Question

Read the following statements (1 and 2) regarding the integrated waste water treatment process designed by the residents of Arcata town, situated along the northern coast of California.

Statement 1: Conventional methods are not used during the treatment of wastewater.

Statement 2: The plants, algae and other microorganisms present in the marshland neutralise, absorb and assimilate the pollutants.

• A. Both the statements 1 and 2 are correct
• B. Both the statements 1 and 2 are incorrect
• C. The statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is incorrect
• D. The statement 1 is incorrect and statement 2 is correct

Answer 1

The correct option is D The statement 1 is incorrect and statement 2 is correct

Integrated waste water treatment often involves coupling of both artificial and natural processes to treat wastewater including sewage.

The residents of Arcata town in California, in collaboration with Humboldt University, have created an integrated waste water treatment process within a natural system at Arcata marsh. It is safeguarded by ‘Friends of the Arcata Marsh’ (FOAM).

The cleaning occurs in two stages:

1. Conventional treatment - In the first stage of wastewater treatment, the waste water is subjected to sedimentation (a physical water treatment process using gravity to remove suspended solids from water), filtration (removes particles by filters) and chlorination (disinfection process to kill microbes). However, a lot of dangerous pollutants still persist.
2. Innovative approach - The waste water is allowed to flow through a series of six connected marshes spread over 60 hectares of marshland. The plants, algae and other microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) present in the marshland neutralise, absorb and assimilate the pollutants and the waste water gets purified naturally.

Hence, the statement 1 is incorrect but statement 2 is correct.