Wastewater Treatment: A Role for Chemical Engineers In Meeting Emerging Challenges

It has been well over 100 years since the advent of the modern wastewater treatment process was developed. In this time, large scale, energy intensive infrastructure has become the norm in developed countries. Although current technology can meet the needs of removing carbon and some nutrients, new challenges have emerged in recent years that require innovative designs to meet the needs for sustainable wastewater treatment in the future. This talk will focus on the most commonly used unit operations in the so-called secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment processes. An overview of the new challenges facing wastewater treatment will be presented. These include the need to reduce the energy demand for a more sustainable process, the need for advanced separation and treatment processes to deal with low concentration “emerging pollutants” such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and endocrine disrupting compounds; and the need to more efficiently remove nutrients. Opportunities for chemical engineers to meet these challenges will be highlighted.