What is effluent?

Effluent is defined as any wastewater whose quality has been negatively affected by humans and contaminants. Effluent consists of liquid and solid waste that is discharged from known sources such as domestic residences, commercial properties, industrial plants, and agriculture facilities into water bodies or on land. Wastewater contains a wide range of various contaminants at varying concentrations. 

Different types of Effluent

Wastewater can broadly be classified into three types: domestic sewage, industrial sewage, and storm sewage.

Domestic sewage mainly comprises of water (99.9%) together with relatively small concentrations of suspended and dissolved organic and inorganic solids. The organic content present in sewage are carbohydrates, fats, soaps, synthetic detergents, proteins and their decomposition products, as well as various natural and synthetic organic chemicals from the process industries.

Industrial wastewater usually contains specific and identifiable chemical compounds depending on the nature of the industrial process.

Storm sewage, or storm water, is runoff from precipitation that is collected in a system of pipes or open channels. Storm sewage carries organic materials, suspended and dissolved solids, and other substances picked up as it runs over the ground.

Characteristics of the Treatment plant effluent

The required quality of treatment plant effluent is defined by the quality requirements of the incoming water.

The quality requirements of the incoming water are established either by law or by elaborate engineering analysis giving consideration to natural purification or self-purification that occurs in the receiving water. It can either be regulated by river water quality standards looking in to assimilative capacity of the water body or discharge standards which will be implemented uniformly under jurisdiction of the authority without looking in to the river water quality at a specific location.

What are wastewater effluent standards?

Effluent standards are concentrations of pollutants expressed in terms of parts per million for waste water discharged through outfall pipes from domestic sewage treatment plants or industrial plants. Each pollutant present in wastewater, such as biochemical oxygen demand from organic matter or suspended solids, has its own individual water quality standards.

These wastewater standards depend on the technology used to reduce the specific pollutant in each industry known to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the time they were set.

Table: Effluent water quality standards applicable to wastewater discharged into sewage systems

Category

Parameters

Regulations

Large scale factories

Temperature

< 45°C

pH

pH = 5.7~8.7

BOD

< 300mg/l

SS

< 300mg/l

lodine consumption

< 220mg/l

Phenol concentration

< 50mg/l

Regular

Temperature

< 40°C

pH

pH = 5~8

BOD

< 600mg/l

SS

< 600mg/l

lodine consumption

< 220mg/l

Phenol concentration

< 100mg/l

Effluent Disposal

The sewage after undergoing treatment may be disposed either into a water body such as lake, stream, river, estuary, and ocean or on to land. It may also be reused and utilized for several purposes such as

(a) Industrial reuse or reclaimed sewage effluent cooling system, boiler feed, process water, etc.

(b) Used in agriculture and horticulture industry, watering of lawns, golf courses and similar purpose, and

(c) Groundwater recharge for augmenting groundwater resources for downstream users or for preventing saline water intrusion in coastal areas.

How can we help?

If you want to know about different ways by which the effluent can be brought under standards prescribed by the Government agencies or want to reuse and recycle your wastewater, give us a call.

We provide customized services addressing customer needs promptly and effectively using industry-certified standards. Netsol manufactures top-of-the-line WWTPs and ETPs effective in removing major contaminants from raw wastewater.

Netsol Water is Greater Noida-based leading water & wastewater treatment plant manufacturer. We are industry’s most demanding company based on client review and work quality. We are known as best commercial RO plant manufacturers, industrial RO plant manufacturer, sewage treatment plant manufacturer, Water Softener Plant Manufacturers and effluent treatment plant manufacturers. Apart from this 24×7 customer support is our USP. Call on +91-9650608473, or write us at [email protected] for any support, inquiry or product-purchase related query.