Water Treatment Processes

Water treatment is a process of improving the quality of water for desirable drinking and other purposes. The main objective of water treatment is to ensure consumer's health by treating the water and making it safe for human consumption.

Purification of water

Purification of water involves the following processes

• Screening

• Aeration

• Sedimentation

• Filtration

• Disinfection

• Softening

• Fluoridisation

We use various combinations of the above processes for different types of water like hard, soft water. The process is chosen based on the water quality.

Let us now understand few things about all these processes

• Screening: Screening is done to remove solids particles such as pieces of wood, plastics, papers, rags, leaves, roots, etc. and also to ensure the protection of pumps, valves, pipelines, and impellers.

• Aeration: Aeration is done to remove dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide in water and oxidizes dissolved metals such as iron, hydrogen sulfide and volatile organic chemicals. It enhances the taste, reduces odour and color.

• Sedimentation: Sedimentation is nothing but settling particles spontaneously from standing water. It is used to remove the majority of settleable solids from raw water.

• Filtration: Filtration is one of the oldest methods of treating water and yet a simple and efficient method. This process is done by allowing water to pass through a bed of fine particles, usually sand.

• Disinfection: There are various methods through which disinfection can be achieved, selection of the disinfection process is crucial, the proper method should be adopted based on the nature of raw water and output requirements.

• Softening: Softening is done to reduce the hardness of the water. Hard water is water that has a high dissolved mineral content and has high concentrations of calcium and magnesium ions.

• Fluoridation: Water fluoridation is the process of adjusting fluoride content in water to prevent the decaying of tooth. By adjusting the fluoride to 0.7 milligrams or 0.7 ppm per litre, prevention of tooth decay can be achieved.

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