Water Treatment
From nature and from every day living we know that water means life. Nobody can survive without water, in order to meet this demand of life, man begin to search for water, and not just water, but, portable clean water, nothing brings smiles to the face of man like having a portable clean water to drink and use. Due to increase in population and the increase in destructive activities of man, our water system become more polluted. About 1.8 billions of people living on earth do not have access to good portable clean water to drink and to use, largely due to environmental pollution by man's activities, and also expensive cost of water treatment. In order to solve this problem of polluted water to get a good portable clean water to drink and use both domestically and industrial wise, man have invented several water treatment methods over a long period of time.
The various Water treatment techniques used in treating water are listed and discussed below; Aeration, Disinfection, Sedimentation, Filtration, Purification and Sterilization, Boiling, SODIS. The combination of all or some these processes will remove physical, Chemical and biological contaminants from water making it good for drinking and other desired purposes
1. Aeration
Aeration involves allowing air to mix with water, this process can either happens naturally or artificially. Naturally, the water is exposed to air or allowed to flow freely or as in a shower to allow good quantity of air into the water. Artificially, aeration/degassing tank is constructed, which pump air into water to commence treatment, some aeration tank also carry out degassing of water; that is to remove gases apart from oxidation of some of the contaminants. Gases such as hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide, methane are expelled while iron II is oxidized to iron III oxide, soluble iron II is converted into insoluble iron III, therefore aiding the remover of iron as contaminants in water.
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| Aeration Tower |
2. Disinfection
Disinfection involves the use of disinfectants mostly chemicals to eliminate micro organisms from water . This disinfectants can be calcium hypochlorites or sodium hypochlorites or chlorine gas e.t.c. these are powerful oxidizing agents, when in contact with water brings about a lot of reactions depending on the level of pollution. Disinfectants react with both biological and chemical contaminants, it will react with iron II to form ferric chloride, methane to form trihalomethane and when in contact with micro organisms eliminate them by disruption of activities in their cytoplasm, chlorine is very effective against bacteria and some viruses, although ineffective against some protozoans such as Gardia lambia, Cryptosporidium.
Excessive dosage of chlorine can result in the formation of disinfectants bye products(DBPs) which are carcinogenic in nature, these DBPs are harmful to both man and animals if exposed to in large quantity and over long period of time
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3. Sedimentation
Sedimentation involves allowing water undergoing treatment to settle down. Water that contains physical contaminants when allowed to be still the heavy ones will settle down at the base of the water, likewise water undergoing treatment in which certain chemicals have been added. The process of sedimentation can be aided by adding certain chemicals to make the process fast especially when large volume of water is involved. Substances such as Alum, caustic soda, soda ash and lime are good examples. These chemical additives can be use either as single chemical or in combination, depending on the method of treatment. They are also know as pH regulator, they aid sedimentation through coagulation and flocculation, giving the water the right pH for this reactions to occur. Coagulation and flocculation is the process whereby oxidized suspended particles comes together to form a larger particles called floc. This floc either settle down at the base of water as sludge, which can be remove by draining or when suspended get remove through filtration process.
4. Filtration
Water filtration process is as old as man, water filtration is the process of removing dirty particles from water to make water clean. Filtration process involves both simple and complex methods to achieve the desired result depending on the type of water treatment and type of water. Filters such as sieves, clothes, mesh, sand and micron filters, micro filters, nano filters, have been involved over a long period of time depending on the purpose of treatment. The filters served as a barrier between what is wanted and what is not, this is the simple principle involved. As the water passes through the filters, the unwanted particles are trapped while the filtrate pass through. This filters also very in sizes, depending on choice and desired result, and very effective in removing both biological and physical contaminants
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| Water Filtration |
5. Purification
Purification as the name implies is the process through which residual chemicals can be remove from water thereby making water colourless, odourless and tasteless. The major purifier use in water treatment is activated carbon granules, the activated carbon granules have been highly processed under some specific conditions to improve it adsorption capacity and increase it's surface area. The principle involved is the adsorption process, the granulated activated carbon adsorbed residual chemicals present in the water and this process change the quality of the water for good. After this stage the water is colourless, odourless and tasteless
6. Ultra Violet Radiation/Ozonation.
Sterilization can be achieved in water treatment process through the use of ultra violet radiation (UV) and use of ozone. Sterilization is the process by which all micro organisms present in water is completely eliminated, this method is very effective that no bacteria, fungi or viruses can survive if properly done the right way.
UV lamp can be applied at both domestic and industrial level.
The treatment process deals specifically with biological contaminants only in water, any microbes that escape disinfection and filtration (depending on the size of the filters) will not escape sterilization process. A failure at this final stage of treatment will make the water unsafe for consumption. Proper and regular testing must be adhere due at this stage and proper monitoring of the equipment responsible for production of UV light(UV lamp) and ozone (Ozone generation plant) must be strictly monitored.
7. Boiling
Boiling is also one the oldest and most widely technique of water treatment, it involves the application of heat on water to be treated, it is very effective against biological contaminants. Treatment of water by boiling begins at 60°c, your water do not need to reach boiling point before you stop application of heat. At 60°c your water is can be then allowed to cool down, before use, care must be taken to avoid recontamination after boiling.
8. SODIS
Solar Disinfection
SODIS is another old technique employed in treating water, it involves the use of direct sunlight to treat water, SODIS is also very effective against biological contaminants, water to be treated must be in a clean transparent container that will not interfer with the radiation coming from the sun, for this treatment to effective using this technique the water must be left under the direct sun for long period of time. this method is cheap and also easy to use and also very safe
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