sewage

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A preserved medieval waste pipe in Stockholm Old Town used to guide sewage onto the street where rain eventually would carry it away.

Sewage is water-carried wastes, in either solution or suspension, that flow away from a community. Also known as wastewater flows, sewage is the used water supply of the community. It is more than 99.9% pure water and is characterized by its volume or rate of flow, its physical condition, its chemical constituents, and the bacteriological organisms that it contains. Depending on their origin, wastewater can be classed as sanitary, commercial, industrial, or surface runoff.

The spent water from residences and institutions, carrying body wastes, washing water, food preparation wastes, laundry wastes, and other waste products of normal living, are classed as domestic or sanitary sewage. Liquid-carried wastes from stores and service establishments serving the immediate community, termed commercial wastes, are included in the sanitary or domestic sewage category if their characteristics are similar to household flows. Wastes that result from an industrial process or the production or manufacture of goods are classed as industrial wastes. Their flows and strengths are usually more varied, intense, and concentrated than those of sanitary sewage. Surface runoff, also known as storm flow or overland flow, is that portion of precipitation that runs rapidly over the ground surface to a defined channel. Precipitation absorbs gases and particulates from the atmosphere, dissolves and leaches materials from vegetation and soil, suspends matter from the land, washes spills and debris from urban streets and highways, and carries all these pollutants as wastes in its flow to a collection point. Discharges are classified as point source when they emanate from a pipe outfall, or nonpoint source when they are diffused and come from agriculture or unchanneled urban land drainage runoff.

Wastewater from all of these sources may carry pathogenic organisms that can transmit disease to humans and other animals; contain organic matter that can cause odor and nuisance problems; hold nutrients that may cause eutrophication of receiving water bodies; and can lead to ecotoxicology. Proper collection and safe, nuisance-free disposal of the liquid wastes of a community are legally recognized as a necessity in an urbanized, industrialized society^[1]

Formerly "sewage" also meant "sewerage". Sometimes in the USA "sewerage" means "sewage". ^{[2] [3]}

Etymology

• The words 'sewage' and 'sewer' come from Old French seuwiere or from Anglo-Norman sewere or from Anglo-French assewer, essiver meaning "(channel) to drain the overflow from a fish pond" or "to drain" and ultimately from Vulgar Latin *exaquaticum and *exaquarium, from the verb *exaquare = "to drain", from Latin ex- ‘out of’ + aqua ‘water’.[3]

Sewage services

Collection and disposal

A system of sewer pipes (sewers) collects sewage and takes it for treatment or disposal. The system of sewers is called sewerage or sewerage system (see London sewerage system) in UK English and sewage system in US English. Where a main sewerage system has not been provided, sewage may be collected from homes by pipes into septic tanks or cesspits, where it may be treated or collected in vehicles and taken for treatment or disposal. Properly functioning septic tanks require emptying every 2-5 years depending on the load of the system.

Sewage and waste water is also disposed of to rivers, streams and the sea in many parts of the world. Doing so can lead to serious pollution of the receiving water. This is common in third world countries and may still occur in some developed countries, where septic tank systems are too expensive.

Treatment

Sewage treatment is the process of removing the contaminants from sewage to produce liquid and solid (sludge) suitable for discharge to the environment or for reuse. It is a form of waste management. A septic tank or other on-site wastewater treatment system such as biofilters can be used to treat sewage close to where it is created.

Sewage water is a complex matrix, with many distinctive chemical characteristics. These include high concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, phosphorus, high conductivity (due to high dissolved solids), high alkalinity, with pH typically ranging between 7 and 8. Trihalomethanes are also likely to be present as a result of past disinfection.

In developed countries sewage collection and treatment is typically subject to local, state and federal regulations and standards.

Conversion to fertiliser

Sewage sludge can be collected trough a sludge processing plant that automatically heats the matter and conveys it into fertiliser pellets (hereby removing possible contamination by chemical detergents, ...)^[4] This approach allows to eliminate seawater pollution by conveying the water directly to the sea without treatment (a practice which is still common in developing countries, despite environmental regulation). Sludge plants are useful in areas that have already set-up a sewage-system, but not in areas without such a system, as composting toilets are more efficient and do not require sewage pipes (which break over time).

Electricity

Power can also be obtained from sewage water. The technique used herefore are Microbial fuel cells.

See also

• Cloaca Maxima
• Drainage system
• Directive on Urban Waste Water Treatment
• Ecological sanitation
• Humanure
• ISO 5667
• ISO 10304
• Jenkem
• Sanitary sewer overflow
• Sewage pumping
• Waste management
• Water quality

Notes

1. ^ [["SEWAGE"]. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. [http://www.answers.com/topic/sewage. 
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ Sewage sludge to fertiliser plant

References

• Sewage. (n.d.). McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Retrieved April 02, 2009, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/sewage
• Teresi, Dick; et al. (2002). Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science--from the Babylonians to the Maya. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 352. ISBN 0-684-83718-8. 

External links

• Sewer History - main focus is sewers, but also contains significant information on sewage, sewage treatment and disposal, and health impacts.
• A tour of the Everett Water Pollution Control Facility in Washington, written by an employee.
• Website of the Technische Universität Darmstadt and the CEEP about Phosphorus Recovery
• Rose George - Author of the The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why it Matters