Sewage Plants

I never realized how much water per day we waste by just flushing the toilet. In many cases, only the minimum that we use to flush the toilet is approximately one gallon of water. It might seem very little. However, if a person uses the toilet at least five times a day, he or she is spending approximately five gallons of water only by flushing the toilet. If five gallons of water is only used to flush the toilet, the amount of water used in general, for instance to take a shower, to wash dishes and to do other chores, will be extremely large. I cannot even calculate how much water I use a day because if I do so, I might have a heart attack. I am very concerned about global warming. Due to this, I recycle and I encourage other people to do so. However, when it comes to saving water, I do not do a good job.

                                          

I always hear people talking about how contaminated the Hudson River is. However, compared to past years, the quality of the water of Hudson River has improved and it is not as contaminated as it was before. This is due to a combination of laws that the congress passed in order to improve the quality of the river. For instance, before 1972 waste-water was threw back into the river as contaminated as it was. Since it was no law that protected the Hudson River, many cities and towns around New York used the Hudson River as a water disposal. Thus, by doing this, they contaminated the clean water of the Hudson. It was not until 1972 that the congress passed a law which require every state to return the waste-water to the surrounding rivers at least 95% cleaner. It is a relief to know that even though the Hudson River was very contaminated once, the government is enacting laws that protect it. This and the help of many environmentalists keep the hope that the Hudson River might get as clean as it was back in the days.

The Albany County Sewer District is a waste-water treatment plant that decontaminate waste-water before returning it back into the Hudson. This plant returns the water to the Hudson at least 95% cleaner which is required by law. In our tour to this treatment plant, I saw and understood the different processes that waste-water goes through after it has been used. These processes are more complex than what I thought. Every time that a citizen around the Albany area flush the toilet, he or she provides work to do to a whole sewage company such as this one in Albany. This treatment plant has 72 workers and it runs from 5 to 6 days a week, 24 hours a day. It also has many complex plants that help with the decontamination of water such as an incinerator and a power generator which was bought directly from Ireland.

Narrow Canals for the Decontamination of Waste water 

 It was fascinating to see how the waste-water was pumped into different narrow canals (shown in the picture above) that the company constructed in order for the insoluble solids to settle in the bottom. So, as the waste-water flowed through these canals, many insoluble substances stayed behind, making the waste-water less contaminated.

Bacteria being added to the waste-water

After going through all these canals, the waste-water is now from 85% to 70% cleaner than it was previously. At this point, the waste-water contains only soluble substances. In order for these soluble substances to be removed from the water, a great amount of bacteria is added. This bacteria breaks down and eats the soluble compounds in the water. The product of the bacteria and the waste-water is mainly hydrogen and nitrogen which goes into the atmosphere. Because bacteria divides very quickly, the workers at this treatment plant often have to kill some of the bacteria.

Bio Solids

After almost all soluble substance is removed from the water, the water is tested in the biology lab to make sure it is at least 95% uncontaminated before returning it into the river. This treatment plant produces around 23 million gallons of bio solids per day, which are all the products that come up after the waste-water has been decontaminated. Thanks to this treatment plant great amount of waste is not being throwing out in the river like it was years old.