What is wastewater treatment?

Wastewater treatment allows reusing water, reducing water stress in water scarce regions. It also promotes sustainable water resource management by preventing pollutants to come into natural water sources, protecting the environment and ecosystems.

Treated wastewater can also be used for producing energy, such as biogas, nutrients, and fertilisers, helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global warming. Clean treated water improves public health, and it reduces the risk of waterborne diseases and infections caused by exposure to contaminated water or sewage sludge. Treating wastewater can, overall, enhance efficiency and productivity by minimising waste generation, optimising water use and avoiding equipment damage caused by corrosive or fouling substances in wastewater.

At GHD we are a professional services company that provides innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions for wastewater treatment and recycling. We work closely with you to investigate, plan, design and oversee the construction and start-up of facilities that treat wastewater. We also collaborate with technical associations, universities, research organisations and regulatory agencies to maintain industry leadership and active engagement in the latest developments in wastewater treatment, odour control, and biosolids management.

Some of the projects that GHD has delivered or is involved in include:

• Designing a large wastewater storage and pump station facility, along with associated pipelines, to reduce wastewater overflows into Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour
• Providing evaluation, design and construction services for comprehensive improvements to the City of Binghamton’s water filtration facilities and Water and Sewer Department offices
• Overseeing the complex program to upgrade Oneida County’s Water Pollution Control Plant in New York. The project aims to increase the plant’s peak capacity from 55 to 111 million gallons per day to address combined and sanitary sewer overflows in the collection system
• Designing and building a process wastewater pretreatment plant at a new manufacturing plant in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Articles referenced

^{Britannica 2023, Wastewater treatment, retrieved 27 June 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/technology/wastewater-treatment}

^{What is Piping n.d., Wastewater treatment: Definition, process steps, design considerations, plant types, retrieved 27 June 2023, from https://whatispiping.com/wastewater-treatment/}

^{MFPEA n.d., Wastewater treatment: Introduction, purpose, benefits, retrieved 27 June 2023, from https://mfpea.org/wastewater-treatment-intro-purpose-benefits/}

^{UN Environment Programme 2019, Better sewage treatment critical for human health and ecosystems, retrieved 27 June 2023, from https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/better-sewage-treatment-critical-human-health-and-ecosystems}

^{Construction Marketing Association n.d., 7 benefits of wastewater treatment, retrieved 27 June 2023 from https://blog.constructionmarketingassociation.org/7-benefits-of-wastewater-treatment/}