forbidden word: water treatment
This is one of the terms you can’t say in the Trump Regime. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.
water treatment
water treatment, noun
the act or process of making water more potable or useful, as by purifying, clarifying, softening, or deodorizing it.
Etymology
Origin of water treatment
First recorded in 1860–65
Example Sentences: water treatment
That is why addressing nutrient pollution at source is the first point of action in tackling the problem, and why the big contributors – farming and water treatment – are the first port of call.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Kennedy told me this week that she now sees the water treatment business as “the future of our company — an enormous market opportunity.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Jackson, Miss., residents were left without drinking water for weeks in 2022 after flooding overwhelmed the city’s out-of-date water treatment facility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
This resilience means that standard water treatment methods may not always be enough to eliminate them, especially in older or poorly maintained systems.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
Annie started getting the water treatment, and soon she was doing well.
From “Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith” by Deborah Heiligman
from — Definition of water treatment. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2026, from August 13th, 2026
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water treatment
Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, including being safely returned to the environment. Water treatment removes contaminants and undesirable components, or reduces their concentration so that the water becomes fit for its desired end-use. This treatment is crucial to human health and allows humans to benefit from both drinking and irrigation use.
Advanced water treatment methods have been developed in recent decades due to increased concerns about new pollutants like microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These include advanced oxidation processes, membrane filtration, and adsorption-based techniques utilizing materials like tailored nanomaterials and activated carbon. Additionally, energy efficiency, resource recovery, and sustainability in water treatment systems are receiving more attention, especially in areas where water is scarce and environmental demands are growing.[1]
Types
Drinking water treatment
Water contamination is primarily caused by the discharge of untreated wastewater from industrial and commercial activities. The effluent from various enterprises, which contains varying levels of contaminants, is dumped into rivers or other water resources. The wastewater may have a high proportion of organic and inorganic contaminants at the initial discharge. Industries generate wastewater as a result of fabrication processes, processes dealing with paper and pulp, textiles, chemicals, and from various streams such as cooling towers, boilers, and production lines.[2]
Treatment for drinking water production involves the removal of contaminants and/or inactivation of any potentially harmful microbes from raw water to produce water that is pure enough for human consumption without any short term or long term risk of any adverse health effect. In general terms, the greatest microbial risks are associated with ingestion of water that is contaminated with human or animal (including bird) feces. Feces can be a source of pathogenic bacteria, viruses, protozoa and helminths. The removal or destruction of microbial pathogens is essential, and commonly involves the use of reactive chemical agents such as suspended solids, to remove bacteria, algae, viruses, fungi, and minerals including iron and manganese. Research including Professor Linda Lawton‘s group at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen is working to improve detection of cyanobacteria.[3] These substances continue to cause great harm to several less developed countries who do not have access to effective water purification systems.[original research?]
Measures taken to ensure water quality not only relate to the treatment of the water, but to its conveyance and distribution after treatment. It is therefore common practice to keep residual disinfectants in the treated water to kill bacteriological contamination during distribution and to keep the pipes clean.[4]
Water supplied to domestic properties such as for tap water or other uses, may be further treated before use, often using an in-line treatment process. Such treatments can include water softening or ion exchange. [citation needed]
Wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment is a process which removes contaminants from wastewater. The resulting effluent, discharged to a water body, has an acceptable impact on the environment.[5] Domestic wastewater, also called municipal wastewater or sewage, is processed at a sewage treatment plant. Industrial wastewater is often processed at a specially-designed industrial wastewater treatment facility,[6] or at a sewage treatment plant. In the latter case the industry typically performs on-site pretreatment of the waste, before it is sent to the municipal plant. Other types of wastewater treatment plants include agricultural wastewater treatment and leachate treatment plants.
The term “wastewater treatment” is often used to mean “sewage treatment”.[7]
Common processes in wastewater treatment include phase separation, such as sedimentation, various biological and chemical processes, such as oxidation, and polishing. The main by-product from wastewater treatment plants is a type of sludge that is usually treated in the same or another wastewater treatment plant.[7]: Ch.14 Biogas can be another by-product if the process uses anaerobic treatment.
Industrial water treatment
Water treatment is used to reduce impact on equipment used in industrial processes, such as heating, cooling, processing, cleaning, and rinsing so that operating costs and risks are reduced. Poor water treatment lets water interact with the surfaces of pipes and vessels which contain it. Steam boilers can scale up or corrode, and these deposits will mean more fuel is needed to heat the same amount of water. Cooling towers can also scale up and corrode, but left untreated, the warm, dirty water they can contain will encourage bacteria to grow, and Legionnaires’ disease can be the fatal consequence. Water treatment is also used to improve the quality of water contacting the manufactured product (e.g., semiconductors) and/or can be part of the product (e.g., beverages, pharmaceuticals). In these instances, poor water treatment can cause defective products.[8]
In many cases, effluent water from one process can be suitable for reuse in another process if given suitable treatment. This can reduce costs by lowering charges for water consumption, reduce the costs of effluent disposal because of reduced volume, and lower energy costs due to the recovery of heat in recycled wastewater.[citation needed]
Processes
For the elimination of hazardous chemicals from the water, many treatment procedures have been applied.[9]
The processes involved in removing the contaminants include physical processes such as settling and filtration, chemical processes such as disinfection and coagulation, and biological processes such as slow sand filtration.
A combination selected from the following processes (depending on the season and contaminants and chemicals present in the raw water) is used for municipal drinking water treatment worldwide.
Chemical
Different chemical procedures for the conversion into final products or the removal of pollutants are used for the safe disposal of contaminants.[10]
- Pre-chlorination for algae control and arresting biological growth.
- Aeration along with pre-chlorination for removal of dissolved iron when present with relatively small amounts of manganese.
- Disinfection for killing bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, using chlorine, ozone and ultra-violet light.
Physical
Physical techniques of water/waste water treatment rely on physical phenomena to complete the removal process, rather than biological or chemical changes.[10]
Most common physical techniques are:
- Sedimentation is one of the most important main wastewater treatment procedures. Gravity settling is a method of separating particles from a fluid. The particle in suspension remains stable in quiescent conditions due to the decrease in water velocity throughout the water treatment process, following which the particles settle by gravitational force.[11][12] For solids separation that is the removal of suspended solids trapped in the floc.
- Filtration is the technique of removing pollutants based on their particle size. Pollutant removal from waste water permits water to be reused for a variety of purposes. The types of filters used in the procedure differ depending on the contaminants present in the water. Particle filtration and Membrane filtration are the two main forms of waste water filtration.[13]
- Dissolved air flotation (Degasification) is the process of removing dissolved gases from a solution. Henry’s law states that the amount of dissolved gas in a liquid is proportionate to the partial pressure of the gas. Degasification is a low-cost method of removing carbon dioxide gas from waste water that raises the pH of the water by removing the gas.[10]
- Deaerator is used to reduce oxygen and nitrogen in boiler feed water applications.
Physico-chemical
Also referred to as “Conventional” Treatment
- Coagulation for flocculation. The addition of coagulants destabilizes colloidal suspensions by neutralizing their charges, resulting in the aggregation of smaller particles during the coagulation process.[14]
- Coagulant aids, also known as polyelectrolytes – to improve coagulation and for more robust floc formation.
- Polyelectrolytes or also known in the field as polymers, usually consist of either a positive or negative charge. The nature of the polyelectrolyte used is purely based on the source water characteristics of the treatment plant.
- These will usually be used in conjunction with a primary coagulant such as ferric chloride, ferric sulfate, or alum.
Chemical precipitation is a common process used to reduce heavy metals concentrations in wastewater. The dissolved metal ions are transformed to an insoluble phase by a chemical interaction with a precipitant agent such as lime. In industrial applications stronger alkalis may be used to effect complete precipitation. In drinking water treatment, the common-ion effect is often used to help reduce water hardness.[15]
Flotation uses bubble attachment to separate solids or dispersed liquids from a liquid phase.[16]
Membrane filtration
Membrane filtration can remove suspended solids and organic components, and inorganic pollutants such heavy metals. For heavy metal removal, several forms of membrane filtration, such as ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis, can be used depending on the particle size that can be maintained.[17][18] Antiscalants can help maintain membrane filtration.[19] Some small molecules can permeate to some extent through membranes.[19]
Ion exchange
Ion exchange is a reversible ion exchange process in which an insoluble substance (resin) takes ions from an electrolytic solution and releases additional ions of the same charge in a chemically comparable amount without changing the resin’s structure.[20][21]
Electrochemical treatment techniques
- Electrodialysis (ED)
- Membrane electrolysis (ME)
- Electrochemical precipitation (EP)[18]
Adsorption
Adsorption is a mass transfer process in which a substance is transported from the liquid phase to the surface of a solid/liquid (adsorbent) and becomes physically and chemically bonded (adsorbate). Adsorption can be classified into two forms based on the type of attraction between the adsorbate and the adsorbent: physical and chemical adsorption, commonly known as physisorption and chemisorptions.[22][23]
Activated carbon
Activated carbons (ACs) or biological-activated carbon (BAC)[24] are effective adsorbents for a wide variety of contaminants. The adsorptive removal of color, aroma, taste, and other harmful organics and inorganics from drinking water and wastewater is one of their industrial applications.[25]
Both a high surface area and a large pore size can improve the efficiency of activated carbon. Activated carbon was utilized by a number of studies to remove heavy metals and other types of contaminants from wastewater. The cost of activated carbon is rising due to a shortage of commercial activated carbon (AC). Because of its high surface area, porosity, and flexibility, activated carbon has a lot of potential in wastewater treatment.[25]
Biological
This is the method by which dissolved and suspended organic chemical components are eliminated through biodegradation, in which an optimal amount of microorganism is given to re-enact the same natural self-purification process.[26] Through two distinct biological process, such as biological oxidation and biosynthesis, microorganisms can degrade organic materials in wastewater. Microorganisms involved in wastewater treatment produce end products such as minerals, carbon dioxide, and ammonia during the biological oxidation process. The minerals (products) remained in the wastewater and were discharged with the effluent. Microorganisms use organic materials in wastewater to generate new microbial cells with dense biomass that is eliminated by sedimentation throughout the biosynthesis process.[27]
Standards
Many developed countries specify standards to be applied in their own country. In Europe, this includes the European Drinking Water Directive[28] and in the United States the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes standards as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act. For countries without a legislative or administrative framework for such standards, the World Health Organization publishes guidelines on the standards that should be achieved.[29] China adopted its own drinking water standard GB3838-2002 (Type II) enacted by Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2002.[30]
Where drinking water quality standards do exist, most are expressed as guidelines or targets rather than requirements, and very few water standards have any legal basis or, are subject to enforcement.[31] Two exceptions are the European Drinking Water Directive and the Safe Drinking Water Act in the United States, which require legal compliance with specific standards.
Developing countries
Appropriate technology options in water treatment include both community-scale and household-scale point-of-use (POU) or self-supply designs.[32] Such designs may employ solar water disinfection methods, using solar irradiation to inactivate harmful waterborne microorganisms directly, mainly by the UV-A component of the solar spectrum, or indirectly through the presence of an oxide photocatalyst, typically supported TiO2 in its anatase or rutile phases.[33] Despite progress in SODIS technology, military surplus water treatment units like the ERDLator are still frequently used in developing countries. Newer military style Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPU) are portable, self-contained water treatment plants are becoming more available for public use.[34]
For waterborne disease reduction to last, water treatment programs that research and development groups start in developing countries must be sustainable by the citizens of those countries. This can ensure the efficiency of such programs after the departure of the research team, as monitoring is difficult because of the remoteness of many locations.
Energy Consumption: Water treatment plants can be significant consumers of energy. In California, more than 4% of the state’s electricity consumption goes towards transporting moderate quality water over long distances, treating that water to a high standard.[35] In areas with high quality water sources which flow by gravity to the point of consumption, costs will be much lower. Much of the energy requirements are in pumping. Processes that avoid the need for pumping tend to have overall low energy demands. Those water treatment technologies that have very low energy requirements including trickling filters, slow sand filters, gravity aqueducts.
A 2021 study found that a large-scale water chlorination program in urban areas of Mexico massively reduced childhood diarrheal disease mortality rates.[36]
Materials
Stainless steels, such as Type 304L and 316L, are used extensively in the fabrication of water treatment plants due to their corrosion resistance to water and to the corrosivity of chlorination used for disinfection.[37][38]
See also
- Control of water pollution – Contamination of water bodies
- Clean Water Act – 1972 U.S. federal law regulating water pollution
- Peak water – Concept on the quality and availability of freshwater resources
- Pulsed-power water treatment – Using electro-magnetic fields on cooling water
- Solar water disinfection – Portable water purification powered by sunlight
- Raw water#Treatment – Untreated water found in a natural environment
- Water purification – Process of removing impurities from water
- Water quality – Assessment against standards for use
- Water softening – Removing positive ions from hard water
- Water supply – Provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations or others
from — Wikipedia contributors. (2026ak, August 1). Water treatment. Wikipedia. Retrieved August 14, 2026
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Trump officials kill proposed rules for Pfas-contaminated sewage fertilizer
EPA tosses out scientific research carried out under Biden and says toxic sludge not a significant threat to public
The Trump administration has killed the regulatory review of sewage sludge contaminated with Pfas and spread on farmland as fertilizer, a practice that has sickened farmers, destroyed their livelihoods, killed livestock, polluted water supplies, and poisoned meat and food products sold to the public.
The proposed risk assessment would largely have ended the use of sludge, also called biosolids, in the nation’s food system. But the Environmental Protection Agency tossed out its scientific research from less than two years ago that formed the basis for developing regulations. It justified the decision by declaring that sludge was not a wide threat to the public because it is mostly used on farms, and only a small percentage of cropland.
However, in comments published to the federal register, the EPA also advised the US public to “research” sludge companies to protect itself from the highly toxic chemicals contaminating home fertilizer widely sold for use in home gardens.
The decision is “a bit bonkers”, said Laura Dumais, an attorney with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) non-profit.
“It’s shocking for the EPA to take a scientific assessment and simply throw it out,” Dumais said. “Basically, they’re saying: farmers’ lives don’t matter.”
Pfas are a class of about 16,000 compounds dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, and accumulate in the human body and environment. The chemicals are linked to a range of serious health problems like cancer, liver disease, kidney issues, high cholesterol, birth defects and decreased immunity.
Sludge is a mix of human and industrial waste that is a byproduct of treating waste sent through the nation’s sewer system. Its disposal is expensive, and the EPA in the early 1990s began allowing it to be spread on cropland because it is also rich in plant nutrients.
But public health advocates have condemned the practice because the nation spends billions of dollars annually to treat water, only to take the toxic byproduct, insert it into the food supply, and re-pollute water. Regulators in Maine and Michigan have found Pfas in every sample they have tested, as did a 2001 federal review of the nation’s sewage sludge.
While biosolids can teem with any of 90,000 human-made chemicals, EPA rules currently only require monitoring for nine heavy metals. Peer has sued the EPA for allegedly failing to regulate Pfas in sludge under the Clean Water Act.
In the Biden administration’s final days, the EPA issued a “draft health risk assessment” for some Pfas in sludge, finding that any level above 1 part per billion (ppb) increases cancer and other health risks to farmers.
Most sludge does not have less than 1ppb of Pfas, and the threshold is low enough that it would have dramatically limited the use of the substance, if finalized and implemented.
The proposed regulations included risk assessments for Pfoa and Pfos, two of the most common and toxic Pfas compounds. The assessments were based on cancer and health risks to farmers, but did not examine how the chemicals may affect the public via contaminated produce, dairy and meat.
In comments submitted to the EPA, the Southern Environmental Law Center noted research showing the risk to farmers’ and their families, as well as the public. Among its calculations was the increased risk for a child who drinks milk from a farm where sludge that contained Pfoa levels of 9.4ppb was spread. Pfoa levels have exceeded 9.4ppb in sludge tested in Maine.
It found more than 36 children out of 1,000 who drink one to two glasses of the contaminated milk daily could get cancer later in life from drinking that milk alone. Their risk of developing non-cancer health problems is also more than 319 times higher.
The EPA decision “puts polluters first and leaves farming families and rural communities to bear the consequences”, said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
“This administration is tossing aside a comprehensive, science-based assessment of the dangers of Pfas and replacing it with a thin, watered-down document that minimizes real harm,” Zhuang said.
The waste management industry, which profits from sludge, strongly opposes regulations, and has lobbied the EPA on the issue.
The EPA in its new assessment claimed sludge is spread on only 1% of farmland, but no government agency at any level has tracked where it has been spread. Most states do not test land where sludge has been spread, though it has been found to migrate into surrounding properties, and pollute water sources.
The government has also not carried out meaningful testing of food products grown in Pfas-contaminated sludge. In Maine, where more than 100 farms so far have been found to be affected by tainted sludge, chemicals that were spread decades ago were discovered to be still contaminating the land, including on organic farms, where farmers unwittingly grew crops in chemical-laden soil.
“It’s shocking that the EPA is willing to throw all of these people under the bus and the EPA’s solution here is ‘do your own research – we’re not going to regulate anything, so if you think it’s dangerous then figure it out for yourself,’” Dumais said.
from — Perkins, T. (2026, July 21). Trump officials kill proposed rules for Pfas-contaminated sewage fertilizer. The Guardian.
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This is one of the words/ phrases you can’t say in the new Trump Regime. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.
image: by the reservoir © holly troy 8.2026
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