Wastewater (orwaste water) is water generated after the use ofdrinking water,fresh water,raw water, orsaline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes.[1]: 1 Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of domestic, industrial, commercial or agricultural activities, surface runoff / storm water, and anysewer infiltration or sewer inflow".[2]: 175 In everyday usage, wastewater is commonly a synonym forsewage (also called domestic wastewater or municipal wastewater), which is wastewater that is produced by a community of people.
Industrial wastewater: waterborne waste generated from a variety of industrial processes, such as manufacturing operations, mineral extraction, power generation, or water andwastewater treatment.
Cooling water, is released with potentialthermal pollution after use to condense steam or reduce machinery temperatures by conduction or evaporation.
Leachate: precipitation containing pollutants dissolved while percolating through ores, raw materials, products, or solid waste.
Return flow: the flow of water carrying suspended soil, pesticide residues, or dissolved minerals and nutrients from irrigatedcropland.
Wastewater treatment refers to processes used to removecontaminants from wastewater. The treatedeffluent is typically discharged to a receiving water body with the aim of limiting adverse environmental impacts[3]. Sewage is usually treated at sewage treatment plants. Industrial wastewater may be treated at facilities designed for industrial processes or, in some cases, at municipal sewage treatment plants[4]. When the latter occurs, industries generally perform on-site pretreatment before discharge to the municipal system. Other specialized treatment plants exist for agricultural wastewater and leachate.
Treatment processes commonly includephase separation, biological and chemical transformation steps, and polishing to improve effluent quality.Sludge is the principal by-product generated during treatment and is further processed at the same facility or at separate sludge treatment plants[5].Anaerobic treatment processes can additionally producebiogas[6].
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