Water Processing in Madison
I very rarely think about water I drink. The only thing I know is that water from the sink is bad and should be filtered. However, I never really asked why. Although I assume it has to do a lot with the old rusty pipes that "deliver' water to us and all the nasty chemicals that re being used to clean drinking water, it still makes me wonder why I get a lot of white residue after running the dishwasher or cleaning dishes myself. I actually do not think any of my friends know where water comes from or where it goes. I even do not think my family members do.
I believe Dane county is a part of Mississippi watershed. It looks like in Madison water from bathroom runs through sewer and ends up in the wastewater processing plant. Once it arrives to the plant, wastewater goes into massive primary settling tanks. It slow the wastewater, which allows heavier solids to settle to the bottom of the tanks and lighter ones to float to the top. The water leaving these tanks is called primary effluent and contains dissolved organic solids that are easy for microbes to break down during the processes. Then the wastewater moves to the aeration tanks where biological treatment happens. Air is pumped into large tanks that mix the wastewater with bacteria and microorganisms that will consume as food the organic matter and nutrients that contaminate the water. Water goes through final clarifying tanks and microorganisms are recycled back to the aeration tanks to clean more water. The last step is UV disinfection. Water goes through high-strength UV lights designed to deactivate disease-causing bacteria before the water is returned to the environment. However, UV disinfection hasn't always been in place - prior to 1986 chlorine was used as a disinfectant.
There are two separate drainage systems for bath and toilet due to two different kinds of water that must be kept apart in the plumbing network. This is because water from your toilet is way more likely to carry diseases compared to water from the shower. Interestingly, drinking water originates as rain or snow and slowly soaks into the ground. then it is filtered through layers of soil and rock before replenishing the aquifer.
Looks like Dane County Planning and Development as well s Public Health officials keep an eye on the water systems we have in Madison and Dane County. Although these 2 agencies work differently, they constantly communicate and indicate that water in Madison meets more standards than required by the federal government.
Water is a basic need for a good and healthy life. Without water, all the vegetation would die and we would be left with no food supply. We would start off by having fatigues frequently enough that wouldn't be bale to perform simple functions and then our organs would start to fail rapidly. Polluted water supply would also kill not only any aquatic life, but also would lead to high prevalence of water-borne deceases. Water conservation is first mot important issue Wie need to address on a global level as water supply isn't adequately distributed among populations. While ones thrive in the availability of water, other scramble to find a drop of fresh water.
References:
Comments
Post a Comment