Solid Waste and Sewage Disposal

Question 1

Where does solid waste come from?

Answer 1

Generated in domestic, industrial, business, and agricultural sectors

Question 2

What is electronic waste?

Answer 2

e-waste composed of discarded electronic devices including televisions, cell phones, and computers

Question 3

What are the environmental effects of landfills?

Answer 3

can contaminate groundwater and release harmful gases

Question 4

What systems are in place at sanitary municipal landfills to reduce the harmful impact?

Answer 4

• lined at the bottom with plastic or clay
• stormwater collection system
• leachate collection system (collected leached water)
• cap (covers the landfill using crushed glass, soil, wood )
• methane collection system

Question 5

What factors help the decomposition of solid waste?

Answer 5

• ensure that there are microbes (decomposers) present in the landfill to ensure the microbial decomposition of waste
• ensure pH is as acidic as possible to help break down the waste

Question 6

How do incinerators work? What are their benefits/harms? What waste does it still produce?

Answer 6

Solid waste is disposed at incineration and burned

• it significantly reduces the amount of solid waste but increases air pollutants
• produces wastewater (sewage treatment) and ash (still has to be disposed of landfills)

Question 7

How are environmental problems caused by the illegal disposal of materials that are not accepted at landfills (ex: rubber tires)?

Answer 7

• used rubber tires, when left in piles can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes that can spread disease

Question 8

What are the effects of countries putting their waste in the ocean?

Answer 8

• large floating islands of trash in oceans
• wildlife can become entangled in or ingest waste
• waste can also fall while it is transported and runoff into water sources`

Question 9

How does the used water travel to its final location?

Answer 9

• down the drain or toilet
• series of sewage pipes
• mixes with all the other wastewater in your community
• wastewater treatment plant

Question 10

Where are water treatment facilities usually located?

Answer 10

• close to bays, rivers, etc. (moving bodies of water, usually NOT small lakes)

Question 11

What is the purpose of wastewater treatment facilities?

Answer 11

• filtered and treated enough to return to water sources

Question 12

How do wastewater treatment places deal with the biodegradable materials in wastewater? What are some examples of these biodegradable materials?

Answer 12

• wastewater treatment facilities will host microbes that can break down living organisms
• soap, animal/plant waste, paper

Question 13

What are the steps of primary sewage treatment?

Answer 13

1. Filtration - wastewater passes through a large screen to remove solid objects
2. First Settling Tank - wastewater is sent into a large tank, smaller particles sink to the bottom and form sewer sludge, sludge is removed from water
3. Sludge is brought to a drying place (usually at the same facility)

Question 14

What are the steps of sewage secondary treatment?

Answer 14

1. Wastewater is sent to a large tank, where any remaining sludge is removed from the water
2. Aeration Tank - Wastewater is mixed with oxygen and bacteria, bacteria use the oxygen and feeds on waste (pump in more dissolved oxygen because it is needed for the bacteria to feed on waste)
3. Chlorination: Chlorine is added to disinfect the water before it is released back (can also use ozone or UV light)

Question 15

Tertiary treatment

Answer 15

• use of ecological or chemical processes to remove any pollutants left in the water after primary or secondary treatment

Question 16

What is sewage sludge? How is it dealt with when it is hazardous?

Answer 16

• a product of wastewater treatment, solid material that remains after treatment
• sludge can contain dangerous concentrations of toxic chemicals and must be disposed of as hazardous waste, usually brought to incinerators

Question 17

How have communities been recycling the sludge if the sludge is determined to be at a non-toxic level?

Answer 17

• used as fertilizer

- combined with clay to make bricks that can be used in buildings

Question 18

How can we reduce the amount of generated waste?

Answer 18

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle

Question 19

What is recycling and why is not the most advantageous method of reducing waste?

Answer 19

• Process by which certain solid waste materials are processed and converted into new products
• One way to reduce current global demand on minerals, but this process is energy-intensive and can be costly

Question 20

Why does most recycling end up in landfills?

Answer 20

• Used to be underdeveloped countries that took recycling and turned it into raw materials, now they don’t take it anymore because there’s too much unprocessed recycling in these countries

Question 21

What is composting? What are the drawbacks?

Answer 21

• the process of organic matter such as food scraps, water, and yard waste decomposing, used for fertilizers
• odor and rodents

Question 22

What are the issues with E-waste?

Answer 22

• contains heavy metals like lead and mercury, can lead to leaching from landfills into groundwater if not disposed of properly

Question 23

What are landfill mitigation strategies?

Answer 23

• burning waste for energy

- restoring habitat on former landfills used for parks

Question 24

What are water treatment facilities not designed to treat?

Answer 24

Not designed to treat pharmaceuticals and other toxic compounds from the water (how endocrine disruptors get into the water sources)

Question 25

What substances are used in tertiary treatment to remove pollutants from the water?

Answer 25

• chlorine, UV radiation, ozone