Properly treating wastewater is an important, but often misunderstood process. If wastewater isn’t treated correctly, it can be extremely harmful to our environment, including the people and animals that live in it.
There are several different elements involved in treating wastewater, including physical treatment that removes particles and debris. However, the chemical treatment of wastewater is especially important.
Let’s take a look at the most important things you should know about chemically treating wastewater — including the most common chemicals and the best practices for storing these chemicals.
Chemicals are essential in treating wastewater. In fact, wastewater treatment requires even more aggressive chemicals than municipal drinking water treatment. So it’s always important to properly and safely store the chemicals that are used in the treatment process.
Poly Processing Company's Chemical Storage Guide for Wastewater Treatment addresses common chemical storage challenges found in wastewater treatment plants and provides sensible storage solutions. In the first section, you’ll find out about the five steps of a wastewater treatment process, as well as the common chemicals involved in each step. In the second section, you’ll learn more about each chemical, along with its appropriate storage considerations.
The chemicals used in wastewater treatment have five important roles.
To remove the solid particles in wastewater, chemicals such as ferric chloride, polymers, and alums are used to produce positive charges. The positive charges neutralize negatively charged solid particles. As a result, the solid particles clump together, making it easier to physically filter out and remove the material.
Since more solids exist in wastewater than municipal water, more chemicals are required for this coagulation process.
Neutralization is the adjustment of the pH levels of water. In wastewater treatment, an acid or a base is added, depending on the pH level of the water being treated. Usually, either sulfuric acid or a base chemical such as sodium hydroxide is added to the water to achieve optimal pH balance.
When industrial wastewater is collected and treated, you get some strong, unpleasant, and harmful odors. These odors need to be treated, as well. Specific chemicals help to control odor at the treatment facility. In addition to activated carbon, wet scrubbers are used to reduce the stench. It’s very common to see sodium hydroxide and calcium nitrate used. Hydrochloric acid is also used in conjunction with media in the scrubbers.
Pathogenic microorganisms thrive in wastewater, making the water dangerous to humans. To prevent the spread of disease, these microorganisms must be destroyed or removed from the wastewater. A common, relatively safe and inexpensive disinfecting chemical is sodium hypochlorite.
At this point, wastewater still contains sludge that needs to be disposed of. A polymer chemical is typically used to remove water from the sludge, which reduces its volume. This makes it easier and less expensive to transport the sludge to the landfill.
The chemicals used in wastewater treatment are extremely hazardous and aggressive. Five of the most frequently used chemicals include:
Chemicals that are used for wastewater need to be stored very carefully so that their quality is not compromised. The key to this process is making sure that the storage solutions are designed based on the specific chemical that will be stored in them.
Poly Processing offers three unparalleled chemical storage solutions for your wastewater treatment application.
Our innovative SAFE-Tank double wall storage and containment system is a “tank within a tank” that offers peace of mind and environmental care. The high density crosslinked polyethylene double-wall system alleviates the need to build large, high-maintenance concrete containment areas. In the event of a spill, the SAFE-Tank’s all-in-one design features a protected containment area that safely isolates reactive chemicals, protects your employees from harm, and protects you from environmental remediation — all within the footprint of a standard vertical tank. Our SAFE-Tanks are available from
55 - 10,500 gallons.
Traditional tank maintenance can be a challenge with many chemicals—so Poly has developed a unique system that helps minimize the hazards associated with traditional vertical tank maintenance.
Poly Processing’s Integrally Molded Flanged Outlet (IMFO) Tank is a homogenous flange system that is molded as part of the tank while it is being manufactured, making it a stress-free part of the tank. The flange is of one piece with the tank, and is created from the same material as the tank — it’s not an insert added during or post-production.
Some companies create tanks out of one substance then, during post-production, insert a metallic flange for drainage and discharge. This practice cuts down on the investment in tooling to make a higher performing tank.
Unfortunately, an inserted metallic flange is common in the tank industry, but there are critical benefits to using a molded full discharge fitting or IMFO. Advantages of the IMFO Tank include:
Our HDXLPE IMFO tanks are available from 200 to 15,500 gallons giving you the widest range of true full discharge tank systems in the industry.
Traditional tank maintenance can be a challenge with many chemicals, so we’ve developed a unique sloped-bottom tank system that greatly minimizes the hazards associated with traditional vertical tank maintenance. With Poly Processing’s Sloped Bottom Integrally Molded Flanged Outlet tank (IMFO Tank) system, the flange is molded while the tank is processing, making it a stress-free part of the tank. The floor of the tank is sloped towards the IMFO, giving you the greatest possible full-discharge system in a vertical tank design.
Our XLPE Sloped Bottom IMFO tanks are available from 3,950 to 15,000 gallons. Take a look at our sloped bottom tank specification page to find the right size for your application.
To learn how to effectively store the most commonly used wastewater chemicals, check out our Wastewater Treatment Tank Guide.