Sewage facts for kids

Raw sewage arriving at a sewage treatment plant in Syria

Sewage is the liquid waste produced by us all when using the toilet, having a bath or shower or washing clothes and dishes. In some places it also includes rain-water falling on houses and roads. In big towns and cities it can also have liquid waste from factories in it. It flows in pipes called sewers to be cleaned up at a sewage treatment works.

Sewage is mostly water but it also has many microbes some of which can be harmful. It can have many chemicals in it which can also cause harm to animals and humans.

Images for kids

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  Greywater samples before and after treatment in a constructed wetland in Peru

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  Sewage canal of a medieval house as depicted in 1447 St. Barbara Altarpiece in the National Museum in Warsaw.

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  A medieval waste pipe in Stockholm Old Town formerly deposited sewage on the street to be flushed away by rain.