Page 90 - March 2020 - WT Site

ater use is growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in
the last century and an increasing number of regions are chronically short
Wof water. In this aspect to avoid the water demand at the global level water
conservation strategies are being developed. Among the water conservation strategy,
wastewater treatment is one of the major pathway about the decreasing the water
demand in the agricultural sector and for domestic uses except drinking. In all the
major cities, wastewater treatment plants have been constructed to treat the urban
wastewater in view of decreasing the water scarcity. The presence of nutrients in the
wastewater is considered as beneficial to agricultural practices. The contaminants
present in the wastewater pose health risks directly to agricultural workers and indirectly
to the consumers as the long term application of the wastewater may result in the
accumulation of toxic elements in soil and in plants.

Wastewater management plays a significant role in sustainable urban development.
Traditionally, the goal of wastewater treatment was to protect downstream users from
health risks. In more recent decades, protecting nature by preventing nutrient pollution
in surface waters has become an extra goal. The most widely used wastewater
treatment technology is the conventional activated sludge (CAS) process, in which
aerobic microorganisms metabolise the organic fraction present in the wastewater
under constant oxygen supply. Although the CAS process succeeds in meeting legal
effluent quality standards, it is considered unsustainable due to its low resource
Editor’s Note
recovery potential and cost effectiveness on the one hand, and its high energy demand
and large environmental footprint on the other.

Aerobic wastewater treatment takes many forms, but fundamentally it’s a biological
process widely used in the treatment of both domestic and industrial wastewater,
particularly waste streams high in organic or biodegradable content. Aerobic treatment
can be as simple as the septic tank. While there’s still a role for more traditional aerobic
treatment options, exciting new technologies are expanding its horizons, making its use
possible even outside of existing infrastructure. In the present issue an attempt has
been made to study and review the aerobic treatment of wastewater.

Enjoy Reading.

Naina Shah
Editor

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