wastewater

wastewater — noun

1. water that people have used in homes, offices, factories, or farms and now conta

1.nounB2
Definition

water that people have used in homes, offices, factories, or farms and now contains dirt, chemicals, or other harmful substances that must be cleaned out before it goes back into rivers or the ground.

Example

The new treatment plant can clean up to 50 million litres of wastewater every day.

quantity collocation: millions of litres of wastewater

Rania's science project showed how wastewater from local factories was harming the river.

Common collocations
  • treat wastewater
  • discharge wastewater
  • wastewater treatment plant
Synonyms
  • sewage

    more specific term, refers to waste water from toilets and household drains; wastewater is the broader term

  • effluent

    more formal or technical, often used for liquid waste discharged from industrial processes after treatment

Antonyms
  • freshwater

    natural, unpolluted water found in rivers, lakes, and streams

Usage Note

Wastewater is an uncountable noun — it has no plural form. Use phrases like 'a large volume of wastewater' or 'types of wastewater' to talk about amounts or categories.

Common Mistakes

The factory produces many wastewaters.
The factory produces a large volume of wastewater.
Wastewater is uncountable and cannot be pluralised.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Wastewater is the broadest of the three, covering any water that has been used in homes, businesses, or industry. Sewage is a narrower term that refers specifically to wastewater containing human waste from toilets and household drains — it is more common in everyday conversation about plumbing and sanitation. Effluent is a formal or technical term used mainly in environmental regulations and engineering, typically describing liquid waste that flows out of an industrial facility or treatment plant. For example, a news article might say 'the city's wastewater system is overloaded,' while a health inspector would discuss 'sewage contamination,' and a chemical engineer would refer to 'effluent standards' in a discharge permit.

wastewater ↗sewageeffluent ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • wastewater treatment
  • wastewater plant

Phrases

  • wastewater treatment plant
  • wastewater management system

Prepositions

  • from wastewater
  • of wastewater

Etymology

Old North FrenchLatinOld EnglishProto-Germanic

Wastewater is a compound of 'waste' (from Old North French 'wast', meaning 'empty, desolate', from Latin 'vastus') and 'water' (from Old English 'wæter', from Proto-Germanic '*watōr'). The word entered common use in the late 19th century as growing cities and industrialisation created the need for organised sewage and water-treatment systems.