_This draft wiki page is a work in progress!_

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Where does water go once it flows down the sink drain? What about the water trickling down the street into storm drains? Or water discarded from industrial activities?

Wastewater is “used water” that’s created by households, cities, and industry. It ranges from sewage to surface runoff that can flow from roadways into storm drains. Because wastewater can come from many different sources, it can contain a variety of pollutants—soaps and personal care products, human waste, pesticides and fertilizers, and fuel, to name a few. Industrial processes might produce wastewater laced with heavy metals or heated so hot that it harms living things nearby.

**Who’s affected by wastewater pollution?**

Depending on where you live and what produces the wastewater, it might be collected and cleaned (“treated”) before being released back into the environment, or it might be piped pollution-and-all directly into the environment. If the wastewater is treated, different kinds of treatment vary in how effective and efficient they are. Damage to pipes and other infrastructure can also let wastewater leak into the environment. People living near places where wastewater is discharged or treated might encounter pollutants from wastewater.

**On this page we’ll collect and organize resources on wastewater and how people can begin to investigate it.** Visit the [wastewater tag page](https://publiclab.org/tag/wastewater) to see the latest community posts about wastewater on Public Lab, and get updates on this topic by following:

<a class="btn btn-primary btn-lg" href="https://publiclab.org/subscribe/tag/wastewater">Follow wastewater</a>

Sources:
+ [Wastewater pollution](https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/wastewater/pollution.html)

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## Community stories and projects

+ Gowanus Canal aerial mapping and dye tracing to document combined sewer overflows (CSOs)
    + https://publiclab.org/notes/eymund-diegel/12-16-2012/mapping-sewage-flows-gowanus-canal-after-sandy-flood-damages
    + https://publiclab.org/notes/eymund/03-19-2014/dragon-boats-verses-sewage



### Questions from the community

Questions tagged with `question:wastewater` will appear here

[questions:wastewater]


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## Research wastewater

### Some places to start

[notes:grid:getting-started-wastewater]

#### Information on wastewater pollution

**How people might get exposed to wastewater**

**Common pollutants in different kinds of wastewater**

+ [Common water contaminants](https://publiclab.org/wiki/common-water-contaminants): wiki with info on contaminant, potential sources, methods, and how to address the problem

### Methods to monitor wastewater 

+ Photo documentation
    + From the ground
    + Aerial mapping
+ Multispectral imaging?
+ Turbidity sensing
+ Bacteria testing
+ Temperature sensing
+ Conductivity sensing
+ Bioindicators
+ Spectrometry?

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## Regulations, policy, and advocacy

### US federal regulations

### State and local regulations

+ https://publiclab.org/notes/gretchengehrke/10-28-2016/colorado-regulations-hotsheet#Effluent+Turbidity
+ https://publiclab.org/notes/liz/03-06-2014/hudson-riverkeeper-teaches-how-to-report-gowanus-pollution


### International regulations


## Further reading and resources


## Next step challenges