Wastewater treatment begins, essentially, as soon as the toilet is flushed, or, whenever something goes down the drain.  The following pictures, with explanations, describe what is initially done to the wastewater before it continues its journey through the rest of the WWTP.
 

When the wastewater first enters the plant, large debris like trash, sticks, rags, and things inadvertently flushed down the toilet (such as children’s toys), are removed from the water.  This step is very important because large pieces of debris will wreak havoc on the plant's pumps.
A human brain  was even extracted from the water once, yikes!  This process is termed grit removal, and the debris is placed in plastic bags and eventually taken to a landfill.
 

As you may have guessed from the above pictures, at this stage, the wastewater has a very strong odor.  However, as the process goes on, we find that the odor improves significantly.
 

Flume

After leaving grit removal, now grit-free, the water passes through a flume, where the amount of water entering the plant is measured by a flow meter.
 
 

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