Revisions for Wastewater
| 1 CURRENT | bhamster |
September 28, 2021 20:44
| over 2 years ago
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’s most commonly associated with sewage, but we can also talk about surface runoff and stormwater that flows from roadways into storm drains. In any case, wastewater and stormwater eventually end up in the environment. Because wastewater can come from many different sources, it can contain a variety of pollutants—soaps and personal care products, sanitary 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. On this page we’ll collect and organize resources on wastewater and how people can begin to investigate it. Visit the wastewater tag page to see the latest community posts about wastewater on Public Lab, and get updates on this topic by following: Sources: Wastewater pollution Lead image: @alejobonifacio sampling along the Suquía River near a wastewater treatment plant.
On this page you can:
See community stories and projects on wastewater Join the conversation
Learn about regulations for wastewater and what community members can do Find further reading and resources on wastewater See next step challenges in wastewater community science and method development Community stories and projectsPublic Lab community projects tagged with [wikis:wastewater-project] You can also find stormwater-related projects here: https://publiclab.org/wiki/stormwater#Project+Pages
Do you have a project or story to share? Start a project page or write a research note and add the tag #wastewater-project, or post links here!
Join the conversationQuestions from the community
Questions tagged with [questions:wastewater] Post an Issue BriefShare a local concern or issue about wastewater pollution and get support from the Public Lab community by writing and posting an Issue Brief. Visit “Write an Issue Brief” to find information on what an issue brief is, see examples, and learn how to write one. Research wastewaterImage: @warren The Public Lab community is here to support people as they plan and carry out investigations into local wastewater pollution. Anyone can ask questions, start an issue brief with any amount of information available, or start documenting a project. Some places to startHere are some activities you might want to try when starting to research wastewater pollution. [notes:grid:getting-started-wastewater] Information on wastewater pollutionSewer systems and how people get exposed to wastewaterIn cities and towns in the US, you’ll mostly find two different kinds of sewer systems that collect and transport wastewater: combined sewer systems and separate sewer systems. Combined sewer systems collect both stormwater runoff from storm drains AND raw sewage from buildings and households. The stormwater and sanitary sewage are both directed in a single pipe to a wastewater treatment plant to be cleaned. When there are heavy rains, however, this increases the amount of stormwater flowing into the combined system. Not all the extra incoming water can be handled by the wastewater treatment plant, and so the rest is released directly into the environment as a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO), raw sewage and all. In New York City, for example, about 60% of the city is served by a combined sewer system. Separate sewer systems have, as one might guess, separate pipes for stormwater and sanitary sewage. Many stormwater systems in the US are Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) that have to follow regional and federal permit regulations to reduce water pollution. In most cases, though, the stormwater isn’t fully treated before it gets released into the environment. A separate sanitary sewer system transports raw sewage from households, businesses, and other buildings to a wastewater treatment plant. There, the sewage is treated and the cleaned water is released into the environment.
With any kind of sewer system, there’s the threat of exposing people to wastewater. Untreated or under-treated wastewater can make its way into waterbodies that people use for recreation, fishing, or drinking water. Pollutants can also become airborne when wastewater enters coastal areas. The wastewater might be legally released under a permit, it might be illegally dumped, or it might leak from broken pipes and other sewer system infrastructure. Wastewater pollutants
Methods to monitor wastewater
On Public Lab’s methods page, you can see methods related to:
Detecting possible wastewater pollutionLots of information (in English and Spanish) about what to look for in the comments of this question: What are some observable tell-tale signs of wastewater pollution? Check out the wiki page below on different methods for detecting wastewater pollution: [nodes:grid:detecting-wastewater-method] On that page, you’ll find information on monitoring some water quality characteristics that could indicate wastewater pollution:
ActivitiesActivities on Public Lab that have been tagged with [activities:wastewater] Regulations, policy, and advocacyUS federal regulations
State and local regulations
International regulationsPlease share more here! AdvocacyIn general, how can community members take action on wastewater pollution? [nodes:grid:wastewater-advocacy] Further reading and resources
WikisWiki pages related to wastewater [wikis:wastewater] Next step challenges
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| 0 | bhamster |
September 22, 2021 17:45
| over 2 years ago
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’s most commonly associated with sewage, but we can also talk about surface runoff and stormwater that flows from roadways into storm drains. In any case, wastewater and stormwater eventually end up in the environment. Because wastewater can come from many different sources, it can contain a variety of pollutants—soaps and personal care products, sanitary 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. On this page we’ll collect and organize resources on wastewater and how people can begin to investigate it. Visit the wastewater tag page to see the latest community posts about wastewater on Public Lab, and get updates on this topic by following: Sources: Wastewater pollution
On this page you can:
See community stories and projects on wastewater Join the conversation
Learn about regulations for wastewater and what community members can do Find further reading and resources on wastewater See next step challenges in wastewater community science and method development Community stories and projectsPublic Lab community projects tagged with [wikis:wastewater-project] You can also find stormwater-related projects here: https://publiclab.org/wiki/stormwater#Project+Pages
Do you have a project or story to share? Start a project page or write a research note and add the tag #wastewater-project, or post links here!
Join the conversationQuestions from the community
Questions tagged with [questions:wastewater] Post an Issue BriefShare a local concern or issue about wastewater pollution and get support from the Public Lab community by writing and posting an Issue Brief. Visit “Write an Issue Brief” to find information on what an issue brief is, see examples, and learn how to write one. Research wastewaterImage: @warren The Public Lab community is here to support people as they plan and carry out investigations into local wastewater pollution. Anyone can ask questions, start an issue brief with any amount of information available, or start documenting a project. Some places to startHere are some activities you might want to try when starting to research wastewater pollution. [notes:grid:getting-started-wastewater] Information on wastewater pollutionSewer systems and how people get exposed to wastewaterIn cities and towns in the US, you’ll mostly find two different kinds of sewer systems that collect and transport wastewater: combined sewer systems and separate sewer systems. Combined sewer systems collect both stormwater runoff from storm drains AND raw sewage from buildings and households. The stormwater and sanitary sewage are both directed in a single pipe to a wastewater treatment plant to be cleaned. When there are heavy rains, however, this increases the amount of stormwater flowing into the combined system. Not all the extra incoming water can be handled by the wastewater treatment plant, and so the rest is released directly into the environment as a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO), raw sewage and all. In New York City, for example, about 60% of the city is served by a combined sewer system. Separate sewer systems have, as one might guess, separate pipes for stormwater and sanitary sewage. Many stormwater systems in the US are Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) that have to follow regional and federal permit regulations to reduce water pollution. In most cases, though, the stormwater isn’t fully treated before it gets released into the environment. A separate sanitary sewer system transports raw sewage from households, businesses, and other buildings to a wastewater treatment plant. There, the sewage is treated and the cleaned water is released into the environment.
With any kind of sewer system, there’s the threat of exposing people to wastewater. Untreated or under-treated wastewater can make its way into waterbodies that people use for recreation, fishing, or drinking water. Pollutants can also become airborne when wastewater enters coastal areas. The wastewater might be legally released under a permit, it might be illegally dumped, or it might leak from broken pipes and other sewer system infrastructure. Wastewater pollutants
Methods to monitor wastewater
On Public Lab’s methods page, you can see methods related to:
Detecting possible wastewater pollutionLots of information (in English and Spanish) about what to look for in the comments of this question: What are some observable tell-tale signs of wastewater pollution? Check out the wiki page below on different methods for detecting wastewater pollution: [nodes:grid:detecting-wastewater-method] On that page, you’ll find information on monitoring some water quality characteristics that could indicate wastewater pollution:
ActivitiesActivities on Public Lab that have been tagged with [activities:wastewater] Regulations, policy, and advocacyUS federal regulations
State and local regulations
International regulationsPlease share more here! AdvocacyIn general, how can community members take action on wastewater pollution? [nodes:grid:wastewater-advocacy] Further reading and resources
WikisWiki pages related to wastewater [wikis:wastewater] Next step challenges
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