USES OF WATER

USES OF WATER
Various uses of water:
Domestic use
Civic use
Trade or business use
Commercial or industrial use

DOMESTIC USE
Should possess high degree of purity
Free from suspended impurities, bacteria etc.
Small degree of hardness is permissible

DOMESTIC USE
Pure, potable or wholesome water should be:

Colourless, odourless and clear

Free from suspended, soluble and colloidal impurities
Free from sediments
Fresh and tasty
Free from harmful organisms
Free from radioactive substances
Free from hardness
Free from poisonous and corrosive substances

CIVIC USE

Washing roads, cleaning sewers etc.

Large quantity of water required
Certain degree of impurity can be tolerated
Water containing suspended and dissolved
impurities may be permitted

TRADE OR BUSINESS USE

Depends on nature of trade
Laundry- clear, soft and free from iron
Stables may contain impurities
Artificial silk clear, bright and free from colour
Concrete clean and free from sulphates and
chlorides
Dairies bacterial purity

COMMERCIAL OR INDUSTRIAL USE

Should be chemically pure
Chemical processes involved in production
Slight amount of impurity may affect final
results of the product
Factories install own water supply plant to suit
their needs

ANALYSIS OF WATER

Analysis of water
Physical tests

Chemical tests

Colour
Taste and odour
Temperature
Turbidity

Chlorides
Dissolved gases
Hardness
pH value
Metals and
other chemical
substances
Nitrogen &
compounds
Total solids

Bacteriological
tests
Total count or
agar plate
count test
B-coli test

PHYSICAL TESTS
Colour
Measurement of colour in water is carried out by
means of a TINTOMETER
The unit of colour on cobalt scale is the colour
produced by one milligram of platinum cobalt in 1
litre of distilled water
For public water supply, the number on cobalt
scale should not exceed 20 and should be
preferably less than 10

PHYSICAL TESTS
Taste and odour
Test is carried out by inhaling through two tubes
of an OSMOSCOPE
May also be tested by threshold number
Water to be supplied from a public water supply
scheme should not contain objectionable taste
and odour
Odour is expressed as disagreeable, earthy, fishy,
grassy, mouldy etc.
Taste brackish, saline, salty etc

PHYSICAL TESTS
Temperature
Desirable temperature of potable water is 10C
while temperature above 25C is considered to be
objectionable
Used to indicate density, viscosity, vapour
pressure, surface tension etc.
Determines saturation values for solids and gases
which need to be dissolved
Rates of chemical, biochemical and biological
activity

PHYSICAL TESTS
Turbidity
Colloidal matter present in water imparts turbidity
Expressed in terms of parts of suspended matter
per million parts of water (p.p.m)
P.p.m is equivalent to mg per litre
Permissible turbidity of drinking water is 5 to 10
p.p.m
Measurement is done by a TURBIDITY ROD or
TURBIDIMETER

CHEMICAL TESTS
Hardness
Temporary hardness due to presence of bicarbonates
of calcium and magnesium - Can be removed by
boiling or by adding lime to water
Permanent hardness due to presence of sulphates,
chlorides and nitrates of calcium and magnesium removal is through a process called water softening
Hardness is expressed in terms of degree of hardness
approx. 14.3 mg of CaCO3 in a litre of water
Water having a hardness of 5 degrees is reasonably
soft, and for potable water, hardness should
preferably be more than 5 and less than 8 degrees

CHEMICAL TESTS
Hydrogen ion concentration (pH value)
Acidity or alkalinity of water is measured in terms
of its pH value or H-ion concentration
Water becomes acidic when positively charged H
ions are in excess than negatively charged OH
ions, and alkaline other way round
Neutral water has pH of 7
As water becomes acidic, pH value decreases
Two methods electrometric and colourimetric
method

BACTERIOLOGICAL TESTS
Examination of water for presence of bacteria
Detected by circumstantial evidences or
chemical reactions
Bacteria maybe harmful (pathogenic) or
harmless (non-pathogenic) to humans
Practically all natural waters contain some
variety of bacteria
Affected by air, soil, vegetation, life forms etc.

WATER TREATMENT

WATER TREATMENT

Sedimentation
Coagulation and flocculation
Filtration
Disinfection Chlorination, ozone treatment,
ultra-violet radiation etc.
Additional treatment Membrane filtration,
water softening, aeration, desalination,
carbon adsorption etc.

SEDIMENTATION
Sedimentation tanks or
clarifiers remove
inorganic impurities
Designed to give
complete rest or reduce
the flow velocity
Heavier inorganic
impurities settle at the
bottom and lighter
impurities float at the
top.
Both can be removed

COAGULATION AND FLOCCULATION

Chemicals (coagulants)
are added to the water
to bring the non settling
particles together into
larger, heavier masses
of solids called floc
Common coagulants
Aluminium sulphate
Magnesium carbonate
Sodium aluminate

FILTRATION
The most common type of filter is a rapid sand
filter
Water is passed through thick layer of sand
Membrane filters are widely used for filtering
both drinking water and sewage.

DISINFECTION
Chlorination
The addition of chlorine or chlorine compounds as
disinfecting material
High solubilty
Readily available as gas, liquid or powder
Toxic to micro-organisms
Long lasting effects
Cheap and reliable
Direct application of gaseous chlorine from
pressurized steel containers - most economical
method for large volumes of water

DISINFECTION
Ozone
Since ozone is unstable, it cannot be stored and
must be produced on-site, making the process
more expensive than chlorination
Advantages: do not cause taste or odour
problems; it leaves no residual in the disinfected
water

DISINFECTION
Ultraviolet radiation
Destroys pathogens, and its use as a disinfecting
agent eliminates the need to handle chemicals.
It leaves no residual, and it does not cause taste or
odour problems.
High cost of its application makes it a poor
competitor with either chlorine or ozone as a
disinfectant.

REFERENCES:
Hammer, Hammer Jr. (2011). Water and Waste Water Technology. PHI Learning Private
Limited.
Rangwala, S.C. (1998). Fundamentals of Water Supply and Sanitary Engineering. Charotar
Publishing Company, Anand.
Panchdhari, A.C. (1993). Water Supply and Sanitary Installations. Wiley Eastern Limited.
www.eoearth.org/article/water_resources
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