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Water School

Archive by category: Wastewater TreatmentReturn
What is wastewater?

What is wastewater?

Wastewater is water that has been used in homes, industries, and businesses that has been in contact with human or industrial waste and cannot be reused or returned to the water cycle until it has been treated or cleaned.
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How is wastewater cleaned?

How is wastewater cleaned?

While exact methods can vary, here’s a general breakdown of the municipal wastewater treatment process:When wastewater leaves a home or business, it is transported through municipal collector pipelines usually by the force of gravity, to a wastewater treatment plant. If gravity flow is not available all the way, then a lift station may pump the wastewater up to a level where gravity flow can again take place.As wastewater enters the treatment plant, it is screened to remove non-sewage items suc...
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What is an outhouse?

What is an outhouse?

An outhouse, commonly referred to as a privy in the Texas Statutes, is a type of toilet without plumbing in a small building separated from a main structure. Instead of being connected to a sewer or septic system, an outhouse sits over a pit.In an outhouse however, bacteria that thrive in oxygen break down the waste, with help from other natural processes. Eventually the pit fills, is covered with dirt and the outhouse is relocated.Under Texas law, an outhouse may not be built within 75 feet of ...
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What is aerobic treatment?

What is aerobic treatment?

Aerobic water treatment is a method of treating sewage and wastewater by adding oxygen to the waste.  This process encourages naturally occurring bacteria to break down the waste and produce a higher quality effluent that may then be treated with chlorine to remove the remaining bacteria.
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Can I put grease down my kitchen sink?

It is not recommended to pour any kind of cooking grease down the sink. Grease that is poured down the drain cools, then tends to solidify and stick to the walls of the pipe. This allows for more debris and food scraps to get lodged. Unfortunately, sometimes a plumber is required to unclog drains and pipes when this occurs which can be a pricy endeavor.Instead, place the grease in any kind of glass jar, store it under the sink, and then throw it away when full to protect and preserve kitchen dra...
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What laws in Texas apply to septic systems?

With a few exceptions, a permit is required to install a septic system in Texas. The Legislature, in the Health and Safety Code, designates the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) as the official agent to investigate and decide whether to approve a permit request.The commission is also tasked with overseeing whether the septic tanks continue to function properly and the Commission can require the property owner make repairs when needed.However, the law allows the Commission to desig...
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What is mgd?

MGD or million gallons per day is a measurement of water flow frequently used in measurement of water consumption. One mgd equals 133,680.56 cubic feet per day, 1.5472 cubic feet per second or 3.0689 acre-feet per day.
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What are storm sewers?

Separate from sanitary water lines or wastewater sewers, storm sewers carry away surface rain runoff, street wash and snow melt via curb-side drains.  Also unlike sanitary sewers, these systems usually drain directly into a creek, river, or other body of water without treatment.  This is also how a lot of the trash ends up in our rivers and lakes.  Everything thrown out in the street or dumped in a street drain (storm drain) ends up in a nearby river or lake.Dumping hazardous substances into the...
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Where does effluent go once it leaves the treatment plant?

Wastewater treatment plants are typically located near creeks and rivers.  The treated effluent is returned to the water cycle by being released into these waterways.  As water sources become less abundant, many municipalities have chosen not to release effluent into the water cycle; rather to reuse the effluent for irrigation and industrial purposes directly from the water discharged from the treatment plant.
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What is a wastewater treatment plant?

A wastewater treatment plant is a system used to clean wastewater generated within municipal areas.  Most wastewater treatment plants utilize aerobic forms of cleaning water and removing waste so that water may be returned to the water cycle.At the treatment plant, the waste is separated into liquids that are purified and solid sludge that may be used in a number of recycling systems or taken to land fills.
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What is a septic system?

A septic system is an on-site means of treating and disposing of domestic sewage without sending it to a municipal water treatment system. A septic system receives the waste from a home or business and uses an anaerobic method of breaking down the waste in a manner that will not harm people or the environment.A typical system includes a tank that allows the decomposition of solids by naturally occurring bacteria as well as a set of lines or a pit to dispose of the effluent or liquid. Anaerobic b...
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Where does the water go after I wash my clothes, take a bath or flush my toilet?

Where wastewater goes once you are no longer using it depends on whether your plumbing is connected to a private septic system or a public sewage line.A septic system is normally used for wastewater treatment in areas where public sewage service is not available, such as rural areas.  In areas where public sewage treatment is available, homes are usually linked to the public system by pipelines that take waste to a wastewater treatment plant that serves an area.
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What does brackish mean?

Brackish is a term used to describe water that contains more dissolved minerals (see total dissolved solids) than normally acceptable for municipal, domestic and agricultural uses. It has a higher amount of dissolved solids than fresh water but not as high as saltier types such as seawater.Brackish water includes concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS) ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 milligrams per liter (mg/l).
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How many wastewater treatment plants are run by the Brazos River Authority and whom do they serve?

The Brazos River Authority operates the Temple-Belton Wastewater Treatment System as well as wastewater treatment centers for the cities of Hutto, Sugar Land, Dime Box, Clute and Richwood. Other operations include the Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater System, which serves the cities of Round Rock, Cedar Park, Austin and the Fern Bluff and Brushy Creek municipal utility districts.
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The information provided on this site is intended as background on water within the Brazos River basin. There should be no expectation that this information is all encompassing, complete or in any way examines every aspect of this very complex natural resource.

If you have questions about a post or would like additional information, please contact us or call 888-922-6272.

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