One of my duties as mechanical engineer is to look after the water treatment plant at SANAE. As all the signees of the Antarctic treaty committed themselves in keeping this continent pristine, we need to ensure the effluent water running from the base is within certain specifications. Despite the immediate impression of grossness with the idea of working with waste water, I think having something that needs routine attention is probably very good for my mental health. In this space-like world, which currently is also mostly dark, days can sometimes merge into each other and things that are sometimes taken for granted, like a sleeping pattern, can start taking a beating.
What I find interesting is the fact that the treatment of waste water is mostly a natural process and our interference with the process is mostly only to create a more ideal environment for the bugs to do their work. We routinely add enzymes to help with the break up of fats; also some lime to keep the pH favourable for the bugs. The temperature is also kept as high as possible, if I remember correctly the bugs reproduce twice as fast at 34 degrees than at 20.
Once a month a detailed analysis of the water from various stages in the process is performed. For this I need to spend a day in the lab. As I do not have the specialist knowledge to interpret this data, it is forwarded to Cape Town for recommendations, if needed.
You have probably picked up that I have not drowned myself in technical books on this topic as I do not consider waste water handling to be a long term career choice; but sometimes to see something beautiful you need to put up with a little.... "waste".
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