Anyone who has ever been around a septic tank that was not working properly or had a toilet back up knows that raw sewage smells terrible. It is an odor that can be very difficult to get rid of, especially once it has permeated your basement or bathroom floor. If odor was the only problem presented by raw sewage, most of us would probably just learn to adjust as our ancestral city dwellers had to do. However, the real problem with raw sewage is the fact that it carries harmful bacteria and other disease causing factors. It also attracts flies and other insects that have the potential of bringing diseases of their own. To keep sewage from building up and causing health problems all areas with a significant population have sewage systems.

A functional sewage system is a necessary part of modern life

Although homes located in rural areas may successfully deal with their wastewater with a septic tank, towns and cities have far too many people in them for this to be an effective way for them to deal with their sewage. Instead, every area where a large number of homes are located in a small area, as is the case in every city and suburb, must have a sewage system to deal with the large amounts of wastewater that is generated. A sewage system is usually comprised of a series of pipes that collect wastewater and funnel it into a sewage treatment plant.

Sewage treatment makes the dirty clean again

Sewage treatment plants process raw sewage to make it safe to return to the environment. Most often this is accomplished by running the wastewater through a series of filters and tanks. In the early stages, the wastewater is collected in large tanks and bacteria are added to break down the solids and neutralize any chemicals. Once this is done, any remaining solids are filtered out and the remaining liquid is treated with chlorine to kill any remaining bacteria. Then the water is tested to ensure that it is safe and returned to the environment.

Potential sewage problems

Most sewage systems do their job of removing wastewater from a populated area and taking it to the sewage treatment plant very effectively. Sometimes sewage problems do arise and these can result in very dangerous situations. Most often sewage problems are caused by flooding of the sewage treatment plant. Because gravity is used to move most wastewater through a sewer system, most sewage treatment plants are located in low lying areas. This may make them prone to flooding. If this happens not only will the surrounding area be polluted with raw sewage but the pipes leading to the sewage treatment plant may become blocked with the rising water. Any sewage that can not flow through the pipes will back up leading to the possibility of it backing up into homes. Another potential problem is a sewage pipe that leaks. This also allow raw sewage to enter the environment and unfortunately these leaks often go unnoticed for quite some time.

Except for these occasional problems, most sewage systems quietly and effectively go about the business of removing raw sewage from population areas. If you have never had to think about what happens to wastewater once it leaves your home, then your sewage system is doing its job.

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