environmental science

Week 3 Assignment

Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part Three of Four:

Sustaining Our Water Resources

Term: Septic System

A septic system is a sewage treatment solution for buildings that are not connected to a communal sewerage system (usually the sewer system ). We have an obligation to treat our wastewater. This is essential for the environment. The septic tank is a set of elements that can treat wastewater so that it can be recycled in nature and no longer pose a health hazard to the animal and human population or the environment.

It is also important to know that wastewater includes black water and greywater. The greywater comes from toilets and greywater from the rest of the house (shower, kitchen, washing machine ...). The two kinds of water, greywater and greywater, are domestic waters. The septic tank treats these two types of water in a primary way, depending on whether it is an all-water pit or only for black water. All plumbers-heating engineers are not able to install it.

In the septic tank, which is a kind of big tank, we recover the water to be treated. The size of the tank will be evaluated according to the number of inhabitants. This tank is also equipped with a grease trap that recovers water from the kitchen before it is poured into the tank. Then, a filtration system in place discharges the treated water into a sheet of sand using a network of pipes (Richards, Paterson, Withers & Stutter 2016).

The way that septic systems affect living things is by poisoning rivers, lakes or the oceans with was that flows into them thus poisoning them putting life in danger. It was determine that over 230 instances of polluted water caused beach to close . In a (Withers, Jordan, May, Jarvie, & Deal, 2014).). This not only have an effect on human life, but tourism as well. These coastal regions depend on tourism as open beaches are seasonal and this is the time of increase tourism. Most septic systems have not change in almost 70 years which challenge environmental sustainability (Yates, 1985). We have to develop new technologies to combat the inneficiencies that are caused by septic systems. We still have community that depends on septic systems instead of sewer system so the risk of overflow still exist.

We can create environmental sustainability with a few actions. A better monitoring system of septic tank on routine basis is needed to be implemented. When septic tank are properly maintained in a regular basis they are an excellent way of managing waste system, when not properly manage they can create real environmental issues. Homeowners need to be educated on the pros and cons of having septic systems as well need to learn to plan accordingly for maintenance annually to avoid polluting groundwater. Pollution of groundwater can lead to public health issues.

One other way to help promote environmental sustainability is to educate people on what materials should be disposed through the system. Product such as feminine product

s, kitty litters, baby diapers and grease should not be disposed through the system due to the fact they will decrease the systems chances of effectiveness. This will help homeowners to take better care of the system and help their properties and keep the environment clean for all of us.

References

Richards, S., Paterson, E., Withers, P. J., & Stutter, M. (2016). Septic tank discharges as multi-

pollutant hotspots in catchments. Science of the Total Environment, 542, 854-863.

Withers, P. J., Jordan, P., May, L., Jarvie, H. P., & Deal, N. E. (2014). Do septic tank systems

pose a hidden threat to water quality?. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 12(2),

123-130.

Yates, M. V. (1985). Septic tank density and ground‐water contamination. Groundwater, 23(5),

586-591.