We surveyed Wessler employees to find everyday words that have a totally different meaning in the world of wastewater treatment plant operators (and the engineers who work with them).
Here are their top picks:
1. Slug
WWTP Meaning: Usually used in terms of a “slug discharge” into a municipal wastewater system. It is defined by the federal code of regulations. A slug discharge is any discharge including an accidental spill which has a potential to cause interference or pass through of a publicly owned treatment works. A wastewater treatment operator may talk about how a “slug” caused an upset at their wastewater plant.
Not this...
2. Tank
WWTP Meaning: The "tank" we think of when we hear this word is an elevated water tank or a wastewater treatment process tank.
Not this...
3. Agitator
WWTP Meaning: An agitator is a machine that mixes fluids so that there is uniform distribution from top to bottom of the basin.
Not this...
4. Bugs
WWTP Meaning: Beneficial bacteria used in the wastewater treatment process.
Not this...
5. Clarification
WWTP Meaning: Clarification is the process of settling solids out of a fluid.
As opposed to explaining or clarifying an obscure issue or concept...
6. Cake
WWTP Meaning: Dried sludge or water treatment residuals.
The absolute opposite of this...
7. Digestion
WWTP Meaning: The breakdown of waste using biological processes in a treatment plant. This is what the previously mentioned "bugs" are busy doing.
Which is kind of similar to this...
What other jargon words do you use in wastewater treatment plants that have a totally different meaning? Share your contributions in the comments below.
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