finished, the rest of the water goes through additional treatment processes that take about 24 hours to complete. Afterward, it is tested and sent back out.