WASTE WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY

Disposal of waste water from both domestic (household) and industrial activities into water bodies can cause environmental pollution if the quality of the wastewater does not meet the waste quality standards. For example, let's look at the City of Jakarta. Jakarta is a very dense capital city, so the location of the septic tank, cubluk (balong), and garbage disposal are close to groundwater sources. There is a study which states that 285 samples from 636 sample points of groundwater sources have been contaminated by coli bacteria. Chemically, 75% of these sources do not meet the drinking water quality standards whose parameters are assessed from the elements of nitrate, nitrite, iron, and manganese.

What about industrial wastewater? In industrial activities, wastewater will contain substances/contaminants produced from residual raw materials, residual solvents or additives, wasted or failed products, washing and rinsing of equipment, blowdown of several equipment such as boiler boilers and cooling water systems, as well as sanitary wastes. In order to meet quality standards, industry must apply the principles of careful and integrated waste control both in the production process (in-pipe pollution prevention) and after the production process (end-pipe pollution prevention). Control in the production process aims to minimize the volume of waste generated, as well as the concentration and toxicity of the contaminants. While the control after the production process is intended to reduce the levels of pollutants so that in the end the water meets the quality standards that have been set.

However, even so, the problem of wastewater is not as simple as imagined because wastewater treatment requires large investment costs and large operating costs. For this reason, wastewater treatment must be carried out carefully, starting with careful planning, implementing the construction of the correct wastewater treatment plant or waste treatment unit, as well as careful operation.

In wastewater treatment itself, there are several quality parameters used. Wastewater quality parameters can be grouped into three, namely organic parameters, physical characteristics, and specific contaminants. The organic parameter is a measure of the amount of organic matter contained in the waste. These parameters consist of total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), oils and fats (O&G), and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). Physical characteristics in wastewater can be seen from the parameters of total suspended solids (TSS), pH, temperature, color, odor, and reduction potential. While the specific contaminants in wastewater can be in the form of organic or inorganic compounds.