What goes down the drain...

As a human being it is required for us to eat, sleep and go to the washroom. These are the things we can't but do. What goes down the drain eventually reaches a water treatment facility and as the water gets treated biosolids are produced. “Biosolids” is another term for treated sludge which is made of the many things that go down our drains. Biosolids are the byproduct of domestic and commercial sewage and waste water treatment. Biosolids recycling, didn't exist until 1978, most treated biosolids were either wasted, dumped in the ocean, or sent to land fills.

If you didn't know, biosolids have a wide variety of use and it would be a waste if we we're to just throw it away. If treated properly biosolids could be used as compost for landscaping, as fertilizer which would save farmers thousands of dollars while increasing crop production and improving the quality of soil. Biosolids beneficial use can be an economically feasible form of recycling. So how are biosolids created?


How sewage water is processed

Biosolids are created through the treatment of domestic waste water generated from sewage treatment facilities. Waste water treatment facilities monitor incoming waste water streams to ensure their recyclability and compatibility with thee treatment plant process. Once the waste water reaches the plant, the sewage goes through physical, chemical and biological processes which clean the waste water and remove the solids. If necessary, the solids are then treated with lime to raise the pH level to eliminate objectionable odours. The waste water treatment processes sanitize waste water solids to control pathogens (disease-causing organisms, such as certain bacteria, viruses and parasites and other organisms capable of transporting disease. So are biosolids safe?

The National Academy of Sciences has reviewed current practices, public health concerns and regulator standards, and has concluded that “the use of these materials in the production of crops for human consumption when practiced in accordance with existing federal guidelines and regulations, presents negligible risk to the consumer, to crop production and to the environment. So what are the pros and cons of biosolids?



The pros of biosolids is that it create jobs, it is a cost effective method of disposal, recycles versus filling landfills, promotes farming, reduces emissions from transportation to landfills, good free fertilizer, good free fertilizer, and land reclamation. The cons of biosolids is the potential health hazard, effects irreversible, contamination resulting from accumulation of industrial waste, its true composition is unknown, may contain hazardous chemicals, possibly transferable to crops, decreases property value, not sufficiently regulated, and odor. The greatest concerns are heavy metal accumulation, long-term effects to land and to health of people and animals, is it transferable to food/water and once it is applied, it is irreversible. The alternatives to biosolids are to burn it and stick it in a landfill.

Despite all the pros, cons and alternatives. Humans are greatly influenced by the western view that biosolids are a nuisance, like we are easily influenced in believing many other things. Biosolids provide us a great alternative to burn many resources that can easily be utilize. Though it may seem disgusting... it is definitely more disgusting to burn or dump our waste wherever or whenever we want.

References:
http://www.biosolids.org/docs/source/uses.pdf
http://www.sencer.net/Outreach/pdfs/DCSymposium08/Posters/LUbiosolids.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosolids

The Things I do to get Healthy...

During this modern age of man it is very easy to get carried away with all our luxuries and indulge in things harmful to our body. Lack of exercise, constant digestion of oil foods, and inhalation of harmful substances. If we are what we eat and what we breathe and what we do, then what we are is only as good as our digestion and respiratory system and circulatory system. When goes into us and what we do affects our entire being and lifestyle. It could be mild nausea, asthma attack or obesity but either way it is impossible for us to ignore. What we feel on the outside does not show what is happening on the inside. If conditions persist it can eventually threaten our very lives. Society has made many scientific and technological strides related to our internal systems.

Eating food, there is no guarantee that there is no type of virus within it and eating so much oily foods our digestive system was never meant to handle will only make things worse. A digestive problem that has plagued humans for as long as we can remember, diarrhea, has never been something we could simply ignored. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Although diarrhea normally subsides within 2-3 days, it is the common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The most common cause of acute diarrhea is infection; viral, bacterial, and parasitic. Only within the last 50 years have we been able to find some sort of treatment such as Oral rehydration salts and zinc tablets; saving over 50 million children. The importance of technology for a simple has saved the lives of over 5 million people.


How diarrhea can be contracted

Asthma rates among children in the world are substantially higher than they were 20 years ago. Many scientists link this cause between the pollutants and the disease of the airways. Carbon dioxide has been rising since the time of James Watt, inventor of the auto-controlled steam engine which helped jump-start the industrial revolution. Asthma affects a total of 300 million worldwide and society has done many things to develop more advanced treatments. An inhaler is a short-term treatment for asthma created, as it provides patients with an exact amount of medicine each puff.



Societies need to lead a healthy and active lifestyle has made many strides scientifically and technologically. With so many luxuries, sometimes we tend to get carried away and our body begins to diminish. Sometimes because of these luxuries new diseases are formed. In order to make our lifes more fit we have made many great strides to help us!

Bibliography...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarrhea
http://www.medicinenet.com/diarrhea/article.htm
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/01/27/asthma-report060127.html