Wastewater treatment is one of the key concerns that need to be taken into consideration. Currently, wastewater treatment companies in UAE systems rely on open sewers, where pollutants that need to be filtered are deposited. This results in contaminants entering the sewage system throughout their journey from rivers, lakes, or oceans. Wastewater is a potential source of pollution and it is also one of the most expensive ways by which we generate energy. Since water sources have always been our main means of producing useful energy, it is important to ensure that as much of this precious resource as possible is used and disposed of without sacrificing it.

In order to avoid wasting valuable freshwater resources, there should be a better way for waste management systems to meet all their requirements. There are several types of wastewater treatment:

Wastewater disinfection

A number of countries around the world have introduced a more advanced type of treated wastewater treatment, called disinfection to cater to these emerging industries such as food production and pharmaceuticals. A common feature of disinfection is the use of ultraviolet lamps (UV) which kill organisms such as bacteria and viruses to protect the public and create new sanitary conditions for human health (Abbas et al., 2016). Some examples of disinfection include; swimming pools, hospitals, laboratories, and restaurants (Dwyer & Loury, 2013). UV lamps can be found in many parts of Dubai and other major areas in the United Arab Emirates. These lamps offer protection to the environment and are highly effective due to their ability to destroy unwanted microorganisms (Dwyer & Loury, 2013). Despite using this method, it may not be applicable for residential and small business applications because it will cause adverse effects on nearby vegetation especially since they require no additional lighting (Abbas et al., 2016). Furthermore, disinfection can pose great challenges to businesses that do not have enough space for infrastructure. On the other hand, some manufacturers might opt to adopt another method of treating wastewater such as percolating in underground tanks. However, the risk is high because underground tanks cannot filter out bacteria that builds up over time as they undergo cleaning (Abbas et al., 2016). Although Percolation in underground tanks is very attractive compared to other methods of wastewater treatments, there is still a lack of scientific evidence about effectiveness in regard to wastewater treatment. Furthermore, it can be difficult to implement percolation in large-scale systems because of the need to monitor and control the process. Hence, companies such as Triton Water Services offer quality full-service solutions to provide the best available level of treated water to customers at affordable prices (Triton Water Services, 2018).

Water filtering

When dealing with sewer flows, oftentimes there is the presence of solid and dissolved contaminants. Therefore, it is a must for the public to understand what could be present in their wastewater. Solid contaminants could be chemicals, metals, or even plastics in small quantities. Large quantities of such substances can lead to serious problems when it comes to drinking water and sanitation issues. This problem was addressed through the introduction of filters to help remove these contaminants from municipal and industrial wastewater.

While this method is extremely successful when dealing with certain substances, it does not offer practical solutions for smaller amounts of non-absorbable substances that are present in the city’s sewer system. This is mainly due to the fact that larger-sized particles do not have enough strength to get filtered out completely (Abbas et al., 2016) but the smaller particles tend to clump together and form bigger particles that have greater resistance to filtration (Abbas et al., 2016). To overcome this challenge, different kinds of filters can be developed that target each layer of the water. One of the most popular filters is the activated carbon filter. The activated carbon filter is currently being researched heavily for its efficacy in removing both particulate matter and suspended solids. For example, one study revealed that the amount of SOD removed by activated carbon filtration was 90% when comparing it to conventional filters (Santora et al., 2014).

Electrolyzed/distilled water

Another type of water purification method is known as electrolysis, which involves the separation of water through electrolysis. In the case of distilled water, chlorine, which is a compound used to treat wastewater, dissociates with hydroxides and hydrogen ions. The hydrogen ion is important as one can deactivate it while leaving hydroxide. With chlorine, hydroxide and hydrophilic molecules become covalently bonded together as a whole, making them soluble in hydrogen (Santora et al., 2014). Due to the presence of hydrogen ions, water molecules are separated from contaminants that are not biofilms. Dechlorination, however, allows chlorine to combine with hydroxide and hydrogen to produce chlorine monoxide, which is then purified through distillation, with minimal loss of molecular structure (Santora et al., 2014). Distillers that are widely used to get rid of chlorine and bicarbonate systems are commonly referred to as evaporative systems. They contain water-sensitive salts that make the water to evaporate. Consequently, this leads to water and air to condense which is now ready to flow like natural gas. To dehalogenase water, two forms of distillers, either evaporation or precipitation, happen. Evaporative distillers are used solely when getting rid of chlorine and bicarbonate while precipitation distillers, when used to clean water, are mostly applied to water. When working with water, it is important to use pure water from a well, for this reason, it is vital to work within the state-of-the-art purification system to get rid of contaminants in your water. This system can only be accessed by water that is at least 1,000 meters down, however, it is advisable to work towards the next 1-kilometer distance to improve a person’s breathing ability or increase the length of their breath (Santora et al., 2014).

Chemical cleaning

Chemical cleaning is one of the most innovative methods to deal with wastewater because it uses chemical compounds as the means of purifying contaminated waters, although it is also quite dangerous when the pollutants are in larger quantities. Chemical cleaning is known to be quite fast and easy, but it can be hazardous and sometimes even fatal (Wong et al., 2011). Because of this, it should be avoided whenever possible. However, when choosing chemical cleaning, it is important to remember that it depends on the quantity and type of chemical compound you choose and how long it will take to go from the point of entry of the water to the mouth and lungs of the user (Wong et al., 2011). Another factor to consider when selecting a suitable technology is the cost of the service. Most of the technologies require a significant investment in terms of money and installation costs. It is therefore recommended to check if chemical cleaning meets the required standard before deciding to take advantage of it. If so, it is usually suggested to try chemical cleaning first before making any final decision. Nevertheless, although chemical cleaning may be easier than biological purification, there is still no scientific proof that it works in treating pollution and is also safer than biological purification (Wang & Wirman, 2014).

Biotechnology and genetic engineering

There is no doubt that environmental conservation is becoming increasingly important, thus the introduction of biotechnology and genetic engineering in wastewater treatment has been welcomed since a couple of decades now (Buckling, 2015). Bioscience and genetic engineering is one of the fastest developing fields today because of the speed at which science and technology progress. Biotechnology deals with life sciences while gene engineering and genetic testing deal with medicine (Crocker, 2017). Researchers believe that bioscience is here to stay, so it is necessary to invest in technologies that will benefit humanity the most. While researchers are focusing on finding solutions towards wastewater management, they have already started looking into ways to deal with water pollution by altering the genes of bacteria and animals. Scientists are focused on understanding the effects of genes and proteins in wastewater to identify a solution to tackle these issues and help solve society’s pressing challenges (Crocker, 2017). Genes have been shown to play important roles in regulating the survival and growth of cells in human bodies and also in the regulation of metabolism and detoxification. Gene editing and DNA research are rapidly progressing in the field of wastewater purification, even though there are a few major obstacles that need to be overcome and tackled. Among the most prominent hurdles is the development of accurate tools that will allow scientists to edit cells at will within minutes and will aid in faster and more effective biomedical applications (Crocker, 2017). Moreover, scientists have yet to find anything with genetic editing in humans that will affect living organisms adversely like the mutation of the bacterium causing superbugs in humans, despite having the same goal as genetic engineering. Although gene editing is being looked upon as an appealing concept at the moment, scientists still need to develop accurate models of cell processes that will eventually aid in the design of new drugs and therapies to treat diseases.

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