Water treatment and
waste management
Petra Škabar, Slovenia
?
 Sewage
treatment is the process of
removing contaminants from wastewater
and household sewage, both runoff,
domestic, commercial and institutional
 Wastewater, also written as waste water,
is any water that has been adversely
affected in quality by anthropogenic
influence.
How?
 Any
oxidizable material present in a
natural waterway or in an industrial
wastewater will be oxidized both by
biochemical (bacterial) or chemical
processes. The result is that the oxygen
content of the water will be decreased.
Where?

In some urban areas, sewage is carried
separately in sanitary sewers and runoff from
streets is carried in storm drains. Access to
either of these is typically through a manhole.
 Sewage may drain directly into major
watersheds with minimal or no treatment. When
untreated, sewage can have serious impacts on
the quality of an environment and on the health
of people. Pathogens can cause a variety of
illnesses
The use

Around 90% of wastewater produced globally
remains untreated, causing widespread water
pollution, especially in low-income countries.
Increasingly, agriculture is using untreated
wastewater for irrigation.
 Cities provide lucrative markets for fresh
produce, so are attractive to farmers. However,
because agriculture has to compete for
increasingly scarce water resources with
industry and municipal users, there is often no
alternative for farmers but to use water polluted
with urban waste directly to water their crops.
In Slovenia


The beginnings of the construction of sewage treatment
plants in major industrial centers in Slovenia date back to
the years from 1970 to 1980.
Approximately 70% of the EU population is connected to
the wastewater treatment plant. This proportion is
highest in the Netherlands, where 99% of the population
is connected to the waste water treatment plant. In
Spain, Germany, Italy and Austria the share is 90%. The
lowest proportion is in Malta, where only 13 % of the
population is connected to the waste water treatment
plant. According to data from 2010, this share
amounts to 54% in Slovenia, which means that we
are among the countries where the share of
population connected to wastewater treatment
plants is small and nearly half the population in
Slovenia is still using cesspools
Waterwaste treatment plants in
Slovenia
Sources
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Co
ulee_Dam_spillway.jpg
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wastewater_tre
atment#Treatment
 http://www.naun.org/multimedia/NAUN/en
ergyenvironment/16-688.pdf