In the Victorian times, disease outbreaks caused by poor hygiene and wastewater were rife. It was decided that this needed to be addressed and in the large cities like London in particular it was a huge problem. During this time a feat of engineering was undertaken to build the sewers underneath the city and to ensure that wastewater was not getting mixed up with drinking water. This was a great success and soon enough, the whole of the UK had sewers, which massively reduced the illnesses caused by unsanitary water.
Today, this is something that we pretty much take for granted. Nowadays, things like drain surveys and drain lining all play a part in making sure that our waste water and drinking water are dealt with in the correct way – so what actually happens to the water when it leaves our homes down the drains?
Well the first thing is that it heads down the drain and through a waste pipe, which will join onto a larger pipe taking it into a sewer. The sewer network is huge, and the sewers take the water to a water treatment facility.
Once the water arrives at this facility, it will go through a process. Firstly, large objects that have made their way through the system will be removed. Then smaller particles like dust and grit are removed, using a special filter.
Once this has all been removed, the human waste and sludge is removed by putting the water into large tanks where the solid sludge rests at the bottom and can be removed. Once this is done, water is treated in tanks where the harmful bacteria are removed, and water is passed through a final tank to remove the last of the bacteria and can then be taken back to your home.
