Concepts In Wastewater Characteristics And Management

INTRODUCTION

Due to the importance of health problems caused by wastewater, wastewater is transported away from the treated, community and then disposed. Human excreta have been implicated within the transmission of several infectious diseases involving cholera, hepatitis, polio, typhoid, cryptosporidiosis, ascariasis and schistosomiasis. Those given diseases predominantly affect children and the poor and especially in the developing countries.

Infectious agents are not the only health concerns associated with wastewater and excreta. Toxic organic, Heavy metals and inorganic substances also can pose serious threats to human health and the environment. Nitrates from the wastes could establish up to high concentrations in groundwater and cause methaemoglobinaemia when consumed by bottle-fed infants. Nutrients might cause eutrophication within receiving water bodies potentially leading to cyanobacterial and other harmful algal blooms and the production of toxins by these organisms.