Guy McGowen - Simply put the quality of the final effluent will be governed by local environmental factors, the environmental regulatory in that area and/or the end user.  Certainly in Scotland the use of chlorine to disinfect is not allowed, but in other areas of the world it is still a standard practice.  As for producing potable water standard, this will be determined by the end user.  In the vast majority of cases it will be an industrial end user.  One problem of using this as potable water is the apprehension of users to drink water that has originated from a sewage treatment plant, irrespective of it meeting potable water standards. In general providing potable water from the back end of wastewater plants is unusual in the vast majority of plants around the world.  Whilst this may sound like the best re-use of the effluent, (particularly where water scarcity is a problem) the cost of treating to this standard (at every plant) is extremely prohibitive.  The only routine place I can think this happens (on a large scale) is the NEW Water produced in Singapore.  As with ending "dumping" in rivers and oceans, the local regulatory will detail a standard to ensure the minimal environmental impact as determined by the local receiving water course. What modern technology will deliver is better ways of treating wastewater in a more efficient manner and at a reduced impact, be it in lower energy, less sludge or less maintenance.  This is certainly the focus at Wastewater Wizard Ltd., where our passive vermifiltration technology treats wastewater to a high standard, produces no sludge and requires only basic maintenance.

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Guy McGowen - Simply put the quality of the final effluent will be governed by local environmental factors, the environmental regulatory in that area and/or the end user.  Certainly in Scotland the use of chlorine to disinfect is not allowed, but in other areas of the world it is still a standard practice.  As for producing potable water standard, this will be determined by the end user.  In the vast majority of cases it will be an industrial end user.  One problem of using this as potable water is the apprehension of users to drink water that has originated from a sewage treatment plant, irrespective of it meeting potable water standards.

In general providing potable water from the back end of wastewater plants is unusual in the vast majority of plants around the world.  Whilst this may sound like the best re-use of the effluent, (particularly where water scarcity is a problem) the cost of treating to this standard (at every plant) is extremely prohibitive.  The only routine place I can think this happens (on a large scale) is the NEW Water produced in Singapore.  As with ending "dumping" in rivers and oceans, the local regulatory will detail a standard to ensure the minimal environmental impact as determined by the local receiving water course.

What modern technology will deliver is better ways of treating wastewater in a more efficient manner and at a reduced impact, be it in lower energy, less sludge or less maintenance.  This is certainly the focus at Wastewater Wizard Ltd., where our passive vermifiltration technology treats wastewater to a high standard, produces no sludge and requires only basic maintenance.