Wastewater is water that has been used in homes, industries, and businesses that has been in contact with human or industrial waste and cannot be reused or returned to the water cycle until it has been treated or cleaned.

While exact methods can vary, here’s a general breakdown of the municipal wastewater treatment process:

• When wastewater leaves a home or business, it is transported through municipal collector pipelines usually by the force of gravity, to a wastewater treatment plant. If gravity flow is not available all the way, then a lift station may pump the wastewater up to a level where gravity flow can again take place. 
• As wastewater enters the treatment plant, it is screened to remove non-sewage items such as rags, clothing, toothbrushes, or any other solids that might damage or clog the equipment. This material is sent to landfills.
• The sewage then moves into grit settling tanks where grit is removed to a landfill.
• Next, the wastewater is sent to aeration tanks, which move the sewage to expose it to oxygen and naturally occurring bacteria.  The bacteria break organics down into carbon dioxide and water and form “floc” which helps settle the remaining inorganic materials.
• The wastewater then enters another settling tank. Here, the “floc” settles to the bottom and is pumped out as “biosolids”. The biosolids enter either the large “digester” tanks or are returned to the treatment process to reseed the aeration.  
• In the digester, bacteria further break down or “digest” the organic material. This part of the process takes 20 to 30 days. This digested material, its volume and odor reduced and harmful microorganisms gone, is taken either to a landfill or sometimes further processed for use as a soil conditioner. 
• From the settling tanks, the wastewater is typically disinfected by chlorine (gas or liquid) or by the ultraviolet light before being discharged to the receiving stream.

The Authority owns and operates one treatment system, the Temple-Belton Regional Sewerage System. The Authority also operates wastewater systems for the cities of Hutto, Clute/ Ridgewood, Georgetown, Sugar Land, Liberty Hill, Lee County Fresh Water Supply District No. 1, and the Brushy Creek Regional wastewater system which serves the City’s of Round Rock, Cedar Park, Austin and the Fern Bluff and Brushy Creek MUDs.  

An outhouse, commonly referred to as a privy in the Texas Statutes, is a type of toilet without plumbing in a small building separated from a main structure. Instead of being connected to a sewer or septic system, an outhouse sits over a pit.

In an outhouse however, bacteria that thrive in oxygen break down the waste, with help from other natural processes. Eventually the pit fills, is covered with dirt and the outhouse is relocated.

Under Texas law, an outhouse may not be built within 75 feet of a drinking water well or a human habitation other than the residence to which the privy belongs, without approval from local health authorities. An outhouse also may not be built over an abandoned well or a stream. For more regulations on outhouses, consult the Texas Statutes. Pertinent information can be found here

Aerobic water treatment is a method of treating sewage and wastewater by adding oxygen to the waste.  This process encourages naturally occurring bacteria to break down the waste and produce a higher quality effluent that may then be treated with chlorine to remove the remaining bacteria.
 

While restaurants and other commercial establishments are required to install traps to catch grease that goes down the drain, no such limits are placed on residences. However, continually dumping grease down the drain can result in a stinky, messy and likely costly problem. Once in the pipes, the grease tends to coagulate, and it might not be long before you face a sewer backup. Instead, consider throwing away the grease, or if your area offers it, take it to a recycling center.

A settling pond is a basin or lagoon used in the wastewater treatment process where water can collect. Solid pollutants in this water settle to the bottom and excess water is allowed to flow over the top. 

Generally, septic systems, also known as on-site sewage facilities, are regulated under a portion of the Texas Health and Safety Code, which you can find here and the Water Code, here 

For more information about the permit process as well as a link to find local permitting authorities, go here. Finally, one can read about minimum state standards in the Texas Administrative Code, here. 

MGD or million gallons per day is a measurement of water flow frequently used in measurement of water consumption. One mgd equals 133,680.56 cubic feet per day, 1.5472 cubic feet per second or 3.0689 acre-feet per day.

Reclaimed water is treated wastewater or effluent that can be used for certain beneficial purposes, such as irrigation, without first being returned to the water cycle.

Separate from sanitary water lines or wastewater sewers, storm sewers carry away surface rain runoff, street wash and snow melt via curb-side drains.  Also unlike sanitary sewers, these systems usually drain directly into a creek, river, or other body of water without treatment.  This is also how a lot of the trash ends up in our rivers and lakes.  Everything thrown out in the street or dumped in a street drain (storm drain) ends up in a nearby river or lake. 

Dumping hazardous substances into these curbside sewers can have a direct negative impact on the environment causing fish kills or killing plants and animals that come in contact with the storm water.

Wastewater treatment plants are typically located near creeks and rivers.  The treated effluent is returned to the water cycle by being released into these waterways.  As water sources become less abundant, many municipalities have chosen not to release effluent into the water cycle; rather to reuse the effluent for irrigation and industrial purposes directly from the water discharged from the treatment plant. 

Effluent is the water that leaves a sewage treatment plant after it has been treated.

A wastewater treatment plant is a system used to clean wastewater generated within municipal areas.  Most wastewater treatment plants utilize aerobic forms of cleaning water and removing waste so that water may be returned to the water cycle. 
 
At the treatment plant, the waste is separated into liquids that are purified and solid sludge that may be used in a number of recycling systems or taken to land fills.  
 

A septic system is an on-site means of treating and disposing of domestic sewage without sending it to a municipal water treatment system. A septic system receives the waste from a home or business and uses an anaerobic method of breaking down the waste in a manner that will not be harmful to people or to the environment.  

A typical system includes a tank that allows the decomposition of solids by naturally occurring bacteria as well as a set of lines or a pit to dispose of the effluent or liquid. Anaerobic bacteria, or bacteria that is able to live in an oxygen-free environment, breaks the solids down and  deactivates some of the potentially-disease-causing microorgnisms in the wastewater.

The liquid is typically sent to a nearby drain field where a series of pipes carries it through gravel or other materials, filtering the water as it is carried down by gravity. The remaining water evaporates through the soil at the drain field.

Where wastewater goes once you are no longer using it depends on whether your plumbing is connected to a private septic system or a public sewage line. 

A septic system is normally used for wastewater treatment in areas where public sewage service is not available, such as rural areas.  In areas where public sewage treatment is available, homes are usually linked to the public system by pipelines that take waste to a wastewater treatment plant that serves an area. 
 

Brackish is a term used to describe water that contains more dissolved minerals (see total dissolved solids) than normally acceptable for municipal, domestic and agricultural uses. It has a higher amount of dissolved solids than fresh water but not as high as saltier types such as sea water.

Brackish water includes concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS) ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 milligrams per liter (mg/l).

Turbidity is the amount of particles suspended in water. It is the factor that causes water to appear cloudy or even opaque.  It is measured by how the particles scatter light rays moving through the water.

The Brazos River Authority operates the Temple-Belton Regional Sewerage System as well as wastewater treatment centers for the cities of Hutto, Sugar Land, Liberty Hill, Dime Box,  Clute and Richwood. The Authority also handles wastewater for Georgetown, providing service to residents of at Berry Creek, Pecan Branch, Dove Springs, San Gabriel and Cimarron Hills.

Other operations include the Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater System, which serves the cities of Round Rock, Cedar Park, Austin and the Fern Bluff and Brushy Creek municipal utility districts.