Test: Waste Water Story - UPSC MCQ

The process of waste treatment is called as sewage treatment to remove harmful substance from water to make it portable.

• Pollution: Contaminates water sources, making them unsafe for use and further reducing available freshwater.
• Industrial Development: Increases water consumption and often leads to pollution, straining freshwater resources.
• Population Growth: More people result in higher water demand for personal, agricultural, and industrial use.

All these factors contribute to the scarcity of freshwater, making option D: All of the above the correct answer. 

Bar screens are used to remove large objects like rags, sticks, cans, and plastic packets from wastewater as it passes through them.

Sewage is wastewater released by homes, industries, hospitals, offices and other users. It also includes rainwater that has run down the street during a storm or heavy rain. The water that washes off roads and rooftops carries harmful substances with it. Sewage is a liquid waste. Most of it is water, which has dissolved and suspended impurities.

Cleaning water is necessary to remove harmful impurities that can cause diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and diarrhea. Contaminated water is unsafe for drinking and other daily uses.

During primary sedimentation, solids like feces settle at the bottom of the tank, forming sludge, while floatable impurities like oil and grease are skimmed off, leaving clarified water for further treatment.

• Inorganic Impurities: These are non-living, chemical substances found in sewage.
• Phosphate: A common inorganic impurity present in sewage. It comes from detergents, fertilizers, and industrial waste.
• Garbage and Vegetable Waste: These are organic impurities as they originate from living organisms or their processes.
  Correct Answer: C. Phosphate is inorganic because it consists of a mineral component, unlike organic waste from biological origins.

Cooking oil and fats: When poured down the kitchen sink, they solidify and clog pipes.