Texas Wastewater Class B Practice Exam 2025 - Free Wastewater Class B Practice Questions and Study Guide

The process that is essential for reducing total suspended solids is sedimentation. In wastewater treatment, sedimentation occurs when heavier particles settle to the bottom of a treatment basin due to gravity. This allows for the separation of solid particles from the liquid, resulting in a clearer effluent and minimizing the concentration of total suspended solids in the treated water.

Both filtration and centrifugation also remove solids, but they operate differently. Filtration removes particles by passing the liquid through a medium that captures solids, while centrifugation uses rotational force to separate solids from liquids, which may not be as efficient in the initial stages of treatment compared to sedimentation. Disinfection, on the other hand, focuses on killing pathogens and does not directly target suspended solids. Thus, sedimentation is the most fundamental process for effectively reducing total suspended solids in wastewater treatment.