Everything You Need To Know About the Process of Water Treatment
Water is an essential element in everyday life. We need it to sustain our health, for hygiene, and for a productive community. We can’t achieve this if our water isn’t safe for consumption. That’s why water undergoes treatment to remove substances that can harm humans. This treatment produces clear, safe, palatable, odorless, and colorless water. Take a look at these water treatment steps.
Coagulation
This is the first step in the drinking water treatment process. A chemical referred to as a coagulant is added to the water. This chemical has a positive charge which neutralizes the dirt’s negative charge. When this happens, the dirt and other particles bond with the chemicals, forming slightly bigger particles.
Flocculation
The next step is flocculation. It’s the gentle stirring of water to form larger and heavier particles known as flocs. Water treatment plants can add some chemicals in this step to help the flocs form.
Sedimentation
Next, the water and the flocs move to sedimentation tanks. During this process, the water flows slowly, allowing the flocs to sink at the bottom. Whatever collects is called sludge, which is removed for disposal.
Filtration
Filtration is the process of separating any extra solids that weren’t removed during sedimentation from the water. During this process, water passes through filters. Filters have tiny pores and are made of different materials like gravel, sand, and charcoal. They remove chemicals, parasites, dust, viruses, bacteria, and other dissolved particles. Water treatment plants also use activated carbon filters to eliminate bad odors.
Some treatment plants use a process known as ultrafiltration instead of the traditional filtration process. Here, water will flow through a filter membrane with tiny pores. The membrane only allows water and other tiny molecules like salts to pass through.
Another popular filtration method is called reverse osmosis external icon. Water treatment plants commonly use this method when treating reused water.
Disinfection or Chlorination
This is one of the most important water purification steps. Here, the treatment plant adds chemicals like chloramine or chlorine to the water to kill the remaining bacteria, parasites, and viruses. To ensure that only safe water travels to businesses and homes, these treatment plants ensure that the water has very low levels of disinfectant by the time it leaves the treatment plant. Any remaining disinfectant kills the germs in the pipes transporting the water to your tap.
Instead of adding chloramine or chlorine, or in addition to it, water treatment plants can also disinfect water through ultraviolet (UV) light. It’s an effective method, but the only downside is that it won’t continue killing germs as the water flows through pipes to your home.
Royal Water Works, Inc. understands how important it is to maintain the cleanliness and quality of your water. And as an environmental service company, we can help you achieve that. We offer several services, including water testing, iron removal, water filtration design, wastewater operation, ultraviolet disinfection, and pH adjusting. Contact our customer service team today. We can’t wait to hear from you.
Categorised in: Water Treatment Service