Reblogged submissive-dumbass
I genuinely love the onion
tell me something cool
Wastewater treatment is not achieved through a series of chemical treatments. Instead, itโs a managed natural process in which the effluent from the sewer system is filtered, aerated and then broken down by wild microbes.
Technically it doesnโt need to be aerated, but anaerobic bacteria, which donโt need oxygen, produce much stinkier byproducts during this breakdown process, so most decent-sized urban wastewater treatment plants do aerate in order to spare the neighbors. Very simple rural wastewater plants may just pump the wastewater into a lagoonโan outdoor pond, usually with a liner of some kindโand just let whatever grows in there do so.
As the wastewater is breaking down, it separates into a layer of muck (sludge) and a layer of cleaner water. Large wastewater treatment plants have a series of stages with clearer and cleaner water emerging from each one. Small plants may have a series of lagoons or just one. The more stuff you have in your wastewater thatโs not poop (say maybe you accept discharge from a local factory, or thereโs a restaurant district with a lot of food waste in their greywater), the longer and harder it is to treat.
Discharge from wastewater treatment plants to natural water bodies is heavily regulated and monitored for quality. In the US, itโs regulated by the EPA, and they take it seriously. The finishing step involves testing your discharge to make sure itโs within your approved discharge limits. This is the only step where a chemical treatment is commonly added: a little chlorine, to kill off the last of your microbes. But some plants use constructed wetlands or sand filters instead. If they do apply chlorine, they also have to take it back out before releasing the water, so that they donโt upset the ecosystem the water will be released to.
(If you have wastewater thatโs mostly human waste and a correctly sized plant, you shouldnโt technically need this step. The microbes should be slowly precipitating out of the water along with the sludge. But things like high volume, cold temperatures, and complex effluent can make those benchmarks hard to hit without a finishing step.)
MORE COOL STUFF ABOUT WASTEWATER:
DID YOU KNOW? Potassium, an important component in fertilizer, is actually mined out of the earth? Did you know potassium deposits are running low? DID YOU KNOW POTASSIUM IS A WASTEWATER BYPRODUCT!?
DID YOU KNOW? Some large plants can trap and clean methane from their wastewater and use it for power?
DID YOU KNOW? The precipitated sludge can be further treated and used for fertilizer? I particularly liked the plant that was using it to fertilize fast-growing trees for the paper trade.
DID YOU KNOW? Many wastewater plant operators have a protectiveโif sometimes frustratedโrelationship with their microbes, which they call โthe bugsโ, and include not just bacteria but also other microorganisms like algae and daphnia. The bugs are the workhorses of the wastewater plant: if their ecosystem becomes imbalanced, everyoneโs job gets harder. I doubt theyโd appreciate this, but in my mind, wastewater treatment operators are microbe herders. Though I suppose thinking of them as bog technicians is also accurate.
This has been the short version of my โwastewater treatment is fricking awesomeโ rant. I generalized a lot but the gist is still true. You asked for something cool, behold: Wastewater treatment, first wonder of manโs interface with nature.
OKAY BUT IM A CHEMICAL ENGINEER BY TRAINING AND READING THIS WAS THE MOST SOOTHING AND SATISFYING THING I NEEDED RIGHT NOW.
Reblogged retroactivebakeries
bigpoppypuppy-deactivated202412
heโs chewing molten metal. just out of frame is a forge and smithing table. his hands are rough and weary from years of labor, as is his face, but he is full of vigor and strength. he works tirelessly without wiping the sweat from his brow. his weary scowl has more to do with age than demeanor, a mask for a kind soul. and heโs earned any amount of temper that might come aboutโ you wonโt find a finer sword anywhere else.
Reblogged retroactivebakeries
Patented Hater Tech
I fucking LOVE the way people act when they love a sport and watch a beginner succeed at it. It reminds me of the first time I went surfing, I'd been trying for an hour to get my balance and when I finally managed to stand up and ride a wave in literally every surfer on the beach was like
Source: tiktok.com
We ask your questions so you donโt have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.
Who the fuck is voting no and can you please give me your money? Sincerely someone who makes about $17,000 a year
Someone who makes $65k may not be "as poor" as someone who makes $17k a year but that doesn't make them rich. You're both still pretty damn poor.
They're only making about $31 an hour. This is how much my mom makes as a nurse, an "essential worker."
She has just enough money to pay her bills. She lives in a tiny, crappy house. Her car is ancient and falling apart. She doesn't have enough money to pay for all the healthcare she needs, including $20,000 of dental work she can never afford.
When I lived with her and she was a single mom, we could never afford the doctor and could barely afford food sometimes.
She will never be able to retire.
How tf do you think that is rich?
Frankly, my mom is still poor.
Your enemy isn't the person makes $65,000, or even some doctor or lawyer making $165,000. It's the people making billions off of everyone else's labor.
You can't eat the rich if you think every single person making more money than you is rich.
The working class is incredibly large. It's hard to survive on $65k and harder to survive on $17k. Neither one is comfortable.
The legal definition of poverty is something like... if you lost all incoming money tomorrow, you would not be able to last 3 months without being homeless. Dont quote me on it, but that was a definition I read once that stuck with me. Three months worth of rent and bills in savings/assets in order to be considered above the poverty line.