Wastewater - Origin

Origin

Wastewater or sewage can come from (text in brackets indicates likely inclusions or contaminants):

• Human waste (fæces, used toilet paper or wipes, urine, or other bodily fluids), also known as blackwater, usually from lavatories;
• Cesspit leakage;
• Septic tank discharge;
• Sewage treatment plant discharge;
• Washing water (personal, clothes, floors, dishes, etc.), also known as greywater or sullage;
• Rainfall collected on roofs, yards, hard-standings, etc. (generally clean with traces of oils and fuel);
• Groundwater infiltrated into sewage;
• Surplus manufactured liquids from domestic sources (drinks, cooking oil, pesticides, lubricating oil, paint, cleaning liquids, etc.);
• Urban rainfall runoff from roads, carparks, roofs, sidewalks, or pavements (contains oils, animal feces, litter, gasoline, diesel or rubber residues, metals from vehicle exhausts, etc.);
• Seawater ingress (high volumes of salt and microbes);
• Direct ingress of river water (high volumes of micro-biota);
• Direct ingress of manmade liquids (illegal disposal of pesticides, used oils, etc.);
• Highway drainage (oil, de-icing agents, rubber residues);
• Storm drains (almost anything, including cars, shopping trolleys, trees, cattle, etc.);
• Blackwater (surface water contaminated by sewage);
• Industrial waste
• industrial site drainage (silt, sand, alkali, oil, chemical residues);
  • Industrial cooling waters (biocides, heat, slimes, silt);
  • Industrial process waters;
  • Organic or biodegradable waste, including waste from abattoirs, creameries, and ice cream manufacture;
  • Organic or non bio-degradable/difficult-to-treat waste (pharmaceutical or pesticide manufacturing);
  • Extreme pH waste (from acid/alkali manufacturing, metal plating);
  • Toxic waste (metal plating, cyanide production, pesticide manufacturing, etc.);
  • Solids and emulsions (paper manufacturing, foodstuffs, lubricating and hydraulic oil manufacturing, etc.);
  • Agricultural drainage, direct and diffuse.
  • Hydraulic fracturing