10 Free Online Wastewater Treatment Courses

Free online wastewater treatment courses have been made available to prepare individuals who want to address the issue of wastewater but have no adequate resources. Hence this article is up for you to explore.

Water plays a very significant role in everyone’s life. It is essential not only for living things but also for non-living things in the environment.

Our industries, homes, commercial places, etc consume tons of water every day for production and other processes and as such release this water as waste to the environment, and this is generally known as wastewater.

Have you ever wondered what happens to the release of domestic or heavy industry sewage? Mostly, it goes to the surroundings and nearby water bodies thereby contaminating the environment or the water bodies, because this released wastewater contains a large amount of harmful chemicals in it. But, such water can be reused after treatment.   

There are so many industrial water treatment plants out there that help the industry reuse wastewater after treatment and this can be put to use when you have adequate knowledge on how to manipulate the treatment plants.

So, through this article, we will discuss free online wastewater treatment courses that can get you equipped to salvage tons of thousands of liters of water that are wasted daily even when you don’t have the resources.

Free Online Wastewater Treatment Courses

Benefits of Proper Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater treatment is an important aspect of industry operations, especially with its aim to protect the health of various ecosystems.

Properly treated wastewater can be a reliable water source for many purposes. Good wastewater treatment maximizes the reusing of water for sustainability and nature preservation.  Therefore, briefly discussed below are some benefits of proper wastewater treatment.

  • Cleaner Water Means a Healthier Body
  • Environmental Sustainability and Protection
  • Provides Clean and Safe Processed Water 
  • Protection and Conservation of Water Bodies
  • Increase Resource Recovery
  • Prevent Water Pollution
  • Preserving of Public Health
  • Reduces Waste

1. Cleaner Water Means a Healthier Body

The human body absorbs all forms of pathogens and bacteria by exposure to contaminated water by drinking. This depends on where you live and what your municipal water source is, the water you drink might not be as healthy to consume as you think.

Water treatment systems remove more than 2,100 kinds of toxins, microorganisms, and excessive chlorine from your tap water. These contaminants can have harmful effects on your body.

For example, drinking lead-contaminated water can cause influenza-like symptoms, intellectual disabilities, and negative prenatal effects, consuming large amounts of chlorine can lead to rectal, colon, and bladder cancers.

When water is filtered it also removes bacteria such as giardia and cryptosporidium, which cause major gastrointestinal illness.

Therefore, properly treated water will always to a large extent gives one a healthier body as well build your immune system against diseases.

2. Environmental Sustainability and Protection

Wastewater contains a lot of waste materials including chemical components. For example, water discharged from the industrial sector contains harmful chemicals which can be fatal to leave it wide open out in the environment.

Properly treating wastewater aligns with the principles of environmental sustainability. This helps to reduce pollution of natural water bodies, protects ecosystems, and contributes to general water resources conservation and protection.

Wastewater treatment is an integral part of a sustainable approach to managing and preserving water for future generations.  Also, throwing away wastewater without treatment is harmful to nature.

So, if there is any water that cannot be used for consumption even after treatment, should be treated so that it will not be harmful to the environment.

3. Provides Clean and Safe Processed Water 

Water is a renewable resource. But it takes a long time for rain and evaporation to eliminate toxins. So, wastewater treatment is a practical solution to make the process faster, providing safe and crystal-clear reusable water.

Toxins in wastewater are removed during the process to produce clean and safe water. Treating wastewater through an industrial water plant can provide clean water to reuse.

Wastewater can be reused and reusable water help save money and save the earth as well as provide purified water for human consumption if required.

4. Protection and Conservation of Water Bodies

The process of treating water removes pollutants and contaminants from wastewater before it is discharged into rivers, lakes, or oceans.

By treating wastewater, the harmful substances, such as chemicals, pathogens, and nutrients, are significantly reduced, minimizing the negative impact on aquatic ecosystems and protecting water quality.  

Furthermore, in regions experiencing water scarcity, problems, or drought, wastewater treatment plays a vital role in the presence of water in such regions. Treated wastewater can be reused for various purposes like irrigation, industrial processes, and even replenishing groundwater reserves.

By utilizing treated wastewater, the demand for freshwater resources is reduced, easing pressure on existing water supplies.

5. Increase Resource Recovery

Wastewater treatment facilities have processes that allow for the recovery of valuable resources from wastewater. For example, organic matter in wastewater can be converted into biogas through anaerobic digestion, which can be used as an energy source.

Additionally, scraps from ingredients, fines left from steel, and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus can be extracted and utilized as fertilizers in agriculture and other residual materials that would otherwise be put to waste.

6. Prevent Water Pollution

With wastewater treatment systems water pollution can be prevented. Insufficient treatment causes fecal sludge and other forms of water pollution that contaminate the water bodies and in turn, spread diseases and drive antimicrobial resistance.

7. Preserving Public Health

Untreated wastewater can contain disease-causing microorganisms (pathogens) that pose a risk to public health. Metal contaminants, like lead, stay on the road surface and are not washed off by rainwater but conventional wastewater treatment removes some of the contaminants.

However, it can’t lower or remove the salt concentration. So, dust suppression is an important step in wastewater treatment.

Therefore, wastewater treatment processes such as disinfection and filtration remove these harmful agents or cause them to be inactive, thereby reducing the transmission of waterborne disease and ensuring the safety of drinking water sources.

8. Reduces Waste

Implementing an industrial wastewater treatment system helps to reduce waste in your facility and the environment.

It helps you save money and ensures chemically-treated water is cleansed and removed in a safe and environmentally friendly manner

10 Free Online Wastewater Treatment Courses

Are you considering on taken up wastewater courses but you don’t have the financial strength? Here are some lessons you can take online without paying.

  • Advanced Wastewater Treatment
  • Wastewater Treatment and Recycling for a Sustainable Future
  • Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse
  • Wastewater Treatment Process Modeling and Optimization
  • Activated Sludge Fundamentals
  • Wastewater Treatment Systems
  • Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals
  • Water Treatment and Purification
  • Urban Sewage Treatment
  • Water and Wastewater Treatment

1.  Advanced Wastewater Treatment

This course delves into advanced wastewater treatment processes and technologies, including membrane filtration and nutrient removal such as phosphorus and nitrogen and a high percentage of suspended solids.  

It is the process that reduces the level of impurities in wastewater below the attainable through conventional physicochemical or biological treatment or a combination of the two.

Advanced wastewater treatment is essential to the recovery of water resources, for both potable and non-potable uses as the global struggles with diminishing water supplies.

You can undertake this course from this website.

2. Wastewater Treatment and Recycling for a Sustainable Future

Sustainability has various definitions, but generally, it involves balancing today’s resource needs with those of the future to support humanity and the ecosystems upon which we depend.

This course discusses sustainable wastewater treatment and recycling practices, focusing on the significant influence of wastewater treatment on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and targets worldwide.

This course can be found on the NPTEL website.

3. Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse

Water reuse also known as water recycling or water reclamation, is the reclaiming of water from various sources then treating the water and reusing it for beneficial purposes such as agriculture and irrigation, potable water supplies, groundwater replenishment, industrial processes, and environmental restoration.

Water reuse can provide alternatives to existing water supplies and be used to improve water security, resilience, and sustainability. According to (UNESCO, 2017) 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused.

Hence, this course explores various aspects of wastewater treatment and water reuse, including technologies, regulations, and case studies from around the world.

You can have access to this course at the UN-Water Virtual Learning Centre website

4. Wastewater Treatment Process Modeling and Optimization

The modeling and optimization of wastewater treatment processes facilitate in predicting the behavior of wastewater treatment processes, the fluctuations in influent concentrations, flow rate, and concentration of pollutants without disturbing the whole system. 

This course focuses on mathematical modeling and optimization techniques for wastewater treatment processes. The course is posed with three main challenges.

The first one relates to the data, as wastewater treatment includes physical, chemical, and biological processes and instruments collecting large amounts of data many variables in the dataset are strongly put together, making the data incomplete and uncertain.

Therefore, several pre-processing algorithms should be used to pre-process the data, reduce its dimension and determine import variables. The second issue is in the temporal nature of the data, while lastly is the optimization of the process models.

As the models are usually highly non-linear and dynamic, novel evolutionary computational algorithms are used.

This course is available online on Stanford University’s website.

5. Activated Sludge Fundamentals

This course focuses on the theory and operation of activated sludge processes, a commonly used method in wastewater treatment. This process of activated sludge involves the treating of sewage or industrial wastewater using aeration and a biological floc composed of bacteria and protozoa.

It makes use of air (oxygen) and micro-organisms to biologically oxidize organic pollutants, producing a waste sludge (floc) containing the oxidized material. In Activated Sludge a multi-chamber reactor unit is used for the microorganisms to degrade organics and remove nutrients from wastewater.

This course can be accessed on the edX website.

6. Wastewater Treatment Systems

A wastewater treatment system is a system made up of different individual technologies that address your specific wastewater treatment needs.

This course covers the design and operation of wastewater treatment systems, including preliminary treatment, primary and secondary treatment, and sludge handling.  

A well-designed and efficient wastewater treatment system is meant to handle the following:

  • Process variations in contamination and flow.
  • Possible changes in water effluent requirements.
  • Variations in water chemistry needs and required chemical volumes adjustments.

Website

7. Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals

This course provides a comprehensive overview of wastewater treatment processes and fundamentals. This free online course examines water treatment technologies and their applications, such as producing usable water from wastewater.

The course covers the theories and principles involved in wastewater treatment. Topics include wastewater treatment units, treatment systems, and processes, reuse criteria, and recycling. This course will be of interest to those studying engineering or environmental-related subjects.

You can visit this site to access the course

8. Water Treatment and Purification

Water Treatment and Purification is a free Online wastewater treatment Course available in Alison’s online classes and tutorials. The course breaks down each step of water purification, including neutralization and the flotation and reduction processes.

We study water’s inorganic substances and conduct a chemical analysis of major and minor ions. We explain how to control the health impacts of volatile organic compounds and synthetic organic compounds.

The course then moves on to metalloids, the effects of heavy metals, and the pollution control measures used to mitigate them. Finally, we explain how to implement a chemical hygiene plan and employ effective safety measures in the laboratory.

The importance of safe drinking water in promoting health cannot be overstated. Chemical contamination has been identified as one of the most significant water pollutants and poses a serious health risk. This course explains water purification processes by exploring the chemistry and treatment principles that drive them.

It also identifies the conditions that water must meet before it can be safely drunk. Sign up to improve your understanding of the chemistry of water and the treatment and purification process that makes it safe for human consumption. These principles are crucial in civil engineering efforts to protect our most precious natural resources.

You can access to this course here.

9. Urban Sewage Treatment

This course focuses on basic technologies for the treatment of urban sewage. Unit processes involved in the treatment chain will be described as well as the physical, chemical, and biological processes involved.

There is an emphasis on water quality and the functionality of each unit process within the treatment chain. By the end of the course, one should be able to recognize the process units, describe their function and make simple design calculations on urban sewage treatment plants.

The course consists of 6 modules:

  • Sewage treatment plant overview. In this module, you will learn what major pollutants are present in sewage and why we need to treat sewage before discharge to surface waters. The functional units will be briefly discussed.
  • Primary treatment. In this module, you learn how coarse material, sand & grit are removed from the sewage and how to design primary clarification tanks.
  • Biological treatment. In this module, you learn the basics of the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous cycle and how biological processes are used to treat the main pollutants of concern.
  • Activated sludge process. In this module, you learn the design principles of conventional activated sludge processes including the secondary clarifiers and aeration demand of aeration tanks.
  • Nitrogen and phosphorus removal. In this module, you learn the principles of biological nitrogen removal as well as phosphorus removal by biological and/or chemical means.
  • Sludge treatment. In this module, you will the design principles of sludge thickeners, digesters, and dewatering facilities for the concentration and stabilization of excess sewage sludge.

This course in combination with the courses “Introduction to Water and Climate” and “Introduction to Drinking Water Treatment” forms the Water XSeries, by DelftX.

You can access this course here.

10. Water and Wastewater Treatment

The wastewater part of the syllabus is covered from the headwork to the final Disinfection and Disinfectant removal, their design is also considered in detail. The water treatment portion covers the nitty-gritty of treatment and the relevant aspects post-treatment like residual removal. This course will allow the student to clear basics and concepts for further in-depth learning.

You can access this course here.

Conclusion

Wastewater treatment is highly beneficial in manufacturing companies and other industrial businesses. Aside from preserving water and avoiding water pollution, wastewater treatment boost productivity avoids equipment damage, and promotes efficient operations.

One crucial factor to remember is that this article has served as an answer to your question on how you can go about your passion for treating wastewater. All you have to do is to log in to their website and access any course of your choice as discussed above.

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Environmental Consultant at Environment Go! | + posts

Ahamefula Ascension is a Real Estate Consultant, Data Analyst, and Content writer. He is the founder of Hope Ablaze Foundation and a Graduate of Environmental Management in one of the prestigious colleges in the country. He is obsessed with Reading, Research and Writing.

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