Clean water supply is essential in establishing and maintaining a healthy community. There are two sources of water supply which are the surface water and ground water. Most natural waters are not suitable for consumption as it is contaminated by pathogens and also natural chemicals and minerals. In addition, as a city grew, wastes from human activities contaminate most of the water supplies. Water treatment plays an important role to properly treat a contaminated source of water supply in order to protect the health of consumers. Water treatment process is defined as a process of eliminating pollutants from untreated water to produce a biologically and chemically risk-free water, which is both potable and palatable for human consumption (SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd., n.d.). There are six important steps in water treatment process, namely screening, aeration, coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and lastly, disinfection (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
The first step in water treatment process is screening. Raw water undergoes physical screening to remove coarse material and debris as it comes to the water treatment plant. Screening separates particles according to their size alone. As mentioned by Hendricks (2006), the objective of the screen is to accept a feed containing a mixture of particles of various sizes and separate it into two fractions, an underflow that is passed through the screen and an overflow that is rejected by the screen. (p. 121)
Screening is further divided into coarse and fine screens. Raw water undergoes coarse screen to eliminate floating material of fairly large size as preliminary treatment for the next step. These floating or submerged debris would damage pumps or block inlets, hence it i...
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In filtration, raw water passes through screens to remove material such as twigs, leaves and other particles. Chemicals are then added which clump together other particles, and the water is sent through another filter, usually lined with sand and anthracite (crushed coal).
Disinfection is applied in water as well as wastewater treatment as a finishing step so as to destroy pathogens but the cause of concern regarding the disinfection process is the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Natural organic matter (NOM) in water has been considered as the predominant DBP precursors. Disinfectants are powerful oxidants that oxidize the organic matter present in water forming DBPs. Chlorine, ozone, chlorine dioxide, and chloramines are the most common disinfectants used nowadays and each produces its own suite of chemical DBPs in finished drinking water (Richardson, 2003). DBPs so formed pose a threat to human health because of their potential to cause cancer and reproductive/developmental effects. Most developed nations have regulated concentration of DBPs so as to minimize exposure to potentially harmful DBPs while maintaining adequate disinfection and control of targeted
The existence of a waste water treatment plant will depend on local discharge requirements and the costs of waste water treatment. Relevant waste water treatment technologies involve neutralisation and anaerobic or aerobic processes.
Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination plant use reverse osmosis to produced potable water. According to the company responsible for the system, the station withdraws more than 44 million gallons per day (mgd) of seawater, and divided into potable water and concentrated seawater.21 Figure 10 displays the process of the desalination. When the water is withdrawal has a traditional system to remove the impurities in the water.21 The traditional systems is coagulation, flocculation, chemicals, and sand filtrarion.21 After this is used a process called diatomaceous.21 Diatomaceous is a kind of filter which remove silt and fine
Stephenson, R., & Blackburn, J. J. (1998). The Industrial Wastewater Systems Handbook. New York: Lewis Publishers.
Three Medical Doctors wrote the book, The Water We Drink: Water Quality and Its Effects on Health. Their names are Joshua I. Barzilay, M.D., Winkler G. Weinberg, M.D., and J. William Eley, M.D. In order to put the issue of drinking water quality and its effects on health into perspective, the book is divided into three parts. It first reviews the history of water, disease, and sanitation. The next section deals with health issues. At the conclusion of the book are chapters regarding bottled water and methods of purification. The intent of the book is to educate consumers.
The key stakeholders are Peter Vyas, the manager of filtration unit and Cynthia Jackson who is the vice president of water management division. Vyas was convinced that the survival of the unit depended upon innovative growth and thus he appointed a technology evaluation team with the responsibility of using technology to solve the problem of obtaining clean water in remote regions, by developing a small-scale oxidation system that enabled waste-water disinfection in small batches. His utmost concern is the technological aspect of developing the product. On the other hand, Cynthia’s perspective was shaped by the marketing angle of the product. She recommended the development of future proposals using a rigorous three phase process which links the markets analysis and technological development to busines...
It’s no mystery that having clean water is a fundamental element to living in a prosperous society and one of the few things essential for human survival. Water not only sustains our health, but is required in making everything from electronics to clothes. Clean water may seem as ordinary as putting on your shoes, but it’s a daily party of our life that’s being threatened.
There are several types of treatment methods present but biological treatment methods have gained much traction in the recent years due to their low operation costs, comparatively benign effects on the environment and their ease of handling and maintenance. Biological wastewater treatment methods can be subcategorized into dispersed growth systems and attached growth systems. Biofilms fall under the latter category (Sehar & Naz, 2016)
The bacteria and wastewater is mixed in an aeration tank and therefore the contaminants are removed by action of sorption and series of breakdown by the bacteria.
Waste water treatment plants are essential to communities of all sizes and must work efficiently. Waste water treatment plant primary priority and responsibility is the treatment of incoming sewage water by the removal of biological and chemical wastes so it can be treated and recycled for future use. There are many government agencies and standards set forth to govern and observe the successful treatment of sewage such as: the Department of Environmental Quality, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and the Clean Water Act of 1972. Compliance and constant monitoring of the treatment plant’s operations are important; as they protect the surrounding community. A spill or backflow of sewage due to a complete system malfunction could potentially be detrimental to the environment and local community. A precise system, of which must be compliant according to government standards, is critical to maintain low levels of wastes that are returned to neighboring water systems after treatment.
The consumption of contaminated water can be dangerous for health reasons and several people have passed away from these water-borne diseases. Some of these diseases include Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery, Giardiasis, and Malaria. These unfortunate diseases are currently the cause of numerous deaths, especially in small children. The availability of clean water can prevent many problems in low-income communities. The available resources for clean water are very rare, so these water sources need to pass through a process of water sanitation in order to just be sustainable to drink, “The world’s surface is made up of approximately 80% water, which is an indestructible substance.
Water and Waste Management Engineering addresses water and waste water treatment, surface and ground water pollution and control, solid and hazardous waste management, contaminant transport and behaviour in the environment. Support areas involving aquatic chemistry, computer modeling, simulation and laboratory experimentation as examples are also stressed.
Water plays such an important role in our daily lives. 70% of our body is composed of water. 70% of the earth surface is also made up of water, but out of the 70%, only 1/3 of water is consumable. In fact, this amount has been continuously to decrease as more and more industries began to pollute and damage the water. For example, many toxic chemicals may be released into the water thus making the water impure. Such pollutions and damages lead the water to be contaminated and inconsumable as it may cause severe diseases. Water purification can remove all the unnecessary bacteria and viruses from the water that is hazardous for our health. Water purification may also improve the flavor and appearance of water. It removes the unpleasant odor. Therefore, water purification became one of the most useful and popular process used by people all over the world today. It is by far the most recommended and safest water treatment that is commonly used to purify damaged water into consumable water. Water purification provides us with safe, pure and clean water to consume and use.