One of the preliminary steps to completing a thesis is the background study for it.

The background study for a thesis includes a review of the area being researched,
current information surrounding the issue, previous studies on the issue, and
relevant history on the issue. Ideally, the study should effectively set forth the
history and background information on your thesis problem. The purpose of a
background study is to help you to prove the relevance of your thesis question and
to further develop your thesis.
1
conduct preliminary research in the beginning stages of formulating a thesis, when many
issues are unclear and thoughts need to be solidified. Conducting preliminary research on
your area of study and specific topic will help you to formulate a research question or thesis
statement that will lead to more specific and relevant research. Visit your library, the
internet and electronic databases to find preliminary sources, such as books and scholarly
journals, for your background study.
2
Read the information and develop a research question or thesis statement that will guide
your thesis. You will need to take notes and keep accurate track of the sources that you
used up to this point. Many people use note cards, but with current technology there many
electronic note taking programs available. Use a method of recording source information
that you are comfortable with. Be sure to cite the source of the information on each note so
you don't forget where each piece of information came from, should you decide to use it in
your thesis.
3
Write a thesis statement or research question. Think about what you've read and look for
issues, problems or solutions that others have found and determine your own opinion or
stance on the issue. Write out your opinion as a authoritative statement on the issue,
problem or solution. At this point, you can do more detailed research and find sources that
are more relevant to your thesis or research question.
4
Complete your research using your thesis statement and research question as your guide.
You will find relevant sources that will provide insight into your specific thesis issue or
problem. Make sure that your sources provide details on the history and past research
related to your research question.
5
Create relevant sections as you write the background study. As you evaluate your research
and begin to write the background study, create five separate sections that cover the key
issues, major findings, and controversies surrounding your thesis, as well as sections that
provide an evaluation and conclusion.
6
Conclude by identifying any further study that needs to be done in that area, or provide
possible solutions to the issue that haven't been considered before.
7
Revise and edit your background study. Complete several drafts of your work, revising and
filling in information as you go. Each time that you read over your work, try to leave it better
than it was before. It's also a great idea to have someone else look it over as well.

Wastewater, also written as waste water, is any water that has been adversely affected in
quality by anthropogenic influence. Municipal wastewater is usually conveyed in a combined
sewer or sanitary sewer, and treated at a wastewater treatment plant. Treated wastewater is
discharged into receiving water via an effluent sewer. Wastewaters generated in areas without
access to centralized sewer systems rely on on-site wastewater systems. These typically
comprise a septic tank, drain field, and optionally anon-site treatment unit.
Sewage is the subset of wastewater that is contaminated with feces or urine, but is often used to
mean any wastewater. Sewage includes domestic, municipal, or industrial liquid waste products
disposed of, usually via a pipe or sewer (sanitary or combined), sometimes in a cesspool
emptier.
Sewerage is the physical infrastructure, including pipes, pumps, screens, channels etc. used to
convey sewage from its origin to the point of eventual treatment or disposal. It is found in all
types of sewage treatment, with the exception of septic systems, which treat sewage on site.

Wastewater or sewage can come from (text in brackets indicates likely inclusions or
contaminants):
Human waste (fces, 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/pavements (contains oils, animal
feces, litter, gasoline/petrol, diesel orrubber residues, soapscum, 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);

The composition of wastewater varies widely. This is a partial list of what it may contain:
Water (more than 95 percent), which is often added during flushing to carry waste down a
drain;
Pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, prions and parasitic worms;
Non-pathogenic bacteria;
Organic particles such as feces, hairs, food, vomit, paper fibers, plant material, humus, etc.;
Soluble organic material such as urea, fruit sugars, soluble proteins, drugs, pharmaceuticals,
etc.;
Inorganic particles such as sand, grit, metal particles, ceramics, etc.;
Soluble inorganic material such as ammonia, road-salt, sea-salt, cyanide, hydrogen
sulfide, thiocyanates, thiosulfates, etc.;
Animals such as protozoa, insects, arthropods, small fish, etc.;
Macro-solids such as sanitary napkins, nappies/diapers, condoms, needles, children's toys,
dead animals or plants, etc.;
Gases such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, etc.;
Emulsions such as paints, adhesives, mayonnaise, hair colorants, emulsified oils, etc.;
Toxins such as pesticides, poisons, herbicides, etc.
Pharmaceuticals and hormones.

Sewage disposal[edit]


Industrial wastewater effluent with neutralized pH from tailing runoff. Taken in Peru.
In some urban areas, sewage is carried separately in sanitary sewers and runoff from streets is
carried in storm drains. Access to either of these is typically through a manhole. During high
precipitation periods a sanitary sewer overflow can occur, forcing untreated sewage to flow back
into the environment. This can pose a serious threat to public health and the surrounding
environment.
Sewage may drain directly into major watersheds with minimal or no treatment. When untreated,
sewage can have serious impacts on the quality of an environment and on the health of
people. Pathogens can cause a variety of illnesses. Some chemicals pose risks even at very low
concentrations and can remain a threat for long periods of time because ofbioaccumulation in
animal or human tissue.
Treatment[edit]
Further information: Sewage treatment, Agricultural wastewater treatment, and Industrial
wastewater treatment
There are numerous processes that can be used to clean up wastewaters depending on the type
and extent of contamination. There are two basic approaches: to use the waste in the water as a
resource (such as constructed wetlands) or strictly as a pollution (such as the majority of today's
treatment plants). Most wastewater is treated in industrial-scale energy intensive wastewater
treatment plants (WWTPs) which include physical, chemical and biological treatment processes.
However, the use of septic tanks and other On-Site Sewage Facilities (OSSF) is widespread in
rural areas, serving up to 20 percent of the homes in the U.S.
[2]

The most important aerobic treatment system is the activated sludge process, based on the
maintenance and recirculation of a complex biomass composed by micro-organisms able to
absorb and adsorb the organic matter carried in the wastewater. Anaerobic wastewater treatment
processes (UASB, EGSB) are also widely applied in the treatment of industrial wastewaters and
biological sludge. Some wastewater may be highly treated and reused as reclaimed water.
Increasingly, for most wastewaters ecological approaches using reed bed systems such
as constructed wetlands are being used. Tertiary treatment is being increasingly applied and
most common technologies are micro filtration orsynthetic membranes. After membrane filtration,
the treated wastewater is indistinguishable from waters of natural origin of drinking quality
(without its minerals). Nitrates can be removed from wastewater by natural processes in
wetlands but also via intensive microbial denitrification, for which a small amount of methanol is
typically added to provide the bacteria with a source of carbon. Ozone wastewater treatment is
also growing in popularity, and requires the use of an ozone generator, which decontaminates
the water as ozonebubbles percolate through the tank but is energy intensive.
Disposal of wastewaters from an industrial plant is a difficult and costly problem. Most petroleum
refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants
[3][4]
have onsite facilities to treat their wastewaters
so that the pollutant concentrations in the treated wastewater comply with the local and/or
national regulations regarding disposal of wastewaters into community treatment plants or into
rivers, lakes or oceans. Constructed wetlands are being used in an increasing number of cases
as they provided high quality and productive on-site treatment. Other industrial processes that
produce a lot of waste-waters such as paper and pulp production has created environmental
concern, leading to development of processes to recycle water use within plants before they
have to be cleaned and disposed.
[5]

Reuse[edit]
Treated wastewater can be reused as drinking water, in industry (cooling towers), in artificial
recharge of aquifers, in agriculture (70 percent of Israel's irrigated agriculture is based on highly
purified wastewater)
[citation needed]
and in the rehabilitation of natural ecosystems
(Florida's Everglades).
Use of untreated wastewater by agriculture[edit]
Around 90% of wastewater produced globally remains untreated, causing widespread water
pollution, especially in low-income countries. Increasingly, agriculture is using untreated
wastewater for irrigation. Cities provide lucrative markets for fresh produce, so are attractive to
farmers. However, because agriculture has to compete for increasingly scarce water
resources with industry and municipal users, there is often no alternative for farmers but to
use water polluted with urban waste directly to water their crops.
Health hazards of polluted irrigation water[edit]
There can be significant health hazards related to using the water in this way. Wastewater from
cities can contain a mixture of chemical and biological pollutants. In low-income countries, there
are often high levels of pathogens from excreta, while in emerging nations, where industrial
development is outpacing environmental regulation, there are increasing risks from inorganic and
organic chemicals. The World Health Organization, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environmental Program
(UNEP), has developed guidelines for safe use of wastewater.
The International Water Management Institute has worked in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Ghana,
Ethiopia, Mexico and other countries on various projects aimed at assessing and reducing risks
of wastewater irrigation. They advocate a multiple-barrier approach to wastewater use, where
farmers are encouraged to adopt various risk-reducing behaviours. These include ceasing
irrigation a few days before harvesting to allow pathogens to die off in the sunlight, applying
water carefully so it does not contaminate leaves likely to be eaten raw, cleaning vegetables with
disinfectant or allowing fecal sludge used in farming to dry before being used as a human
manure.
[6]


WASTEWATER is a term applied to any type of water that has been utilized in some capacity
that negatively impacts the quality of the water. Common examples of wastewater include wate
rthat is discharged from households, office and retail buildings, and manufacturing plants.
Wastewater may also refer to any water that is utilized in an agricultural facility and is no longer
considered fit for human consumption.
The most common example of wastewater is liquid sewage. Discharged from homes and
businesses alike, sewage usually contains a mixture of human waste, food remnants, waterused
in washing machines, and any other items that may have found their way into the sewage
system. Many municipalities operate wastewater treatment plants that help to purify the sewage
and recycle the water for other uses, such as watering lawns. The plant may employ many
different devices to recycle the wastewater, including filters and chemical treatments.
Wastewater can also refer to groundwater that is contaminated due to a leaking septic tank or
agents such as insecticide, petroleum products, blood, or cleaning liquids. Often,
contaminated water can also be ran through the municipal filtration system and be prepared for
use once again. However, the nature of the contaminants may require additional measures
before the water is suitable for use once more.
Along with the use of chemicals to treat wastewater, the use of environmentally friendly methods
are sometimes employed. Reed bed systems are one example. When utilized inwetlands that are
either natural in origin or man made, this type of system can help to remove contaminants like
soap and similar agents with relative ease, allowing the water to be reclaimed. However, many
forms of wastewater today require heavy chemical treatments in order to remove harmful agents
from the water and make it safe for further use.
In some homes, people sometimes take steps to recycle wastewater themselves. Water used for
bathing may be collected and utilized for watering flower or vegetable gardens. The same is true
with water used in the preparation of food. Any liquid used to boil pasta, for example, may be
recycled as water for plants rather than dumping the used water into the sink.
Maintaining a fully functional water filtration plant is priority in most municipalities. Filtering and
cleansing the water helps to minimize the chances for an outbreak of health issues related to
infections and exposure to contaminants and essentially makes it possible for people to live in
urbanized areas and still enjoy safe drinking water.


WATER
Chemical Compound
Water is the most abundant compound on Earth's surface, covering 70 percent of the planet. In
nature, water exists in liquid, solid, and gaseous states. Wikipedia
Density: 997.04 kg/m
Molar mass: 18.01528 g/mol
Boiling point: 99.98 C
Melting point: 0 C
Formula: H2O
Triple point temperature: 0.01 C
IUPAC ID: Water, Oxidane
Water is a clear, pellucid, transparent fluid which forms the streams, lakes, oceans and rain, is
the major constituent of the fluids of living things chemical compound, and the most widely used
of all solvents. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms that are
connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at standard ambient temperature and pressure,
but it often co-exists on Earth with itssolid state, ice, and gaseous state, steam (water vapor).
Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface.
[1]
It is vital for all known forms of life. On Earth, 96.5%
of the planet's water is found in seas and oceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the
ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, a small fraction in other large water bodies, and 0.001% in
the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air),
and precipitation.
[2][3]
Only 2.5% of the Earth's water is freshwater, and 98.8% of that water is in
ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere,
and an even smaller amount of the Earth's freshwater (0.003%) is contained within biological
bodies and manufactured products.
[2]

Water on Earth moves continually through the water
cycle of evaporation and transpiration (evapotranspiration), condensation,precipitation,
and runoff, usually reaching the sea. Evaporation and transpiration contribute to the precipitation
over land. Water used in the production of a good or service is known as virtual water.
Safe drinking water is essential to humans and other lifeforms even though it provides
no calories or organic nutrients. Access to safe drinking water has improved over the last
decades in almost every part of the world, but approximately one billion people still lack access
to safe water and over 2.5 billion lack access to adequate sanitation.
[4]
There is a clear
correlation between access to safe water and gross domestic product per capita.
[5]
However,
some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing
water-based vulnerability.
[6]
A report, issued in November 2009, suggests that by 2030, in some
developing regions of the world, water demand will exceed supply by 50%.
[7]
Water plays an
important role in the world economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical
substances and facilitates industrial cooling and transportation. Approximately 70% of the fresh
water used by humans goes toagriculture.
[8]


Introduction to Wastewater Treatment Processes
Wastewater treatment is closely related to the standards and/or expectations set for the effluent quality. Wastewater
treatment processes are designed to achieve improvements in the quality of the wastewater. The various treatment
processes may reduce:

1. Suspended solids (physical particles that can clog rivers or channels as they settle under gravity)
2. Biodegradable organics (e.g. BOD) which can serve as food for microorganisms in the receiving body.
Microorganisms combine this matter with oxygen from the water to yield the energy they need to thrive and multiply;
unfortunately, this oxygen is also needed by fish and other organisms in the river. Heavy organic pollution can lead to
dead zones where no fish can be found; sudden releases of heavy organic loads can lead to dramatic fishkills.
3. Pathogenic bacteria and other disease causing organisms These are most relevant where the receiving water is used
for drinking, or where people would otherwise be in close contact with it; and
4. Nutrients, including nitrates and phosphates. These nutrients can lead to high concentrations of unwanted algae,
which can themselves become heavy loads of biodegradable organic load Treatment processes may also neutralize or
removing industrial wastes and toxic chemicals. This type of treatment should ideally take place at the industrial plant
itself, before discharge of their effluent in municipal sewers or water courses.
Widely used terminology refers to three levels of wastewater treatment: primary, secondary, and tertiary (or advanced).
Primary (mechanical) treatment is designed to remove gross, suspended and floating solids from raw sewage. It
includes screening to trap solid objects and sedimentation by gravity to remove suspended solids. This level is
sometimes referred to as mechanical treatment, although chemicals are often used to accelerate the sedimentation
process. Primary treatment can reduce the BOD of the incoming wastewater by 20-30% and the total suspended solids
by some 50-60%. Primary treatment is usually the first stage of wastewater treatment. Many advanced wastewater
treatment plants in industrialized countries have started with primary treatment, and have then added other treatment
stages as wastewater load has grown, as the need for treatment has increased, and as resources have become available.
Secondary (biological) treatment removes the dissolved organic matter that escapes primary treatment. This is
achieved by microbes consuming the organic matter as food, and converting it to carbon dioxide, water, and energy for
their own growth and reproduction. The biological process is then followed by additional settling tanks (secondary
sedimentation", see photo) to remove more of the suspended solids. About 85% of the suspended solids and BOD can be
removed by a well running plant with secondary treatment. Secondary treatment technologies include the basic
activated sludge process, the variants of pond and constructed wetland systems, trickling filters and other forms of
treatment which use biological activity to break down organic matter.
Tertiary treatment is simply additional treatment beyond secondary! Tertiary treatment can remove more than 99
percent of all the impurities from sewage, producing an effluent of almost drinking-water quality. The related
technology can be very expensive, requiring a high level of technical know-how and well trained treatment plant
operators, a steady energy supply, and chemicals and specific equipment which may not be readily available. An
example of a typical tertiary treatment process is the modification of a conventional secondary treatment plant to
remove additional phosphorus and nitrogen.
Disinfection, typically with chlorine, can be the final step before discharge of the effluent. However, some environmental
authorities are concerned that chlorine residuals in the effluent can be a problem in their own right, and have moved
away from this process. Disinfection is frequently built into treatment plant design, but not effectively practiced,
because of the high cost of chlorine, or the reduced effectiveness of ultraviolet radiation where the water is not
sufficiently clear or free of particles.