RECYCLING OF WATER

A SEMINAR ON

PREPARED BY: 10BCL002 MAYUIR BAPODARA B.TECH, FOURTH SEMESTER CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

FACULTY GUIDE PRO KETAN LAKHTARIYA SIR SENIOR ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NIRMA UNIVERSITY

OCTOBER 2012

CONTENTS:
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 WATER WATER

RECYCLING RECYCLING PROCESS

INTRODUCTION PRILIMINARY TREATMENT PRIMARY TREATMENT SECONDARY TREATMENT TERTIARY TRETMENT RECYCLING OF RESIDUAL SLUDGE

USES OF RECYCLED WATER WATER RECYCLING AND CONSERVATION FUTURE OF WATER RECYCLING

 Water Recycling
Protecting the quality of fresh water in the world is an ongoing effort at the individual and world-wide level. One aspect of this effort is the concept of water recycling, replenishing what we use instead of abusing the amounts of water that are slowly dwindling because the planet cannot replenish them quickly enough. Water recycling also cuts down on the amount of wastewater that is produced and discarded. While recycling is a term generally applied to aluminum cans, glass bottles, and newspapers, water can be recycled as well. Water recycling is reusing treated wastewater for beneficial purposes such as agricultural and landscape irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flushing, and replenishing a ground water basin (referred to as ground water recharge). Water recycling offers resource and financial savings. Wastewater treatment can be tailored to meet the water quality requirements of a planned reuse. Recycled water for landscape irrigation requires less treatment than recycled water for drinking water. No documented cases of human health problems due to contact with recycled water that has been treated to standards, criteria, and regulations have been reported. Water is sometimes recycled and reused onsite. For example, when an industrial facility recycles water used for cooling processes. A common type of recycled water is water that has been reclaimed from municipal wastewater, or sewage. Another type of recycled water is "gray water. Gray water, or gray water, is reusable wastewater from residential, commercial and industrial bathroom sinks, bath tub shower drains, and clothes washing equipment drains. Gray water is reused onsite, typically for landscape irrigation. Use of nontoxic and low-sodium (no added sodium or substances that are naturally high in sodium) soap and personal care products is required to protect vegetation when reusing gray water for irrigation. National Science Foundation (NSF) International has established a wastewater treatment task group on onsite residential and commercial gray water treatment systems. They have developed a draft new standard NSF 350 Onsite Residential and Commercial Reuse Treatment Systems. This standard encompasses residential wastewater treatment systems (similar to the scope of VSF/ANSI Standards 40 and 245) along with systems that treat only the gray water portion.

EPA and CDC brought together agency and academic experts to explore the science available for addressing high-priority regional needs in the areas of:

Gray water exposure risk to humans and ecosystems; Risk management options for gray water; Water scarcity, Trends in water use.

Through the natural water cycle, the earth has recycled and reused water for millions of years. Water recycling, though, generally refers to projects that use technology to speed up these natural processes. Water recycling is often characterized as "unplanned" or "planned." A common example of unplanned water recycling occurs when cities draw their water supplies from rivers, such as the Colorado River and the Mississippi River, that receive wastewater discharges upstream from those cities. Water from these rivers has been reused, treated, and piped into the water supply a number of times before the last downstream user withdraws the water. Planned projects are those that are developed with the goal of beneficially reusing a recycled water supply.

Water Recycling Process

The water recycling method is sometimes called water reclamation or water reuse, but these names all mean the same three step process. The procedure is what is used not only to recycle water for immediate use, but to also pipe water back into fresh water sources like rivers, ponds and ground water from which drinking water is siphoned. The three steps include:

Primary Treatment: The removal of sediment and other solid contaminants. Secondary Treatment: Biological oxidation and disinfection with bacterial agents. Tertiary Treatment: Chemical filtration and disinfection.

The level to which a batch of wastewater is treated according to the three steps is usually based on what it is going to be recycled to do. Obviously, water being used to irrigate food crops is going to be more treated and purified than water being used on non-food crops. But according to EPA
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standards, there is much on-site and case by case determination of how much treatment is needed depending on the use and the beginning condition of the water.

Wastewater treatment plants can be divided into two major types:

1) Biological and 2) Physical/Chemical.

Biological plants are more commonly used to treat domestic or combined domestic and industrial wastewater from a municipality. They use basically the same processes that would occur naturally in the receiving water, but give them a place to happen under controlled conditions, so that the cleansing reactions are completed before the water is discharged into the environment. Physical/chemical plants are more often used to treat industrial wastewaters directly, because they often contain pollutants which cannot be removed efficiently by microorganisms although industries those deal with biodegradable materials, such as food processing, dairies, breweries, and even paper, plastics and petrochemicals, may use biological treatment. And biological plants generally use some physical and chemical processes, too. A physical process usually treats suspended, rather than dissolved pollutants. It may be a passive process, such as simply allowing suspended pollutants to settle out or float to the top naturally-- depending on whether they are more or less dense than water. Or the process may be aided mechanically, such as by gently stirring the water to cause more small particles to bump into each other and stick together, forming larger particles which will settle or rise faster-- a process known as flocculation. Chemical flocculants may also be added to produce larger particles. To aid flotation processes, dissolved air under pressure may be added to cause the formation of tiny bubbles which will attach to particles. Filtration through a medium such as sand as a final treatment stage can result in a very clear water. Ultrafiltration, Nano filtration, and reverse osmosis are processes which force water through membranes and can remove colloidal material (very fine, electrically charged particles, which will not settle) and even some dissolved matter. Absorption (adsorption, technically) on activated charcoal is a physical process which can remove dissolved chemicals. Air or steam stripping can be used to remove pollutants that are gasses or low-boiling liquids from water, and the vapours which are removed in this way are also often passed through beds of activated charcoal to prevent air pollution. These last processes are used mostly in industrial treatment plants, though activated charcoal is common in municipal plants, as well, for odour control.

Some examples of chemical treatment processes, in an industrial setting, would be

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Converting a dissolved metal into a solid, settle able form by precipitation with an alkaline material like sodium or calcium hydroxide. Dissolved iron or aluminium salts or organic coagulant aids like polyelectrolytes can be added to help flocculate and settle (or float) the precipitated metal. converting highly toxic cyanides used in mining and metal finishing industries into harmless carbon dioxide and nitrogen by oxidizing them with chlorine destroying organic chemicals by oxidizing them using ozone or hydrogen peroxide, either alone or in combination with catalysts (chemicals which speed up reactions) and/or ultraviolet light

A typical treatment plant consists of a train of individual unit processes set up in a series, with the output (effluent) of one process becoming the input (influent) of the next process. The first stages will usually be made up of physical processes that take out easily removable pollutants. After this, the remaining pollutants are generally treated further by biological or chemical processes. These may 1) convert dissolved or colloidal impurities into a solid or gaseous form, so that they can be removed physically, or 2) convert them into dissolved materials which remain in the water, but are not considered as undesirable as the original pollutants. The solids (residuals or sludge) which result from these processes form a side stream which also has to be treated for disposal. A common set of processes that might be found at a municipal treatment plant would be:

Preliminary treatment
To remove large or hard solids that might clog or damage other equipment. These might include grinders, bar screens, and grit channels. The first chops up rags and trash; the second simply catches large objects, which can be raked off; the third allows heavier materials, like sand and stones, to settle out, so that they will not cause abrasive wear on downstream equipment. Grit channels also remove larger food particles (i.e., garbage). Sewage undergoes preliminary treatment to make it suitable for the main treatment processes. This includes screening and removing grit, oil and grease. Screening On entering a sewage treatment works, dirty water passes through screens to remove paper, wood and other large particles that could damage machinery or block pipe systems. Screens consist of vertical bars spaced close together. Wastewater treatment and recycling or perforated
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plates that are cleaned by rakes or water jets. The cleared material (known as screenings) is washed and safely disposed of at a landfill site. It is important to cut the amount of screenings which can block sewers before the treatment works with unpleasant results. Only toilet paper should be flushed down the toilet. Water companies run Bag It and Bin It campaign to encourage the public not to flush cotton buds or plastic and sanitary items. In some European countries the sewer pipes are so small that not even paper may be flushed. Grit removal Sewage contains grit and dirt from roads or cleaning activities. This tends to be inert material that cannot be treated and it is removed by a settlement process which allows the lighter organic material to remain in suspension for the next treatment stage. The grit is washed and disposed of to landfill. Removal of oil and grease At some treatment works this process is thought necessary to protect the downstream processes. Materials such as oil and grease should not be poured down drains or discharged to a sewer.

Primary treatment (settlement)

After preliminary treatment the sewage flows into large round or rectangular tanks. In these the heavier organic material sinks to the tank floor and is swept by a scraper blade to a submerged outlet. From here it is pumped as slurry to a storage tank for subsequent treatment. Most of the solids in wastewater are removed in this process and concentrated into thick slurry which has a volume less than 1% of the sewage received at the works. This slurry is known as sewage sludge and it is dealt with separately. The liquid element (settled sewage) flows over a weir to the next stage of treatment.

Primary settling basins, where the water flows slowly for up to a few hours, to allow organic suspended matter to settle out or float to the surface. Most of this material has a density not much different from that of water, so it needs to be given enough time to separate. Settling tanks can be rectangular or circular. In either type, the tank needs to be designed with some type of scrapers at the bottom to collect the settled sludge and direct it to a pit from which it can be pumped for further treatment-- and skimmers at the surface, to collect the material that floats to the top (which is given
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the rather inglorious name of "scum".) The diagram below shows the operation of a typical primary settling tank.

Secondary treatment (biological treatment)

Usually biological, tries to remove the remaining dissolved or colloidal organic matter. Generally, the biodegradation of the pollutants is allowed to take place in a location where plenty of air can be supplied to the microorganisms. This promotes formation of the less offensive, oxidized products. Engineers try to design the capacity of the treatment units so that enough of the impurities will be removed to prevent significant oxygen demand in the receiving water after discharge. The settlement process is very effective in removing organic material, but if the settled sewage were discharged to a watercourse, the dissolved organic matter in the settled sewage would still cause problems. Naturally occurring bacteria in the receiving watercourse use organic material as a food source and need oxygen dissolved in the water to do this. Discharges of large quantities of organic matter will therefore result in oxygen in the water being rapidly used up with consequent harm to fish and organisms on which fish feed. Wastewater treatment works use these same natural processes to break down and remove substances that might harm the environment but speed them up within a controlled environment. There are two main ways of doing this. Wastewater treatment and recycling Biological filtration
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In this process the settled sewage is distributed via small holes in continuously moving arms over 2 metre deep circular or rectangular beds of stones. These are typically the type of works seen when travelling on a train. This is not a true filter but the stones act as an ideal place for bacteria and other micro-organisms to live and grow. They form a biological film on the stones which remove the dissolved organic material as the settled sewage trickles downward. Oxygen from the spaces between the stones allows the microorganisms to breathe and grow. As the bacteria grow and multiply the film reaches a maximum thickness and excess material is continuously washed off. The flow then passes to a settlement tank (humus tank) where the excess biological film is separated and removed as humus sludge. This is normally returned to the primary settlement tanks and removed with the sewage sludge. So long as the humus is effectively separated the humus tank effluent can normally be returned safely to the watercourse unless the watercourse is very small or already affected by other discharges. There are two major types of biological treatment processes: Attached growth and suspended growth. In an attached growth process as discussed above, the microorganisms grow on a surface, such as rock or plastic. Examples are 1) open trickling filters, where the water is distributed over rocks and trickles down to under drains, with air being supplied through vent pipes, 2) enclosed bio towers, which are similar, but more likely to use shaped, plastic media instead of rocks, and 3) so-called rotating biological contactors, or RBC's, which consist of large, partially submerged discs which rotate continuously, so that the microorganisms growing on the disc's surface are repeatedly being exposed alternately to the wastewater and to the air. Activated sludge In this system the settled sewage is mixed with a blend of bacteria and other micro-organisms known as activated sludge and aerated by agitators or air blowers in large tanks. The amount of air is controlled according to the respiration requirement, which depends on the concentration of bacteria and the strength of the settled sewage. The bacteria grow and multiply in the aeration tanks due to the plentiful food supply and the excess is drawn off as surplus activated sludge which is mixed with the rest of the sewage sludge. The treated water is then separated from the activated sludge in final settlement tanks and is normally suitable for safe discharge to the environment. Both these systems provide the bacteria and oxygen source that enable natural purification to proceed. The bacteria convert the organic polluting material into more bacterial mass or into carbon dioxide and water. The surplus activated sludge or humus sludge, is known as secondary sludge
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and is mixed with sludge from the primary treatment process for further treatment and recycling The most common type of suspended growth process is the socalled activated sludge system (see diagram below). This type of system consists of two parts, an aeration tank and a settling tank, or clarifier. The aeration tank contains a "sludge" which is what could be best described as a "mixed microbial culture", containing mostly bacteria, as well as protozoa, fungi, algae, etc. This sludge is constantly mixed and aerated either by compressed air bubblers located along the bottom, or by mechanical aerators on the surface. The wastewater to be treated enters the tank and mixes with the culture, which uses the organic compounds for growth-- producing more microorganisms-- and for respiration, which results mostly in the formation of carbon dioxide and water. The process can also be set up to provide biological removal of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus (see below). After sufficient aeration time to reach the required level of treatment, the sludge is carried by the flow into the settling tank, or clarifier, which is often of the circular design. (An important condition for the success of this process is the formation of a type of culture which will flocculate naturally, producing a settling sludge and a reasonably clear upper, or supernatant layer. If the sludge does not behave this way, a lot of solids will be remaining in the water leaving the clarifier, and the quality of the effluent wastewater will be poor.) The sludge collected at the bottom of the clarifier is then recycled to the aeration tank to consume more organic material. The term "activated" sludge is used, because by the time the sludge is returned to the aeration tank, the microorganisms have been in an environment depleted of "food" for some time, and are in a "hungry", or activated condition, eager to get busy biodegrading some more wastes. Since the amount of microorganisms, or biomass, increases as a result of this process, some must be removed on a regular basis for further treatment and disposal, adding to the solids produced in primary treatment.

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Hybrid systems These are wastewater systems where the bacteria are grown on a fixed medium (like the stones in a biological filter) but submerged in an aerated tank (biological aerated filters or BAF). Such treatment plants are intensive in operation and more energy efficient and have a lower land requirement than conventional systems. Membrane separation The key to effective biological treatment is efficient separation of bacteria (activated sludge or biological film) from the treated water. Very fine filter membranes may be used instead of settlement tanks and the resulting discharge will be of very high quality. This is a very expensive process and is normally used where the water environment would be very sensitive to the discharge. Nutrient removal Sewage contains both nitrogen and phosphorus that can result in nutrient enrichment of watercourses (called eutrophication), which encourages excessive growth of weeds and algal blooms that may be harmful to fish and water life. Although plants produce oxygen in sunlight they use up dissolved oxygen at night and too many plants and algae may result in de-oxygenation. Nitrogen is found in domestic wastewater mostly in the form of ammonia and organic nitrogen. These can be converted to nitrate nitrogen by bacteria, if the plant is designed to provide enough oxygen and a long enough "sludge age" to develop these slow-growing types of organisms.
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The nitrate which is produced may be discharged; it is still usable as a plant nutrient, but it is much less toxic than ammonia. If more complete removal of nitrogen is required, a biological process can be set up which reduces the nitrate to nitrogen gas (and some nitrous oxide). There are also physical/chemical processes which can remove nitrogen, especially ammonia; they are not as economical for domestic wastewater, but might be suited for an industrial location where no other biological processes are in use. (These methods include alkaline air stripping, ion exchange, and "breakpoint" chlorination.) Phosphorous removal is most commonly done by chemical precipitation with iron or aluminium compounds, such as ferric chloride or alum (aluminium sulphate). The solids which are produced can be settled along with other sludge, depending on where in the treatment train the process takes place. ("Lime", or calcium hydroxide, also works, but makes the water very alkaline, which has to be corrected, and produces more sludge.). There is also a biological process for phosphorus removal, which depends on designing an activated sludge system in such a way as to promote the development of certain types of bacteria which have the ability to accumulate excess phosphorus within their cells. These methods mainly convert dissolved phosphorus into particulate form. For treatment plants which are required to discharge only very low concentrations of total phosphorus, it is common to have a sand (or other type of) filter as a final stage, to remove most of the suspended solids which may contain phosphorus.

Variations: Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR):The type of activated sludge system described above is a continuous flow process. There is a variation in which the entire activated sludge process takes place in a single tank, but at different times. Steps include filling, aerating, settling, drawing off supernatant, etc. A system like this can provide more flexibility and control over the treatment, including nutrient removal, and is amenable to computer control. Membrane Bioreactor (MBR): In this more recent innovation, treated water is pumped out of the aeration tank through banks of microfiltration membranes. Clarifiers are not needed. The sludge concentration can be higher than in a conventional system, which allows treatment in a smaller volume; and the sludge's ability to flocculate well is no longer a consideration. Low effluent solids concentrations can be achieved, which can helps in phosphorus removal and disinfection (see below).

Tertiary treatment
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Where very high quality effluents are required additional polishing processes are used, including sand or gravel filters and natural systems such as ponds or wetlands. Where discharges are made to bathing waters or shellfish growing areas disinfection by ultra violet light or removal of bacteria and viruses by fine membranes is used. Effluents from wastewater treatment works contain bacteria from the treatment process and are not safe to drink. Disinfection, usually the final process before discharge, is the destruction of harmful (pathogenic) microorganisms, i.e. disease-causing germs. The object is not to kill every living microorganism in the water-which would be sterilization-- but to reduce the number of harmful ones to levels appropriate for the intended use of the receiving water. The most commonly used disinfectant is chlorine, which can be supplied in the form of a liquefied gas which has to be dissolved in water, or in the form of an alkaline solution called sodium hypochlorite, which is the same compound as common household chlorine bleach. Chlorine is quite effective against most bacteria, but a rather high dose is needed to kill viruses, protozoa, and other forms of pathogen. Chlorine has several problems associated with its use, among them 1) that it reacts with organic matter to form toxic and carcinogenic chlorinated organics, such as chloroform, 2) chlorine is very toxic to aquatic organisms in the receiving water-- the USEPA recommends no more than 0.011 parts per million (mg/L) and 3) it is hazardous to store and handle. Hypochlorite is safer, but still produces problems 1 and 2. Problem 2 can be dealt with by adding sulphur dioxide (liquefied gas) or sodium sulphite or bisulphite (solutions) to neutralize the chlorine. The products are nearly harmless chloride and sulphate ions. This may also help somewhat with problem 1. A more powerful disinfectant is ozone, an unstable form of oxygen containing three atoms per molecule, rather than the two found in the ordinary oxygen gas which makes up about 21% of the atmosphere. Ozone is too unstable to store, and has to be made as it is used. It is produced by passing an electrical discharge through air, which is then bubbled through the water. While chlorine can be dosed at a high enough concentration so that some of it remains in the water for a considerable time, ozone is consumed very rapidly and leaves no residual. It may also produce some chemical by-products, but probably not as harmful as those produced by chlorine. The other commonly used method of disinfection is ultraviolet light. The water is passed through banks of cylindrical, quartz-jacketed fluorescent bulbs. Anything which can absorb the light, such as fouling or scale formation on the bulbs' surfaces, or suspended matter in the water, can interfere with the effectiveness of the disinfection. Some dissolved materials, such as iron and some organic compounds, can also absorb some of the light. Ultraviolet disinfection is becoming more popular
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because of the increasing complications associated with the use of chlorine.

Recycling of residual sludge

The sludge produced from the above treatment processes consists of two forms, namely raw primary sludge and secondary sludge and this goes forward for further treatment. All sludge must be treated before recycling or disposal and the degree of treatment depends on the intended final use. Treatment of sludge There are several different treatment systems: Anaerobic digestion. The sludge is passed through a well-mixed closed container (digester) held at a temperature of 35C. The process is continuous and takes 15-20 days. The organic material breaks down in the digester to produce methane gas and carbon dioxide. The gas is burnt to heat the digester or in very large plants to generate electricity through a combined heat and power plant. Digested sludge has a low odour and water is easily removed to reduce volume. The process kills potentially harmful bacteria and can be enhanced by use of high pressure or sonic systems which destroy bacteria cells Aerobic digestion is used to pasteurise sludge. When air is pumped into the digester bacterial activity generates heat that kills off pathogens and reduces organic content. Dewatering of sludge reduces volume for transport. Processes include thickening under gravity or mechanical dewatering to produce cakes. Mechanical systems normally require the addition of chemicals to flocculate particles and make separation of solids easier. Lime stabilisation involves mixing sludge cake with lime. The lime reacts with the water in the sludge and produces heat the increasing temperature and pH kill the pathogens and the added lime may also be useful for farmers. Thermal drying can be used on both dewatered digested or untreated sludge. This is a heat process that drives off water and kills harmful bacteria. The low volume product can be used for agriculture and horticulture. Incineration can be used for dewatered or thermally dried sludge. The heat produced is used to generate electricity via steam turbines. The sludge can be used in power stations or cement works as a substitute for fossil fuel. Treated sewage sludge (usually known as bio solids) is a valuable product of the wastewater treatment works. It contains organic material and nutrients that are important for agriculture or land reclamation. The organic material is a carbon source and can also be used as a fuel to produce energy. Use of bio solids in agriculture
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Bio solids, the treated form of sewage sludge, are rich in nutrients, trace elements and organic matter. These characteristics make its most sustainable and best use as a fertiliser and soil conditioner. It enriches the soil, saves the energy required to produce artificial fertilisers and recycles phosphorus which is a diminishing natural resource. This use of bio solids in agriculture is recognised by the UK Government and European Commission as the Best Practicable Environmental Option. The water industry, in partnership with the British Retail Consortium which represents supermarkets and other major retailers developed a voluntary code of practice in 1999 known as the Safe Sludge Matrix. This sets out the treatment required removing harmful pathogens from bio solids, and the correct method of applying bio solids to agricultural land to ensure that public health is protected. The code has been used voluntarily since and is now given legal backing in revised UK regulations.

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 Uses of Recycled Water

Recycled water has many uses, mostly non-potable (non-drinkable) uses though. In the United States, recycled water is generally required to be treated to the second level, just for the sake of safety. Some of the uses, by treatment level, include:

Primary Treatment
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No uses are recommended at this level, but there are particular site-specific cases that can use water that has only been treated at the primary level.

Secondary Treatment
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Surface irrigation of orchards and vineyards can use water treated at the secondary level. Non-food crop irrigation can also use water from the second level of treatment. Aquifers that are made of non-potable water can be recharged with secondary treatment recycled water, to keep salt water from seeping into the aquifers. Augmentation of wildlife habitats and streams, depending upon the site-specific specifications. Some industrial cooling processes can also use secondary treated recycled water for their needs.

Tertiary Treatment
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Water that has been treated at the tertiary level can be used to irrigate lawns, golf course greens, and landscapes. The tertiary level of treatment also makes water safe for toilets. Another use of water treated to the tertiary level is water for vehicle washing. Crops of food plants can be irrigated using water treated at the tertiary level. Recreational sites such as man-made lakes can also use water treated at this level.
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Surface and groundwater sources of potable water can also be recharged with this kind of water.

Using recycled water for the above mentioned uses not only reduces the need for removing fresh water from surface and groundwater sources, but also helps in keeping more potable water for just drinking purposes. This also helps in protecting natural habitats and is a part of water conservation.

Water Recycling and Conservation

One of the ways to practice water conservation is indeed with water recycling. Water recycling not only limits the amount of water that has to be taken out of the environment for non-drinking water purposes, but also helps protect the habitats out there. Some may argue that it also helps with the energy conservation portion of water conservation, but water recycling does require a lot of energy to work. Ways water recycling does affect conservation also include:

Enhancing water habitats: Recycled water pumped back into habitats can not only replace water removed from those habitats for our use, but also enhance the amount of wildlife that can live there. Reduction in pollution: Water that is pumped back into water sources after being recycled is far less contaminating than wastewater pumped back in without being treated. Reduction of harm to delicate ecosystems: Recycling water helps reduce harm to delicate ecosystems in two ways. First, it reduces the amount of pollution that is reintroduced to sensitive ecosystems, and secondly it removes less water from those delicate ecosystems.

Future of Water Recycling

The future of water recycling is looking positive, as the examination of long term effects have been promising when reintroducing recycled water to the places of origin. There are few harmful side effects to water recycling, but a few problems have seemed to appear when trying to implement water recycling plants.

Cost: The cost of beginning water recycling is expensive, and while it saves money in the long run, it is hard to gather the amount of money needed to start up. Public outreach: If water recycling is going to begin, the agencies in charge must spend the time and money early into the process to
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ensure that the people in the area are aware of what is going on and do not have any objections to it. Institutional barriers: There are also difficulties when the agencies want to get started with water recycling. There are strict policies in place by the EPA and other government organizations that make it difficult to implement the projects.

Yet, if these problems can be overcome, water recycling could be used for almost all non-potable water uses. It could also be used eventually in sustaining potable sources of water as well in the near future, and for more than just watering crops. Water recycling is an excellent part of water conservation. It not only promotes the health of natural water and habitats, but reduces the amount of water wasted in things like irrigation and man-made water features. In the future, it seems water recycling will be a main part of the water supply process and eventually will have a part in all aspects of the water system.

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REFERANCES:
http://www.waterfiltering.com/conservation/water-recycling.html http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/recycling/ http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/ENV149/primary.htm http://www.aboutcivil.org/primary-treatment-process-ofwastewater.html http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0551E/t0551e05.htm#TopOfPage http://www.flushgordon.info/wwtps.htm http://www.flushgordon.info/wwtps.htm

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