The Lab analysis presented in the case of Small Town reflects the waste composition of the three major SIUs including a tanker truck washout facility, an animal rendering plant, and a petroleum refinery plant. The results analyzed shows that most of the industrial chemicals present in the water are above the average required local standards.
The industrial waste is highly acidic as evident in its PH level which is way less than the acceptable standards. The scenario also shows that there is a significant difference between the acceptable standards level of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and the BOD concentration in the municipality’s waste water tank. The difference of 2900 poses significant health issues. On the same note, there is the huge threat posed by the levels of the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) which raises a lot of concerns. At 1600, the TPH levels are more than the required local levels of 640. The huge presence of these chemicals implies that the lives of people and other natural organisms are in great danger. Therefore, there is need to address these concerns and put in place measures that address every problem accordingly. Given that the required local levels of hydrogen sulfide are 0.5, the municipality’s levels of 6 are several times higher. Therefore, the fixation level is high and needs measures that will scale them down because the current level is hazardous for human life. The most immediate impact that all these large levels of toxins in the municipal’s industrial waste is the death of residents of the town through the emergence of health complications. Also, animals and plants will be adversely affected.
Cyanide is known to be a very poisonous chemical both to human and animal life (Bahadori, 2014). The municipal has cyanide levels of 3 while the required local standard levels are 0.5. These higher levels also put human and animal lives in danger. Although the utilization of chromium is not highly dangerous to human life, long term consumption of high chromium levels in water will result in stomach complications as well as a low uptake of glucose. Given that the chromium level in the municipal’s water is three while the required local standard is 0.5, there is need to check and regulate it. Cadmium has several hazards on the earth. Animals that feed on grass and other plants growing in soil with high levels of Cadmium can develop various health complications that ultimately leads to death. Also, cadmium can create a circulatory strain on the environment which might as well affect the lives of the people living in the municipality.
The advances of industrial waste treatment have made it possible to control poisonous industrial chemicals from affecting the ecosystem (Wang, Shammas & Hung, 2009). This project aims developing an efficient industrial waste treatment facility that will ensure that the dangerous chemicals that affect human beings, animals, and the entire ecosystem are reduced to acceptable levels. This treatment facility will be responsible for the treatment of incoming waste from the three primary SIUs. The treatment facility will be designed to address various problems including the removal of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). It will also remove different chemicals present in water including cyanide, chromium, Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), phenols, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COG). Finally, the industrial waste treatment facility will be tasked with regulating the final PH to levels that are acceptable. A chart will aid the progress of the development of the treatment facility throughout its development stages.
The primary driving factor of the designing of this industrial waste treatment plant is the elimination of ecological risks to prevent any major health issues to the population. Second, these issues will be addressed in an economical and environmentally friendly way. Economically, the treatment facility will accept large volumes of industrial wastes generating more income while at the same time employing more people (Singh & Sarkar, 2015). Profits will come from payments received from the three SIUs and the selling solid wastes for agricultural use.
- Bahadori, A. (2014). Waste management in the chemical and petroleum industries. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
- Singh, R. P., & Sarkar, A. (2015). Waste management: Challenges, threats and opportunities.
- Wang, L. K., Shammas, N. K., & Hung, Y.-T. (2009). Advances in hazardous industrial waste treatment. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
