Wastewater Problems

2. Reasons and Problems related to Wastewater

Quality of water is a serious issue across the world and uncontrolled disposal of municipal, industrial and agricultural liquid, solid, and gaseous wastes poses serious threats to the sustainability. This has led to the contamination of air, water and soil along with its contribution to global warming. There are several factors which are responsible for continuous degradation of water quality like increasing population, industrialization and urbanization. As the demand of potable water is increasing, the need of treatment and safe disposal of wastewater is becoming essential to safeguard public health and reduce unbearable levels of environmental deterioration. Globally, around 663 million people

Groundwater includes water from farming and industries needs to be remediated to prevent contaminants entering the environment. Water remediation is essential for various reasons. Firstly, water that is considered toxic for consumption must be entirely safe to match established health criteria. Moreover, water remediation is essential to keep the atmosphere free from pollution. These contaminants in wastewater can adversely damage the local geography and negatively affect all types of farming and life of plants and

Treatment using plants and microorganisms (Bioremediation)

Bioremediation is described as the use of microorganisms to breakdown pollutants. It is not simply collecting and storing the pollutants rather it depends upon living organisms that are bioremediators to consume and break down the toxic compounds, turning them into harmless or less toxic substances. Bioremediators are the organisms like microbes like bacteria, archaea and fungi used for bioremediation. They grow very rapidly and can be genetically modified without any problems. Bioremediation techniques have been effectively used to detoxify soils, ground water and sludge contaminated with hydrocarbons, pesticides, solvents, wood preservatives, and other organic chemicals even for low level residual contamination.

Bioremediation cannot detoxify inorganic pollutants but may change the valence state of inorganics causing adsorption, immobilization onto soil particulates from where they can be taken up, precipitated, accumulated, and concentrated through micro or macroorganisms.1

3.2.1.1.