What Are the Treatments for Polluted Water?

Water pollution occurs under various scenarios. Pollutants can get into water indirectly as they filter through soil or directly through an industrial discharge pipe. Treatment must occur when pollutants reach unsafe levels. If water cannot be treated, other clean water sources must be provided to protect human health and the environment. Treatment options are specifically targeted to the pollutant of concern, the water source and impacts to the environment.

Bioremediation

• Bioremediation uses microbiota, bacteria and fungi, to degrade or transform pollutants into less harmful by-products. Bioremediation can be used to treat soil, groundwater, sediments and sludge. The bacteria and fungi eat the pollutants; the process results in benign wastes. Bioremediation has been successfully used to treat pollution from solvents, like those used for dry cleaning and PCBs that are flame resistant materials previously used to coat electrical wires and transformers, but now banned in the United States.

  Bioremdiation to treat groundwater can be done by injecting microbial enhancements directly into groundwater and circulating them around, or water can be pumped from the ground, treated with enhancements and then pumped back into the ground. Other types of treatments can be used with pump and treat systems.

Permeable Reactive Barrier

• A permeable reactive barrier is like a hanging wall that is perpendicularly placed to filter pollutants at the end of the groundwater plume. Contaminated water is mixed with a reactive slurry which removes contaminants before the water passes through the permeable barrier. Contaminants stay on the upside of the barrier while clean water is passed onto the other side. Then, contaminant residues can be collected and disposed of properly.

Pump and Treat

• Pump and treat systems pump contaminated groundwater to the surface and then remove contaminants before injecting clean water back into the aquifer. Often times, hydraulic fracturing of rock is necessary to get to the groundwater before it can be pumped to the surface. Pump and treat systems are expensive options that have not been proven effective. For successful groundwater remediation, pump and treat systems should be combined with bioremediation.