Water Treatment Plant vs Effluent Treatment Plant?

Answer 1

When we talk about water treatment, some terms pop up during the conversation, like sewage, effluent, WTP, etc. these are nothing but the different types of water treatment. Freshwater from water bodies like lakes and rivers needs one type of treatment. Sewage needs another. Effluent treatment is a different methodology. What are ETP, STP, and WTP? How are they different from each other? What happens in these processes? Let us know the answers to the above questions in this article.

Water Treatment Plant

Water treatment is the process of purifying water that flows out of water bodies and making it usable and pottable. This process contains physical, chemical, and biological treatments done at many levels. These treatments separate harsh chemical compounds, microbes, and other harmful substances from the water. Processes like sedimentation, filtration, desalination, etc., take place throughout the process. The end product is potable and clean water.

Effluent Treatment Plant

ETP or Effluent Treatment Plant is a wastewater treatment process. There are two main types of wastewater. They are referred to as sewage and effluent. Sewage is domestic wastewater. Effluent is the wastewater generated by industries and factories. While effluent may contain harmful chemicals and heavy metals, sewage contains excreta and toxins. Now, let us see what exactly happens in an Effluent Treatment Plant.

Effluent water contains harsh chemicals and harmful metal content. Some guidelines have to be followed by the companies or industries while discharging the effluent water into water bodies and land. These guidelines are published by the Govt. of India in the sewage and effluent discharge manual. The most important regulation is that the effluent water has to be treated before the water becomes accessible for the human, flora, and fauna population. This is why Effluent treatment plants have become very popular these days.

There are three jargons used in the process of effluent treatment. Influent or the untreated water, Effluent or the treated water, and Sludge or the solid waste removed from the effluent water.

The influent water undergoes many stages of purification in the Effluent Treatment Plant. They are as follows:

· Pre-treatment stage

Before the water treatment begins, the large solid fragments like plastics, cloth, wood, etc. are fished out of it by processes like sedimentation and clarification.

· Primary stage

The smaller floating particles are made to settle and the water is separated from these sediments. Then, the ph control treatment takes place. The ph of the water is neutralized by adding chemical coagulants and flocculants.

· Secondary stage

This stage involves removing organic and inorganic compounds as well as microbes like bacteria from the water. This biological treatment happens aerobically that is in the presence of oxygen and anaerobically that is in the absence of oxygen.

· Advanced stage

The water undergoes one final purification which removes any remaining organic and inorganic compounds, microbes, and other chemical substances before it is reused. The water that comes out of this stage is clean potable water.

Effluent and Water Treatment Plants in Chennai

Chennai Aqua Pure Systems Pvt. Ltd., offers international standard water treatment plants in Chennai. They also specialize in other products like Effluent Treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, Reverse Osmosis plants (RO plants), etc.