RE: Do You Know How Your City's Wastewater Is Treated?
You may have read elsewhere that this is exactly my job: sewage sludge treatment.
Yes, I am an attentive reader :) I remember well how you wrote that you traveled a lot thanks to your work and that you liked it. But then the coronavirus destroyed it all. I concluded that you have changed the scope of your activities, because recently you wrote that you conduct surveys for companies.
Honestly, I did not think that this post would be read by someone who is well versed in wastewater treatment. I would write it more professionally and in detail :) But then it would be long and uninteresting.
especially the microplastics it contains
Yes, this ubiquitous microplastic. We have a big problem with the lies of packaging materials manufacturers and simple human ignorance. Manufacturers of packages in the pursuit of advertising and profits have assured people that they produce environmentally friendly products, because they are biodegradable. In fact, they add an additive to ordinary plastic that gets between the plastic molecules. It decomposes really quickly, but all the plastic remains, and it is immediately conveniently broken down into microparticles.
Drug residues are another unresolved issue...
I never thought that the amount of drugs was so significant that they could be found in sewage.
You are great!
Yes, as far as drug residues are concerned, there are various problems. Improper disposal of residues down the toilet is the least of them. So many medicines - prescription and free - are not completely broken down by the body and components are simply excreted again. Especially in the case of hormonal contraceptives, preparations against menopausal complaints and similarly composed preparations for a better skin appearance, it is precisely the - generally overdosed - hormone component that gets into the wastewater via daily excretion and is virtually impossible to filter. In some rivers and lakes, which (after clarification) serve as water reserves, it is regularly necessary to introduce male fish and frogs, because the natural offspring only turn out female due to the excess of female hormones in the water...
Du bist großartig!
Ja, was die Medikamentenrückstände angeht, gibt es diverse Probleme. Unsachgemäße Entsorgung von Restbeständen über die Toilette ist das geringste davon. So viele - verschreibungspflichtige und freie - Medikamente werden vom Körper nicht vollständig abgebaut und Bestandteile einfach wieder ausgeschieden. Besonders bei hormonellen Verhütungsmitteln, Präparaten gegen Beschwerden in den Wechseljahren und ähnlich zusammengesetzten Mitteln für ein besseres Hautbild gelangt gerade der - generell überdosierte - Hormonanteil über tägliche Ausscheidungen ins Abwasser und ist so gut wie nicht filterbar. In manchen Flüssen und Seen, die (nach erfolgter Klärung) als Wasserreservat dienen, gibt es regelmäßig die Notwendigkeit, männliche Fische und Frösche einzubringen, weil der natürliche Nachwuchs durch den Überschuß weiblicher Hormone im Wasser nur noch weiblich ausfällt...
Thank you very much for revealing completely unknown information to me. Now I'm looking for information on whether we have something similar.