WHAT IS WATER TREATMENT?

"Water Treatment " is the purification and purification of water used to meet domestic or industrial needsfrom pollutant parameters through various processes.

Why Is It Necessary to Purify Water ?

Only 0.03 % of all water resources in the world are used as drinking water . However , thepollution of these waters is increasing . We need to drink clean and healthy water in order to continue our lives in a quality way . The benefit of clean water free of harmful substances is as follows: Water exposed to a chemical contamination disrupts the body balance and this deterioration first occurs in brain functions.

Approximately 79 % of human muscles are made up of water . Due to insufficient and poor quality water consumption, muscle cramps occur and this causes fatigue.

The consumption of clean and purified water serves to remove toxins that cause premature aging ofthe skin from the body.

Approximately 31 % of human bones are water . Insufficient and poor quality water consumption causes disinformation in bones.

What Is Our Goal ?

The goal in drinking water treatment ; It is to produce water that is colorless ,odorless , does not contain disease causing organisms ,does not contain chemicals harmful to health , and is suitable for use at home.


Basic processes used in water treatment

1) Precipitation: In this process , water is passed through a settling tank in a slow and steady flow . Solids that can settle are collected at the bottom of the tank by the effect of gravity and separated from the water . The water that has become clear is taken from the top of the tank through weirs or gutters.Thus, the turbidity of the effluent and the concentration of suspended solids are reduced . Thesolids collected at the bottom of the tank are called sludge ' because they contain water . The accumulated sludge can be evacuated by automatic or semi automatic sludge scraping and removal mechanisms , or after 6 months 1 year accumulation , the tank can be emptied and taken out of the tank manually . Sludge generally contains more than 90 % water . The sludge should also be treated separately and removed in away that does not cause environmental pollution . Sludge disposal costs can sometimes constitute more than half of the water treatment plant's total operating cost.

2) Fast filtration: One of the most important processes in water purification is filtration .The water is passed through a filter. Sand or anthracite coal is used as filter material . Small / light particles that cannot be kept in the settling tank are kept in the filters. When the filters are clogged , they are washed back and cleaned and taken into use again.

3) Flocculation: Very small solid particles eg microorganisms ) and colloids do not have the weight to settle quickly in settling tanks. Particles of size 1 μm = 0.001 mm or smaller are called colloids .) These particles are small enough to pass through filters . By using a chemical substance with flocculating properties , small pieces are combined to grow flocculate and coagulate ). Before the precipitation and filtration processes , flocculant is added to the water in rapid mixing tanks . In the slow mixing flocculator ") tanks , water is mixed at slow speeds so that small particles collide and stick together and form flocs large enough to precipitate. If flocculation is applied effectively , not only solid particles but also many organic and inorganic substances dissolved in water can be removed by precipitation and filtration their amount in water can be reduced.

•For this , we should not see the precipitation and filtration processes as only removing turbidity and solid particles . These processes improve most of the drinking water quality parameters.

4)Disinfection : A great majority of microorganisms in the water are removed during the precipitation and filtration processes Disinfection is carried out as a last resort to kill any organisms that may have remained in the water and to ensure a protective disinfectant residue in the water supply

The most widely used disinfectant in the world is free chlorine.

5) Aeration: It is used to remove unwanted gases such as H2S, CO2 dissolved in water or to add oxygen to the water . Aeration may also be effective in removing volatile organic compounds dissolved in water and potentially harmful to health , and some other compounds that give water unwanted tastes and odors.

6) Slow sand filtration: It is fore most that microorganisms named Giardia " and ''Crypto ", which cannot be handled very well by fast filters and are resistant to chlorine type disinfectants , are successfully kept by slow sand filters . Slow sand filtration can be very successful in the treatment of water that is not very turbid , does not contain much iron and manganese and is not contaminated with industrial wastes.