Water is an essential and highly valuable natural resource, especially in the current unpredictable climates. However, water has significant energy and cost footprints, which makes the efficiency of use, conservation, and reuse critical considerations for environmental, social, and economic reasons. Discover the importance of water recycling and the advantages of recycling water here below.
What is Water recycling?
Water recycling is also called water reclamation or water reuse, and it’s an essential practice where treated wastewater is reused for several applications like landscape and agricultural irrigation, toilet flushing, and various other purposes. The water recycling process varies based on water quality requirements for reuse. That means if you plan to recycle grey water for irrigation at home, you will not need an overly extensive water recycling system that is required for recycling water for drinking.
How does a Water recycling system work?
A water recycling system operates through a series of stages designed to treat and repurpose wastewater for various uses, reducing reliance on freshwater sources. The process begins with the collection of wastewater from residential, commercial, or industrial sources. This water, often containing contaminants like solids, organic matter, and chemicals, is directed to a treatment facility.
Preliminary Treatment: The first step involves screening and filtration to remove large particles and debris. This can include physical barriers like screens or sedimentation tanks where heavier solids settle out.
Primary Treatment: In this stage, further removal of suspended solids occurs, often through sedimentation or flotation techniques. The goal is to reduce the load on subsequent treatment stages.
Secondary Treatment: This stage involves biological processes where microorganisms break down organic matter. Common methods include activated sludge processes, trickling filters, or biofilm reactors. The result is a significant reduction in organic pollutants.
Tertiary Treatment: This advanced treatment stage aims to remove remaining impurities, including nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, which can cause environmental issues if discharged untreated. Techniques include chemical coagulation, filtration, and biological nutrient removal.
Advanced Purification: For water intended for high-quality uses such as potable water, additional purification steps are necessary. These may include:
- Reverse Osmosis: A membrane filtration process that removes dissolved salts and contaminants.
- Ultraviolet (UV) Disinfection: Using UV light to kill pathogens.
- Advanced Oxidation Processes: Chemical treatments to eliminate organic contaminants.
- Distribution: Once treated, the recycled water is distributed for various applications. This can include agricultural irrigation, industrial processes, landscape irrigation, groundwater recharge, and even potable water after stringent purification.
Throughout this process, continuous monitoring and quality control are essential to ensure the treated water meets safety standards for its intended use. By recycling water, we can significantly reduce the demand for freshwater supplies, promote sustainable water management, and mitigate environmental impacts associated with water extraction and wastewater discharge.
Why is water recycling important and what are the advantages of recycling water?
The importance of water recycling can be seen in a community like Flint, Michigan where the water supply is highly polluted. The Flint River was polluted for decades, and the town failed to properly recycle and treat it, causing polluted water to flow into numerous homes. The town is now dealing with various health issues due to untreated water consumption.
Other advantages of recycling water include the following:
Reduce the risk of pollution
Untreated wastewater is typically released into rivers, seas, and other water bodies. This contaminated water cannot decompose naturally, thus polluting the rivers, waterways, and oceans. Besides destroying aquatic habitats, dirty water often carries harmful bacteria and viruses that can cause diseases. A proper water recycling system helps to avoid all these issues by ensuring that wastewater is effectively treated before being released into any water body.
Cost savings
A direct way that a water recycling system can reduce business costs is by reducing the total water volume that a facility needs to support its production processes. Reducing water costs can be highly beneficial for industrial facilities located in areas with high water costs or for facilities that use water from metered sources, like municipal water. Recycling the water on site also reduces the costs associated with the maintenance of pumps and other equipment necessary for bringing water into the facility.
Prevent water shortage
Greywater recycling can help reduce water usage significantly by allowing individuals and businesses to reuse this essential resource. Recycled grey water can be used in various systems like toilet flushing, garden irrigation, and outside taps. A grey water recycling system ensures that your home or business always has a constant water supply in key areas like toilets, bathrooms, and basins, thus preventing water shortage.
Reduce demand on water resources
One of the outstanding advantages of recycling water is that it reduces the stress and demand on water resources like rivers and groundwater by offering an alternative water supply. Wildlife, plants, and fish need adequate water flows into their natural habitats to reproduce and live comfortably. The diversion of water for urban, industrial, and agricultural purposes can affect ecosystem health and water quality. However, water recycling offers a way to free significant volumes of water to flow to important ecosystems.
Recycling water saves energy
The increasing demand for water means that more water must be extracted, filtered, and transported to various locations, which requires lots of energy. Recycling water minimises the energy required to transport or pump water over long distances. In addition, a water recycling system can tailor the water quality to meet specific needs. For instance, the water needed to cool equipment or flush toilets does not require energy-intensive recycling processes, reducing energy requirements on site.
Conclusion
There are numerous advantages of recycling water, as shown above. Reusing water is a sustainable practice that can help conservation amidst the rising supply demands. Greywater recycling systems for home and business use are also common as more people do their part in reducing pollution and protecting the environment. At JTD Building Supplies, we have a range of civil and drainage supplies for all projects. Contact us today to learn more and find out how our supplies can help you in your water recycling project.
