Wastewater Characteristics

WASTEWATER CHARACTERISTICS

Prior to about 1940, most municipal wastewater was generated from domestic sources. After 1940, as industrial development in the United States grew significantly, increasing amounts of industrial wastewater have been and continue to be discharged to municipal collection systems. The amounts of heavy metals and synthesized organic compounds generated by industrial activities have increased, and some 10,000 new organic com- pounds are added each year. Many of these compounds are now found in the wastewater from most municipalities and communities.

As technological changes take place in manufacturing, changes also occur in the compounds discharged and the resulting wastewater characteristics. Numerous compounds generated from industrial processes are difficult and costly to treat by conventional wastewater treatment processes. Therefore, effective industrial pretreatment

becomes an essential part of an overall water quality management program. Enforcement of an industrial pretreatment program is a daunting task, and some of the regulated pollutants still escape to the municipal wastewater collection system and must be treated. In the future with the objective of pollution prevention, every effort should be made by industrial dischargers to assess the environmental impacts of any new com- pounds that may enter the wastewater stream before being approved for use. If a com- pound cannot be treated effectively with existing technology, it should not be used.