"This post teaches alot, now i can even understand what the powerpoint presentation says :D So, what WWTPs (see, i can even do the accronyms, hah) in theory is doing, is increasing the speed of mother nature's ways of breaking down the sewage?"

That's ABSOLUTELY right. It's one instance where engineers have made excellent use of natural processes.



"I saw a documentary about wastewater treatment on norwegian TV, and i remember they said the main problem was to remove tampoons and diapers before the sewage is processed.."

Yeah that's true too. Those things are murder on internal pumps and aerators.

"My brother is allergic to tap water, probably because the same thing that they put in pools (not sure about the name in english) has been added to give it flavour, etc."

In the US we add chlorine (used to add flourine) and chlorimines. If they add the same thing where your brother is, he might be allergic to either the chemcial itself or the byproducts, but I'll get to those in the water treatment post.


"Is the natural water in USA of so bad quality that it cant be used?"

Generally speaking, NO. The quality of the water in the US is "good." I guess I need to qualify that. Essentially for driking water there are few processes needed to treat the water to levels accpetable for consumption by the EPA. That and the amount are the reasons that water is "cheap" in the US relative to other countries. That's also the reason that water is taken for granted.

"But how can WWTPs be used in countries without sewage - or, are there other alternatives?"

There are many alternatives. In my mind the first thing that needs to be done is to build low energy, low maintenace facilities like lagoons, ponds, etc. that can be used to treat WW fairly effectively. Simultaneously, there is a need to educate those in need of WWT about the natural process and how to operate those facilities. As conditions improve, they can then begin to build larger more sophisticated plants for even better treatment. That way they can reclaim some of that water for irrigation and secondary needs.

"Do you know what is being done about improving water quality elsewhere?"

I only know of a few projects in other countries. Mnay of those are to help upgrade existing facilities.

BTW, does anyone know if I have to make a formal request to wbgirl to have this archived?