To Fight the Fatbergs, We Have to Rethink How We Treat Sewage Waste

Dishwasher waste, for instance, will be around eight to 15 liters of water containing a variety of chemicals to make your cutlery sparkle and, in this concentrated form, UV or ozone treatment can be used to easily remove 99 percent of them. [...]a typical sewage works may have to identify and remove just a single raindrop’s worth of benzene, a known carcinogen commonly found in laundry detergents, from a tank of toilet waste the size of a swimming pool. Some designs let friendly bacteria breakdown the organic compounds producing methane or hydrogen, while others heat up the waste to extremely high temperatures turning it into a gas that can be used to produce electricity or to cook your dinner.