Wastewater treatment: an overview

Grégorio Crini (1) , Eric Lichtfouse (2)

1 LCE - Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249)
2 CEREGE - Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement

During the last 30 years, environmental issues, especially concerning the chemical and biological contamination of water, have become a major concern for both society and public authorities, but more importantly, for the whole industrial world. Any activities whether domestic or agricultural but also industrial produce wastewaters or effluents containing undesirable contaminants which can also be toxic. In this context, a constant effort must be made to protect water resources. In general, conventional wastewater treatment consists of a combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes and operations to remove insoluble particles and soluble contaminants from effluents. This chapter briefly discusses the different types of effluents, gives a general scheme of wastewater treatment, and describes the advantages and disadvantages of technologies available.

Mots clés: water treatment; pollutants; Electrodialysis; Electro-flocculation; Advanced oxidation processes; Volatile organic compounds; Ultrafiltration

Domaines: Géochimie; Ingénierie de l'environnement; Hydrologie

Grégorio Crini, Eric Lichtfouse. Wastewater treatment: an overview. Green Adsorbents for Pollutant Removal, 18, Springer Nature, pp.1-22, 2018, Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World, 978-3-319-92111-2. ⟨10.1007/978-3-319-92111-2_1⟩. ⟨hal-02065607⟩