Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

WATER INFRASTRUCTURE AND WATER USE IN THE UNITED STATES

ROBERT PITT

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

SHIRLEY E. CLARK

Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, Middletown, Pennsylvania

1 OVERVIEW

As reported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [1], as recently as the mid-nineteenth century, drinking water supply and wastewater disposal focused on bringing drinking water to the population and carrying wastewater away, with minimal thought to treatment. Near the beginning of the twentieth century, health concerns started to force communities to address treatment. In 1872, Poughkeepsie, NY, introduced slow sand filtration to reduce turbidity in drinking water, which also removed the microbial contaminants that were responsible for typhoid, dysentery, and cholera epidemics. In 1908, Jersey City, NJ, introduced drinking water disinfection treatment using chlorination to further reduce disease outbreaks associated with drinking water. On the wastewater side, the EPA further pointed out that, if the wastewater received any treatment prior to 1900, it consisted of physically separating solids and floating debris from the water prior to a surface water discharge (e.g. primary treatment only). The nation's first wastewater filtration facility was built in 1907 in Gloversville, NY. In 1916, Chicago, IL, constructed an activated sludge treatment plant (secondary treatment).

The 1972 Clean Water Act required that all publicly owned treatment works provide secondary treatment ...