900,000,000 illnesses and 2,000,000 children die per year because of contaminated water just recorded in the USA alone*. The numbers exponentially increase for underserved areas and nations without adequate or nonexistent wastewater treatment plants. The same circumstances may also exist in some US communities and the same answers can provide protection.

Everyone believes there is no chance of wastewater treatment plant problems in the US, but you can’t take water for granted anymore. Since safety is in question in the United States, what about rural and out of the way areas, island nations and disaster zones across the globe?

Wastewater treatment plants play a crucial and important role in maintaining the world’s health. Malfunctioning or undersized wastewater treatment plants allow bacteria to live in what is considered "safe" water. In fact, waterborne [diseases|illnesses} like Cholera can kill you in a matter of hours.

The answer is simple, yet sophisticated because all you have to do is segregate the wastewater from the clean water supply, render the wastewater drinkable through proven processes and then [allow|place|put} the cleaned water back into the system. The complexity is planning and money.

[Poor|Impoverished} regions don’t necessarily have the resources required to plan, fund, build and maintain adequate wastewater treatment plants. [Another concern|Another area of concern} is the rural or remote areas of industrialized nations, where an increase in population can overwhelm their current wastewater systems.

The third common area of concern is disaster zones. Wastewater treatment plants may or may not have been in service in these areas, but with a break in the normal provision of water and sanitation there can easily be a rapid insurgence of waterborne diseases.

In disasters there are often emergency management plans put into effect. There are often opportunities to improve temporary or portable water purification systems; however, wastewater treatment plants may take days to reestablish their effective operation. Disaster planning is essential for a proper wastewater treatment plant.

Funding is always an issue with any infrastructure project or even planning for disasters, but no matter what your concern may be, planning is where you begin to understand the [entire scope|scope} of your problem. You will need to understand the [construction costs|cost of construction} vs. the cost of maintaining the status quo; you will need to understand the capacity that you have and how your planned future will be impacted by a wastewater treatment plant; you will have to understand the economic impact of your locality for not having the capacity for the entire community and industry; and, you will need a time line, funding requirements, operational funding, training and maintenance requirements of the proper wastewater treatment plant that you require.

Your concerns regarding Cholera and other deadly waterborne diseases can be reduced by beginning a dialogue with the proper people who specialize in these areas. A wastewater treatment plant can make the difference between life and death – anywhere in the world.

*Catherine Taylor and Joseph Yahner, Agronomy, Don Jones, Agricultural Engineering, Purdue University and Alan Dunn, Indiana State Department of Health.