Effluent

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wastewater is considered effluent as it is released to surface water.

Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters, either untreated or after being treated at a facility.[1] The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pollutants depending on the source.[2]

Definition

Effluent is defined by the

stream channels[6] may allow relatively untreated wastewater to emerge as springs.[7]

Description

Effluent in the artificial sense is in general considered to be

biofilters.[8]

In the context of a thermal power station and other industrial facilities, the output of the cooling system may be referred to as the effluent cooling water, which is noticeably warmer than the environment and is called thermal pollution.[9]: 375  In chemical engineering practice, effluent is the stream exiting a chemical reactor.[10]

Effluent may carry pollutants such as fats, oils and greases; solvents, detergents and other chemicals; heavy metal; other solids; and food waste.[2] Possible sources include a wide range of manufacturing industries, mining industries, oil and gas extraction, and service industries.[11]

Treatment

Main article: Wastewater treatment

There are several kinds of wastewater which are treated at the appropriate type of treatment plant. Domestic wastewater (also called municipal wastewater or sewage) is processed at a sewage treatment plant. For industrial wastewater, treatment either takes place in a separate industrial wastewater treatment facility, or in a sewage treatment plant (usually after some form of pre-treatment). Other types of wastewater treatment plants include agricultural wastewater treatment and leachate treatment plants.

Treating wastewater efficiently is challenging, but improved technology allows for enhanced removal of specific materials, increased

re-use of water, and energy production from waste.[2][12][13][14]

Pollution control regulation

United States effluent guidelines

In the United States, the Clean Water Act requires all direct effluent discharges to surface waters to be regulated with permits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).[15][16] Indirect dischargers–facilities which send their wastewater to municipal sewage treatment plants–may be subject to pretreatment requirements.[17] NPDES permits require discharging facilities to limit or treat effluent to the levels that result from using the most effective treatment technologies possible at a practical cost to mitigate the effects of discharges on the receiving waters.[16] EPA has published technology-based regulations, called "effluent guidelines", for 59 industrial categories.[11] The agency reviews the standards annually, conducts research on various categories, and makes revisions as appropriate.[16] Noncompliance with these standards and all other conditions in the permits is punishable by law.[18] Each year, effluent guidelines regulations prevent billions of pounds of contaminants from being released into bodies of water.[19]

EPA regulations require effluent limitations to be expressed as mass-based limits (rather than concentration-based limits) in the permits, so that discharging facilities will not use dilution as a substitute for treatment. In cases where setting mass-based limits are infeasible, the permit authority must set conditions in the permit that prohibit dilution.[20]

United States sewage treatment standards

The U.S. "Secondary Treatment Regulation" is the national standard for municipal sewage treatment plants.[21]

See also

Look up effluent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ a b "Terms of Environment". Washington, D.C.: United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). February 1993. p. 10. EPA 175-B-93-001.
  2. ^ a b c Tuser, Cristina (2021-10-27). "What is Effluent?". Water & Wastes Digest. Endeavor Business Media, LLC.
  3. ^ "AskOxford: effluent". Ask Oxford.com. Oxford University Press. 2010.[dead link]
  4. ISBN 0-07-052252-9
    .
  5. ISBN 0-07-037959-9
    .
  6. ISBN 0-07-026740-5
    .
  7. ISBN 0-07-060929-2
    .
  8. OCLC 48053912
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-119-30450-0
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0-13-127839-4
    .
  11. ^ a b "Industrial Effluent Guidelines". EPA. 2022-11-07.
  12. ISBN 978-0-08-100025-0
    .
  13. ISBN 978-0-444-52272-6
    .
  14. OCLC 1096233045
    .
  15. ^ "NPDES Permit Limits". National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. EPA. 2021-10-11.
  16. ^ a b c "Learn about Effluent Guidelines". EPA. 2022-09-09.
  17. ^ "National Pretreatment Program Overview". NPDES. EPA. 2022-10-03.
  18. ^ "Effluent Guidelines Implementation & Compliance". EPA. 2022-09-09.
  19. ^ "Effluent Guidelines Plan". EPA. 2022-11-18.
  20. ^ EPA. "Calculating NPDES permit conditions." Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 122.45
  21. ^ EPA. "Secondary Treatment Regulation." Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 133
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