ABSTRACT
In the early 1800s, the United States was a sparsely populated, underdeveloped country. Human waste was generally disposed of by either pit privies or open drainage ditches. By 1948 wastewater treatment plants served some 45 million Americans out of a total population of 145 million. In 1956 Congress enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which established the construction grants program. Many technological advances have been achieved in the wastewater treatment field as a result of concepts and policies promulgated by environmental laws and guidelines. New directions and concerns are evident in several interrelated areas of wastewater treatment fields: health and environmental concerns, improvement in treatment processes, control and treatment of stormwater and combined sewer overflows, effluent disposal and reuse, biosolids disposal and reuse, and on-site treatment and disposal of small flows. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
