The use of gravity is often the most economical method of separating solids from a liquid. In a sedimentation tank, heavier particles sink to the bottom and are collected in a trough. When particles, like clay, are too small to settle on their own...
Filtration is one of the most common techniques for physical separation, and is used to remove solids from both gaseous and liquid streams. It is frequently used in the treatment of waste water.
Adsorption is a process that may be considered as either a chemical or a physical treatment method. The forces that hold the adsorbed substance to the surface of an adsorbing material are chemical, but the material itself can be recovered in its or...
Physical treatment technologies often provide the initial and most efficient form of treatment, but do not actually transform or destroy the waste. Physical treatment processes often rely on natural forces to do the work.
The approved EPA treatment technologies for solid, liquid and gaseous wastestreams can be categorized into four groups: physical, chemical, biological and thermal. Knowing which type of treatment to use and when to use it requires understanding the...
While pollution has always been part of the industrial process, environmental accountability is relatively new. The founding of the Environmental Protection Agency and the introduction of basic measures to standardize emissions and treatment of liq...
In the past, some of the major sources of water pollution have been landfills, underground storage tanks, and untreated effluent. Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA sets industry-specific discharge limitations for water pollutants. Treatment metho...