1. Sewage is the waste matter carried off on drainage.
2. Composition of sewage varies depending upon its industrial source, e.g. textile, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, dairy, canning, brewing, meat packing, tannery, oil refineries and meat industries, etc.
3. Sewage consists of human excreta, animal dung, household waste, slaughter house waste, dissolved organic matter, algae, nematodes, pathogenic bacteria, viruses and protozoa, discharged waste water from hospitals, industries (contains toxic dissolved organic and inorganic chemicals), tannery and pharmaceutical waste, etc.
4. Bacteria in sewage include coliforms, fecal Streptococci, anaerobic spore forming bacilli and other bacteria found in human intestinal tract.
5. Sewage consists of about water (99.5% to 99.9%) and inorganic and organic matter (0.1 to 0.5%) in suspended and soluble form.