CHAPTER 5

WATER TREATMENT
PROCESSES

Water treatment process

The extent of treatment required to be given to particular
raw water depends up on :

The characteristics and quality of the available raw water.

The quality requirements of the intended use.
Treatment of water, hence, includes:
Removal of color, dissolved gases, and darkness of water,
Removal of objectionable taste and odor,
Destruction of troublesome micro-organisms and their
remains,
Elimination of corrosive properties,
Making water safe for drinking and fit for domestic and
other uses.

Objectives of Treatment
The main objective of water treatment process is
to:
Preventing disease transmission
small animals (invertebrates) and their eggs (ova),
protozoa and their cysts, bacteria that may form
spores, and viruses. Chlorine is most commonly
used to inactivate such pathogens
Make the water acceptable
The taste, appearance and suitability for washing
clothes shall all be considered.
Protecting the distribution System from corrosion
Corrosion of the system can be reduced by raising
the pH of the water or adding chemicals.

Water Treatment methods

The various water purifying methods/techniques for

public water supply are:
Screening
Plain sedimentation
Pretreatment
Sedimentation aided with coagulation
processes
Filtration
Disinfection
Aeration
Softening
Miscellaneous treatments; e.g. Fluoridation,
The necessity of a few or all of these steps depends
solely up upon the quality of the available raw water.

Factors Affecting Choice of Treatment Methods

Limitation of capital,
Availability of skilled and unskilled labor,
Availability of equipment, construction material,
and water treatment chemicals,
Local codes, drinking water standards and material
specifications,
Local traditions, customs and cultural standards,
National sanitation and pollution policies, etc

Pretreatment of water

Screening
The purposes of screening the raw water are:
Removal of suspended and floating matter, which clogs
pipes, damages pumps etc.
Clarifications by removal of suspended matter to
lighten the load on subsequent treatment processes.
Coarse screens are generally termed as trash racks.
They are usually kept inclined at about 45 o to 60o to the
horizontal so as to facilitate cleaning of the suspended
matter.
The approach velocity to the screens should not be
more than 0.1 - 0.2 m/s to effect settling of larger
bodies. After passing the bar screens, the velocity
should be increased to 0.3 - 0.5m/s to avoid settling of
sediment.

Sedimentation
i. Plain Sedimentation
.Is a form of pretreatment that provides a low
velocity of flow.
.The purpose of which is to settle some solids by
gravity pull.
.The basin in which the flow of water is retarded is
known as the settling tank or sedimentation
tank or sedimentation basin.
.The theoretical average time for which the water is
retained in the tank is called detention period.
.The settlement of a particle in water is a function
of
. The velocity of flow;
. The viscosity of water; and

ii. Sedimentation with coagulation (Coagulation,

Flocculation & Sedimentation)

All water, especially surface water, contain both

dissolved and suspended particles.
Coagulation and flocculation processes are used to
separate the suspended solids from the water.
The suspended particles vary considerably in source,
composition charge, particle size, shape, and density.
Correct application of coagulation and flocculation
processes and selection of the coagulants depend
upon understanding the interaction between these
factors.
chemical treatment with coagulants (and often pH
correction) is essential so that turbidity can be
removed in a reasonably short time by sedimentation
and rapid filtration.

Terminologies

Suspension: A suspension is a dispersion of solid particles

in a liquid. These particles scatter light, making the aqueous
suspensions cloudy or turbid.
Colloid: Colloidal particles are very small (1 x10-9 to 200x109m)
because the random motion of the water molecules is enough
to prevent the particles settling.
Flock: A flock is a collection of colloidal particles held
together. Flocks generally have little strength and a density
close to the density of water.
Coagulation: is the process of making conditions favourable
for colloidal particles to join together to make flocks. It may
be the result of biological processes or the addition of
chemicals.
Flocculation : is the growth of coagulated colloidal particles
to join together to form flocks that are large enough to settle
under gravity.

.Cont
A coagulation plant contains the following
four units:
Feeding device
Mixing device or mixing basin
Flocculation tank or flocculator
Settling or sedimentation tank
I. Coagulating chemicals (Coagulants)
.Cost and ease (economy) of acquiring chemicals
are the basis of selection of a particular
coagulating chemical.
. Alum (Hydrated Aluminium Sulphate), Al 2
(SO4)3 .18 H2O)
.is used widely as a primary coagulant. It is
available as lumps, grains or powder, or as a

.Cont
Iron Salts:
These operate over a wider pH range than alum.
Iron flocks are heavier than aluminum flocks but
may be harder to remove from filter sand.

pH Correction:
Usually it is necessary to raise the pH, and
hydrated lime is usually preferred for this purpose
on cost grounds.
Coagulant aids:
Polyelectrolyte - is used as coagulant aids to make
flocks larger, tougher and denser. They have long
molecules with charged sites that link small flocks
together.

II. Feeding device

The chemical coagulant, i.e. usually alum is first
fed (either dry or in solution form) in to the raw
water through the feeding device.

III. Mixing devices

The desired reaction between the coagulant and
the water is irreversible and takes place in a
fraction of a second.
So mixing must be very fast, otherwise, undesired
products might form.
There are two main types of mixing mechanisms:
Mechanical mixing
Hydraulic mixing

Mechanical mixing

Mechanical mixing uses an impeller rotated by an

electric motor.
Coagulant should be injected at the eye of the
impeller for maximum turbulence.
The loss of head through the mixing is low but the
disadvantages are that motor failures can affect
the operation of the whole plant, and

Hydraulic mixing

This method has the advantage of simplicity and

access of component parts for repair and
maintenance.
The degree of mixing is lower at lower rates so the
likely variation of the flow rate should be taken in
to account at the design stage.
The coagulant should be injected just upstream of
the maximum turbulence. The mixing should
appear violent.
The most common types of hydraulic mixers are:
Rectangular and V-notch weirs and

Hydraulic jump.

IV. Flocculation tank or flocculators

There are two types of flocculation tanks:

Mechanical flocculators
Horizontal flow
Hydraulic flocculators
Vertical flow

Filtration
Is a process by which water from the
sedimentation tank is allowed to pass through
beds of granular material such as sands or filters.
Sand, either fine or coarse, is generally used as a
filter media.
The selection of the correct effective size (d 10) is
very important.

cont
Too smaller grain size will lead to very frequent
clogging of filters and will give low filtration
rates.
Similarly too large size will permit the suspended
particles and bacteria to pass though it without it
being removed.
The gravel which may be used below the sand
should be hard durable, free from impurities,
properly rounded and should have a density of
about 1600 kg/m3.
The sand filters purify water under four different
processes:
1) Mechanical Straining
) When water percolates through the suspended
particles which are unable to pass through the

2) Sedimentation or Adsorption of particles

The particles of impurities, settle in the voids of the

sand due to following two reasons:
1) Due to physical attraction between impurity particles
and sand particles.
2) Because of the presence of gelatinous coating formed
on the sand particles by previously caught bacteria
and colloidal matter,
impurity particles stick to to sand particles and get
removed.
3) Biological process
) During the process of passage of water through void in
the sand particles, the bacteria are caught in the voids,
due to which a zoological jelly or film is formed
around the sand particles.

4) Electrolytic charge development

The sand particles of filter media and the particles

of suspended and dissolved matter, carry electrical
charges of opposite nature.
Because of having opposite charges, they attract
each other and neutralize the charges of each
other.
Types of Filters
Basically there are two types of filters:
SLOW SAND FILTERS and
RAPID SAND FILTERS

Reading assignment

Advantages and disadvantages of

SLOW SAND FILTERS and
RAPID SAND FILTERS
BACKWASHING

Disinfection

Disinfection is a process of killing harmful microorganisms from water and makes it safe for
consumption.
Disinfectants are required to:
Be Economical and easily available in bulk
Be able to destroy all harmful organisms from the
water and make it safe
Be capable to immediately attack harmful
organisms when mixed/used in water
Non toxic and free of objectionable odor and taste
after disinfection
Be easy to detect their strength and concentration
in water

Chlorination

Throughout the history of water treatment, chlorination

has been synonymous with disinfection.
Chlorination was the first method used to disinfect water
in approximately 1825.
Chlorine is universally used for water and wastewater
treatment. Among the reasons of its being in famous:
can be stored for long time without any deterioration in
its quality and stability
is very powerful and efficient in killing bacteria
is economically available
initial cost of plant as well as cost of disinfection are
relatively low.
its dosage is precise and there is no likely hood of
overdose or underdone.
there is no sludge formation.