What is the purpose of a water treatment plant? If you provide key insurance to water treatment plants, it’s important for you to understand the purpose, function, and everyday operations of these plants. If you’ve ever wondered How Does a Wastewater Treatment Plant Work when talking with your clients, learning the basics of the treatment process can help keep you informed and allow you to give more prudent, useful advice to your clients. Before your next meeting with your Water Treatment Insurance clients, make sure you read up on the following phases water treatment plants go through on a daily basis.
Pretreatments Clear Larger Contaminants From the Water
Before plants can begin to treat the water, refine sludge, and purify the final product, they need to pre-treat the water to remove major contaminants and large objects in the way. During the pretreatment phase:
- Large contaminants, such as plastic, trash, leaves, branches, bottles, and so on are removed using grit chambers
- Fat and/or grease are skimmed off the surface of the water
- Remaining sewage sits in a designated basin until ready for treatment
Primary and Secondary Treatments Remove Smaller Particles and Aerate the Water
Once the pretreatment phase is complete, the plant can move into its primary and secondary treatment phases. These two stages further refine the water by removing smaller particles, aerating the final result, and more. Although this part of the process can be long and complex, in short, it involves the following steps:
- The water is allowed to sit for smaller grit particles to separate out
- Scrapers direct solid matter to further sludge treatment
- Microorganisms are added to the waste water to break matter down into stabilized sludge
- Waste water is collected in a clarifying tank
Sludge Treatments Produce Fertilizing Sludge and Clarified Waste Water
After the water has passed through the primary and secondary treatment stages, the last phase generally involves separating out sludge and putting the remnants to good use. During this stage:
- Waste and organic matter is separated from grit
- The grit is removed and deposited in landfills
- Sludge left goes through a centrifugal system to produce plant-powering methane
- Remaining stabilized sludge can be used as a fertilizer
- Remaining water is disinfected, clarified, and then directed back into the general water supply
In order to better serve your Water Treatment Insurance clients and to gain a deeper understanding of their industry, it’s important to learn how water treatment plants operate. Whether you underwrite insurance policies or simply liaise with clients to provide business and insurance-related advice, knowing what a water treatment plant does can help you provide the best possible insights and information. You can always keep this quick guide handy and review the pretreatment, primary and secondary treatment, and sludge treatment phases before meeting with your clients to be as informed and self-assured as possible.
About Watercolor Management
Watercolor Management has insured the water industry for over 30 years. Our policies include unlimited defense cost coverage in the event of a lawsuit against you. Call us at (855) 929-0824 or email info@watercolormanagement.com for a quick quote for your Water Business Professional, Products/Completed operations, Pollution and General Liability Insurance.