The Use Of Heavy Metal Contaminants From Effluent Discharged By Industries Are More Complex Than Designing The Treatment Process

The lead in the environment is formed naturally in the earth’s crust mainly as Lead Sulphide. The main exposure channels of lead entering the environment through atmospheric lead is predominantly from automobile emissions. Other lead exposure routes include lead-acid batteries, paint chips, fertilizers, utilized ammunition, pesticides, and other industrial byproducts. The means of conveying lead from key emission sources is mainly through the air. Concerning the sources of lead in drinking water, normally lead reaches into the residents’ water after it is channeled from their water treatment plant or the wells. To be more precise, the source of lead in people’s water supply largely emanates from their households’ pipes or lead solder from plumbing. The most typical cause of the lead formation is from the corrosion reaction by the lead pipes or solders and the water. The acidity as a result of the low pH, dissolved oxygen, and little mineral contents in the water are main reasons of the corrosion. The lead amounts in the water become high if the water spends a long duration of time stagnated inside the old pipes.

The flowback water is stored in temporary lagoons or lakes until it is transported to facilities that treat the water or facilities that have permits to inject into deep “Class II wells” or dump into rivers, streams, and lakes along with other wastewater from other sources (OSU). Most of the facilities that are used to treat the flowback water before they are put back into water systems as treated water are not equipped to treat all the contaminants of flowback water. In all the research done, there have been no results that suggest the wastewater inside the wells contaminate or pollute groundwater that people use as drinking water. However surface spills of flowback been mostly unnoticed even though the flowback water that leaks from the storage lagoons into waterways and drinking water has potential to be especially harmful. Recent

Water contamination is vastly becoming an alarming issue across the world. We rely on clean water to survive, yet right now we are heading towards a water crisis. Changing climate patterns are threatening lakes and rivers, and key sources that we tap for drinking water are being overdrawn or tainted with pollution (www.nrdc.org). Clean and plentiful water is the cornerstone of prosperous communities. Yet as we enter the 21st century, swelling demand and changing climate patterns are

Not only is pollution the cause of the death of many organisms essential to ecological balance, but human drinking water has also been affected.

Although the amount of pollutants from a single town or construction site may seem insignificant, the combined concentrations of contaminants threaten our lakes, streams and wetlands. When things such as: human and animal waste, decaying plants and animals, discarded litter, or food waste enter surface waters, either dissolved or suspended in stormwater runoff, they can deplete the supply of dissolved oxygen in the water. When dissolved oxygen is reduced below a certain critical level, it can impair or kill aquatic plants and animals (CNYRPDB, 2011).

Although sewage systems are able to provide a great deal of sanitation to water before it is released back into a source, the risk of raw sewage overflowing into water sources poses several issues. Not only can raw sewage contain harmful bacteria such as E. coli, it can also negatively affect aquatic life. Human waste typically contains high levels of nitrogen, phosphorous, and other nutrients that are useful for people but can cause many issues in an aquatic environment (Burkholder et. al., 2011). Much of these elements are removed during wastewater treatment, but if they are sent directly to a water source due to flooding, they can cause algae blooms and harm

Often, toxic substances are being drained into the air, waterways, and undergrounds wells. According to the report by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 60 million pounds of deadly chemicals are produced by industries in Florida. Notably, Florida’s water has been suffering mercury contamination until the state’s department of migration issues a circular regularly for regulations of eating freshwater fish in the region (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). In fact, such metals emanate from coal combustion’s emissions which run into water bodies. Not to mention, pesticides and herbicides utilized by government and homeowners pollute the environment (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Indeed, all chemicals released into the atmosphere find themselves in rivers.

Water pollution impacts how humans and other living organisms live their life. Most common way humans are effected by water pollution is through diseases while drinking the water. Scientists have found over “five hundred different types of diseases” that can affect humans. (Book). These diseases get into the water streams by human and animal wastes. The diseases in the water can often lead to death for humans. Recent research has shown that that each year

Contamination of the ecosystem by non-regulated emerging contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticide residue and organic compounds is a human and environmental health concern (Kabata-Pendias, 2010; Choppala et al., 2013). Several of these inorganic and organic compounds are not efficiently removed through wastewater treatment. Soil and water resources contaminated by heavy metals are a growing problem in various locations around the world. Even though at trace levels several elements are natural components of soils, anthropogenic activities such as mining, industry, and localized agriculture have contributed to undesirable toxic levels in the ecosystem (Meers et al., 2005; Lewandowski and Schmidt, 2006). Many contaminants

Lead is released into the wider environment in the form of elemental Pb, oxides and hydroxides along with oxyanion complexes. Normally, it occurs with an oxidation state of 0 or +II. Pb(II) is more common than its uncharged counterpart and more reactive. It forms mononuclear and polynuclear oxides and hydroxides (Smith et al., 1995). Low solubility Pb compounds are products of reactions with inorganic and organic ligands (Bodek et al., 1988). Most of the Pb released is retained in soils (Evans, 1989). Adsorption, precipitation, ion exchange and reactions with sorbed organic matter

Among the different biological methods, bioaccumulation and biosorption have been demonstrated to possess good potential for the removal of metals (Volesky and Holan, 1995; Malik, 2004). Biosorption possesses certain inherent advantages over bioaccumulation processes, which are listed in Table 1. Bioaccumulation is the phenomenon of uptake of toxicants by living cells; whereas, biosorption mechanism is the passive uptake of toxicants by dead/inactive biological materials. Both living and dead microbial biomass are able to uptake metal ions and offer potential economical alternative to conventional absorbents (Knorr D, 1991; Khoo K M and Ting Y P,

Conventional Sewage Treatment plants are the most common system for wastewater treatment in the United States. These systems are found in all urban communities but only in a few rural communities. This complex system is responsible for processing of the waste of the majority of the people in the United States yet few of them understand the scientific principles involved with treatment. In addition many people are even unaware of where their wastewater goes after it has been flushed down the toilet or disappear through the bath tub drain. I will attempt to describe the biological, chemical and physical process involved with the treatment of wastewater through the use of conventional sewage treatment.

Clean water supply is essential in establishing and maintaining a healthy community. There are two sources of water supply which are the surface water and ground water. Most natural waters are not suitable for consumption as it is contaminated by pathogens and also natural chemicals and minerals. In addition, as a city grew, wastes from human activities contaminate most of the water supplies. Water treatment plays an important role to properly treat a contaminated source of water supply in order to protect the health of consumers. Water treatment process is defined as a process of eliminating pollutants from untreated water to produce a biologically and chemically risk-free water, which is both potable and palatable for human consumption

Phytoremediation is the process by which plants and trees are used to remove or stabilize hazardous pollutants that exist in soil, sediments, surface water or groundwater. The EPA (environmental protection agency) estimates that more than 30,000 sites in the U.S. are in need of environmental treatment, and a great number of these sites are contaminated with highly toxic metals. Abandoned or under-used commercial and industrial facilities, termed as “brownfields,” are a major contributor to this environment concern. “Brownfields” pose significant health risks to nearby residential populations and threaten the plant and animal life close to them. Phytoremediation provides a very

The disposal of untreated wastewater coming from the industries into the water bodies will pollute the water bodies because of its high concentrations. So, the wastewater produced from the industry should be treated properly to meet the permissible limits given by central and state pollution control boards. Therefore it is necessary to treat the wastewater properly with the help of an appropriate treatment plant. However, the treatment plant even though properly planned may not work satisfactory because of several reasons. Hence, it is essential to evaluate the treatment plant considering individual treatment unit in the entire treatment flow. In the present work emphasis has been given to the study of the performance of treatment facilities because of its importance in the conventional treatment of wastewater. Hence, the literature review related to the evaluation of the entire treatment process along with biological treatment process particularly suspended growth process Activated Sludge Process (ASP), attached growth process Trickling Filter (TF) and a combination of the both suspended and attached growth process Hybrid Reactor (HR) is presented in the following sections of this chapter.