Water Recycling

Posted: November 29th, 2013

Name:

Course:

Instructor:

Date:

Water Recycling

Water is described as life because all living elements depend on water for survival. The ability of water to give life is illustrated by the use of water in all aspects with specific reference to daily life and activities. Water is used in daily activities such as domestic use and industrial use. Water use is increasing all due to the significant increase in population sizes and the aspect of industrialization. This has created increased competition for water resources. This is in spite of the significant reduction in fresh water sources for use in domestic and other industrial use within the modern society (Ballatore, 21). Hence, governments and modern societies are finding it necessary to find alternative sources of water for domestic, agricultural and domestic purposes. Wastewater recycling involves the treatment of wastewater to remove impurities with an aim of making the water usable for the various purposes.

Countries like Saudi Arabia experience extreme dry weather forcing them to adopt an approach, which would enable them to supply its population with adequate water for domestic and industrial use. In addition, Saudi Arabia avails adequate water supply to its population through desalination of seawater given its vast access to seawater, enabling the desert country to avail adequate water to its population (Rogers, Manuel, & Luis, 38). Saudi Arabia produces 24million cubic meters of water form its desalination plants, which constitutes to more than half of the total desalinated water in the largest desalination water plant in the world. This has made the costs of water affordable within Saudi Arabia to costs such as $0.03/gallon (Lee, 29). However when water is inadequate people are forced to purchase this precious commodity form other water vending corporations who charge more than half of what is charged by the national producer of water. The desalination project was necessary given that the demand for Saudi Arabia has been growing at the rate of 4.3% annually (Kazner, 23).

Other countries like Israel use extensive means of recycling wastewater various uses within the country. Israel is generally arid; however, the country has been able to recycle 70% of the effluent via more than 160 reservoirs majority of the water being used for agricultural purposes in the small arid country. Treated wastewater is usually collected and distributed to the intended areas of use within the country all with an aim of accruing economic benefits. Water use and sanitation has been firmly embedded within Israeli culture and the laws of the country all with an aim of instilling responsibility in use of water and disposal of the same. In addition, the country also uses desalination plants along its Mediterranean coast (Lee, 29).

In Israel, sewage water is recycled and used for landscape irrigation with an aim achieving food sufficiency and decreasing the costs of the same. In addition, the country has an adequate connection of sewage systems in majority of the homes, business premises and factories to the reservoirs for actual recycling and treatment. After treatment, the water flows through gateways to large irrigation schemes where it is put to good use for the plants and other vegetation (Levy, Pinchas, & Bar-Tal, 54).

In addition, individual plants also actualize individual water treatment processes such as fracturing plants in gas and oil extraction processes. This extraction processes usually use significant and large amounts of fresh water in their extraction process. In addition, factories within Pennsylvania have adopted this form of recycling as it is costs effective and prevents them from accruing legal liabilities posed by the contamination of fresh water source such as aquifers, lakes and reservoirs. This process is necessary given the decreasing sources of water such as lakes, rivers and springs. Hence, it is paramount for such entities to reuse water, which is treated, as it is costs effective and efficient as there is no need fro extraction of finding new water sources. Water re-use could be made possible in the factories in paper and cellulose industries. Such industries in recent times have been forced to scale down their water use due to the large quantities used in the individual factory processes (Jiménez & Takashi, 27).

In addition, other entities such as textile industries use excessively large amounts of water in their fabric making processes. In this industry, water is used for the cleaning of raw material and the numerous flushing steps in the eventual production of various forms of textiles. Hence, their large water use prompts such factories to opt for recycled water with the aim of reducing costs incurred in acquisition of fresh water for the production of various forms of textiles. Various textiles require various chemicals; hence, water used requires different methods of recycling and eventual treatment to obtain clean water for the intended use within the factory. Other factories, which use large amounts of water, are poultry processing industries, which require large amounts of water for cooling the chicken carcasses before they proceed for further processing. In this kind of factories, treatment of water requires keen and delicate procedures as the required water should be free from bacteria (Chartres, & Samyuktha, 14).

Food and beverage industries also require large amounts of water for their various processes. However, these factories have the ability to retain used water. This is because the same water is retained in the various commodities and with specific reference in the making of beverages. Much of the water used in the beverage and food industries could be reclaimed whereas the rest in usable as it becomes part of the product. In addition, the Wastewater re-sue can also be actualized at a domestic scale. This can be made possible via the simple method such as kitchen water drainage to the garden and collection of the same in buckets for lawn irrigation and flowerbed.

Water recycling has been a contentious issue due to the various interests of individual parties who wish not to undertake such costs in their factories to implement such changes. Water re-use has been necessitated by the urbanization trend. Hence, cities and urban areas find it important to develop storm and sanitary sewers in the growing urban areas and cities. The water treatment process involves various methods depending on the kind of wastewater undergoing treatment or recycling.

Sewerage water treatment has undergone improvements all of which can be attributed advancements in technology making the process quicker and better for the treatment of wastewater. Initially water used to undergo settling of the solid human waste commonly referred to as “sludge” would be separated form the liquid part to enable eventual disposal of the solid waste. This process is commonly referred to as the primary phase of water treatment.

However, modern means of sewage water treatment has improved the quality of wastewater treatment by improved separation of solid waste. In addition, the water undergoes further treatment, which is deemed as necessary depending on the need and intended use of the water.

Furthermore, the determination of water recovery incorporates the use of various techniques for the eventual maximum recycling of wastewater. In addition, such approaches are necessary as they are aimed at setting targets in terms of the amounts of wastewater to be collected and the processes, which can ensure the minimum water use. Hence, such approaches enable setting up of targets for the eventual maximum water reclamation.

The eventual wastewater reclamation benefits usually have a great impact on the society and specifically on the environment. In addition, the benefits could also be termed as economical as wastewater costs are significantly lower than the fresh water costs. In addition, the limitations of access to fresh water such as increased distribution costs, increased population and climate changes have been serious drivers of the increased competition for the fresh water resources. The use of wastewater for other uses saves the fresh water for other issues such as drinking and other domestic uses.

The use of wastewater for agricultural purposes is considered as appropriate due to the presence of numerous organic chemicals such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and oxygen. Such components when incorporated in gardens aid in the productivity of such due to the chemical compounds, which enable increase in fertility of the soil. Hence, wastewater could be described as the new form of enhancing agricultural productivity because of the available nutrients in the wastewater. Furthermore, reclaimed water decreases the effects of pollution, which could burden the environment. I n addition it also preserves the environment in terms of saving other water uses form excessive use by man in his activities such as lakes, rivers, swamps, aquifers and springs (Mauser, & Karen 84).

Reclaimed or recycled waste water is usually considered as specially engineered for secure and reliable for the quality of water is predictable due to the security and safety process it has undergone to making it clean. In addition, such water is usually treated and tested before it is released into mainstream fresh and natural water supplies. However, communities and people consider that wastewater when incorporated into freshwater sources becomes unsafe and unfit for human and animal consumption. Such claims could be simply described as invalid as recycled water does not pose any threat to the health of people (Rogers, Manuel, & Luis, 47).

However, the reason for not mixing potable water with reclaimed water could be due to the presence of numerous factors. The initial factor for such developments is the presence of variations in terms of the treatment of non-potable water to the appropriate standards for drinking water. The second factor could be attributed to the presence of various pharmaceutical chemicals, pathogens and other chemical strains, which have the potency or ability to pass through the treatment and filtering processes, and might pose dangers to the health of humans and possibly animals when ingested. Nonetheless, new technologies have emerged enabling what is considered a reverse osmosis, which is a possible solution to such problems. Moreover, the contrast in terms of the processes sued in treatment of natural drinking water might be different and insufficient for identifying chemical traces and pathogens within reclaimed water, which might be present in the water.

Distribution and demand for recycled water is kept separate form fresh water or potable water because their channels are in an identical line but separate channels of distribution to ensure that the populace is able to identify the water and its sources. Increased water demand has enabled governments and their local authorities to find new lines of revenue, as they are able to charge for reclaimed water. In addition, this creates a sense of responsibility in terms of environmental care for people in growing modern societies with reference to the urban areas (Winpenny, Ingo, & Sasha, 67).

In conclusion, reclaimed water and related efforts have been necessitated by the numerous environmental factors. Climate change and its effects have become sever leading to the global warming scenario, which has resulted reducing fresh water sources. In addition, water recycling could also be attributed to man’s development and technological advancements enabling him to come up with new ways of preserving reducing water resources. In addition, global increases in population sizes given the reducing fresh water resources are a motivation towards the development of alternative water sources. This has also enabled man to become food sufficient especially within areas, which are regarded as arid. Hence, water recycling is a new way of preserving the resources available to man while adopting a cost effective approach in sustaining man’s societal growth (Carrey, 34).

Work Cited

Ballatore, Thomas. Every Drop Counts: Environmentally Sound Technologies for Urban and Domestic Water Use Efficiency. Nairobi: UNEP, 2008. Print.

Carrey, Daniel M. Water Recycling and Water Management. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2011. Print.

Chartres, Colin J, and Samyuktha Varma. Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World’s Water Problems. Upper Saddle River, N.J: FT Press, 2011. Print.

Jiménez, Cisneros B. E, and Takashi Asano. Water Reuse: An International Survey of Current Practice, Issues and Needs. London: IWA Pub, 2008. Print.

Kazner, Christian, Thomas Wintgens, and P J. Dillon. Water Reclamation Technologies for Safe Managed Aquifer Recharge. London: IWA Publishing, 2012. Print.

Lee, Erika. “Saudi Arabia and Desalination” Harvard International Review. Web.Decemeber 23.2010. Accessed from < http://hir.harvard.edu/pressing-change/saudi-arabia-and-desalination-0>

Levy, Guy J, Pinchas Fine, and A Bar-Tal. Treated Wastewater in Agriculture: Use and Impacts on the Soil Environment and Crops. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pub, 2011. Print

Mauser, Wolfram, and Karen Schneider. Water Resources: Efficient, Sustainable and Equitable Use. London: Haus, 2008. Print.

Winpenny, J T, Ingo Heinz, and Sasha Koo-Oshima. The Wealth of Waste: The Economics of Wastewater Use in Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010. Print.

Rogers, Peter P, Manuel R. Llamas, and Luis Martínez-Cortina. Water Crisis: Myth or Reality? : Marcelino Botin Water Forum 2004. London: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Print.