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:
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...
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...
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...
WWTP Meaning: Beneficial bacteria used in the wastewater treatment process.
Not this...
WWTP Meaning: Clarification is the process of settling solids out of a fluid.
As opposed to explaining or clarifying an obscure issue or concept...
WWTP Meaning: Dried sludge or water treatment residuals.
The absolute opposite of this...
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...