Wastewater Explained

Wastewater should not be confused with Wastwater.

Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes.^[1] Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of domestic, industrial, commercial or agricultural activities, surface runoff / storm water, and any sewer inflow or sewer infiltration".^[2] In everyday usage, wastewater is commonly a synonym for sewage (also called domestic wastewater or municipal wastewater), which is wastewater that is produced by a community of people.

As a generic term, wastewater may also describe water containing contaminants accumulated in other settings, such as:

• Industrial wastewater: waterborne waste generated from a variety of industrial processes, such as manufacturing operations, mineral extraction, power generation, or water and wastewater treatment.
• Cooling water, is released with potential thermal pollution after use to condense steam or reduce machinery temperatures by conduction or evaporation.
• Leachate: precipitation containing pollutants dissolved while percolating through ores, raw materials, products, or solid waste.
• Return flow: the flow of water carrying suspended soil, pesticide residues, or dissolved minerals and nutrients from irrigated cropland.
• Surface runoff: the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate the soil.
• Urban runoff, including water used for outdoor cleaning activity and landscape irrigation in densely populated areas created by urbanization.
• Agricultural wastewater: animal husbandry wastewater generated from confined animal operations.

Notes and References

1. Book: Wastewater engineering : treatment and reuse. 2003. McGraw-Hill. George . Tchobanoglous . Franklin L. . Burton . H. David . Stensel . Metcalf & Eddy. 0-07-041878-0. 4th. Boston. 48053912.
2. Book: Tilley, E.. Ulrich. L.. Lüthi. C.. Reymond. Ph.. Zurbrügg. C.. Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies –. Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Duebendorf, Switzerland. 2014. 978-3-906484-57-0. 2nd Revised. https://web.archive.org/web/20160408021403/http://www.eawag.ch/en/department/sandec/publications/compendium/. 8 April 2016. live. dmy-all.