If your facility or business creates wastewater in the form of sludge or sewage, then you'll want to treat it before disposal in order to remain compliant with EPA regulations. Some companies choose to outsource this, but if you want to treat your wastewater yourself then you have multiple options. You can use treatment in the form of biological treatment, a treatment that introduces oxygen to break down volatile organic compounds, or a combination of both.
Biological, Anaerobic Treatment
Anaerobic treatment allows for the breakdown of solid components within wastewater through the introduction of bacteria. This bacteria does not require oxygen to survive, allowing for wastewater to be slowly broken down into less toxic or more manageable forms over time. The bacteria will feed on the solid, non-metal parts of the wastewater, hence the name, "biological treatment." The breakdown of the organic material not only reduces the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the wastewater but it also makes the waste easier to manage for further treatment, if necessary.
Aerobic Treatment
Another form of wastewater management is the introduction of oxygen to allow the VOCs present to be broken down and diluted. VOCs in wastewater are a danger to the environment partially because they easily evaporate when faced with oxygen-rich air or other environments. Any VOCs that do not evaporate when the water is disposed of can become part of local watersheds, causing further problems. As such, it's important to reduce the amount of VOCs in wastewater whenever possible. Aerobic wastewater treatment is typically performed by adding small, constant bubbles to the wastewater over time until the VOCs have been fully broken down into safer forms.
Hybrid
Finally, any facility looking to treat wastewater can find that using both biological treatment and non-biological, aerobic treatment can effectively reduce the amount of waste and VOCs present in wastewater to safe levels. If the waste does not have enough solid mass to need anaerobic treatment, then focusing on aerobic treatment may be more beneficial, but biological treatment can always benefit from aerobic treatment. Additionally, adding oxygen to sludge or sewage is not a suitable method for dealing with organic mass and pollutants, and requires biological treatment instead. Your wastewater can frequently be better managed with both biological and non-biological treatment than either alone.
Biological and non-biological treatment are both incredibly useful to any industrial facility looking to handle wastewater. Biological, or anaerobic treatment, introduces bacteria to treat wastewater while aerobic treatment introduces oxygen. Both methods are typically used in conjunction with each other. If you need wastewater treated, or help treating your wastewater in-house, contact a biological treatment service near you today.
Contact a local company for more information about biological treatment.
