A PRESENTATION ON
CEB707
Water and Waste water
Engineering
Water Treatment
1
The most widely applied water treatment technology may
involve screening, aeration, coagulation, flocculation,
sedimentation, filtration and disinfection.
(a) Screening
The raw waters from reservoir or intake structure much be
screened to prevent entry of any objects (leaves, debris
and others sizable clogging material) that might damage
pumps and treatment facilities. There are two types of
screens, namely, coarse screen and fine screen. On
leaving the screens, the raw water flow is slowed down
entering the aeration tank.
(b) Aeration
The raw water enters into the aeration tank. Structures or
equipment for aeration or air stripping may be classified
into two types, waterfall aeration and diffusing type
aeration. The waterfall type of aeration accomplishes gas
transfer by forcing water to break into drops or thin film
and increasing the area of water exposed to air. In
aeration tank, unneeded dissolved gases such as CO2,
H2S, NH3 and VOC will be removed from the raw water
and thereby increased the DO level in water.
(c) Coagulation
As the aerated water leaves the first step of the process, the
coagulant chemicals such as aluminium sulphate (alum), ferric
sulphate, ferric chloride or polymers, are added to the water. These
coagulant chemicals have a positive charge. The positive charge of
the coagulant neutralizes the negative charge of dissolved and
suspended particles in the water. Rapid and thorough mixing of the
alum is necessary to begin the process of binding together the
particles and reduce of the forces tending to keep apart. The
coagulation process that causes these particles to become larger in
size, body and weight, which in turn will allow them to become
heavier so that they will sink and settle out of the water. These larger
particles are called ‘floc’. The water now enters the next step of the
process.
Salts of Al(III) and Fe(III) are commonly used as
coagulants in water and wastewater treatment.
When a salt of Al(III) and Fe(III) is added to water, it
dissociates to yield trivalent ions, which hydrate to form
aquometal complexes Al(H2O)63+ and Fe(H2O)63+.
These complexes then pass through a series of
hydrolytic reactions in which H2O molecules in the
hydration shell are replaced by OH- ions to form a
variety of soluble species such as Al(OH)2+ and
Al(OH)2+. These products are quite effective as
coagulants as they adsorb very strongly onto the
surface of most negative colloids.
(d) Flocculation
After the addition and mixing of the chemicals the treated
water is next subjected to a period of gentle agitation.
This not only provides chemical reaction time but is also
necessary to keep the precipitated coagulant in
suspension until it has had sufficient time to collect into
floc clusters a maximum quantity of fine suspended
particles. When the particles of floc collide as a result of
the gentle movement they cling together and eventually
build up into much larger particles which settle more
rapidly. This process is known as flocculation.
(e) Sedimentation
The water flow is directed to enter the bottom of
sedimentation basin. By the time the processed water
reaches this step, the particles of floc have gained
enough size and weight that they will settle out of the
water and fall to the bottom of the basin.
(f) Filtration
The next step in a water treatment system is filtration,
which removes particulate matter from water by forcing
the water to pass through porous media. The filtration
system consists of filters with varying sizes of pores, and
is often made up of sand, gravel and charcoal. There are
two basic types of sand filtration; slow sand filtration and
rapid sand filtration.
Types of Filter
Slow sand filter: They consist of fine sand, supported by gravel.
They capture particles near the surface of the bed and are usually
cleaned by scraping away the top layer of sand that contains the
particles.
Rapid-sand filter: They consist of larger sand grains supported by
gravel and capture particles throughout the bed. They are cleaned by
backwashing water through the bed to 'lift out' the particles.
Multimedia filters: They consist of two or more layers of different
granular materials, with different densities. Usually, anthracite coal,
sand, and gravel are used. The different layers combined may
provide more versatile collection than a single sand layer. Because of
the differences in densities, the layers stay neatly separated, even
after backwashing
Slow Sand Filters vs. Rapid Sand Filters
Base material: In SSF it varies from 3 to 65 mm in size and 30 to 75 cm in depth
while in RSF it varies from 3 to 40 mm in size and its depth is slightly more, i.e.
about 60 to 90 cm.
Filter sand: In SSF the effective size ranges between 0.2 to 0.4 mm and
uniformity coefficient between 1.8 to 2.5 or 3.0. In RSF the effective size ranges
between 0.35 to 0.55 and uniformity coefficient between 1.2 to 1.8.
Rate of filtration: In SSF it is small, such as 100 to 200 L/h/sq.m. of filter area
while in RSF it is large, such as 3000 to 6000 L/h/sq.m. of filter area.
Flexibility: SSF are not flexible for meeting variation in demand whereas RSF
are quite flexible for meeting reasonable variations in demand.
Post treatment required: Almost pure water is obtained from SSF. However,
water may be disinfected slightly to make it completely safe. Disinfection is a
must after RSF.
Method of cleaning: Scrapping and removing of the top 1.5 to 3 cm thick layer is
done to clean SSF. To clean RSF, sand is agitated and backwashed with or
without compressed air.
Loss of head: In case of SSF approx. 10 cm is the initial loss, and 0.8 to 1.2m is
the final limit when cleaning is required. For RSF 0.3m is the initial loss, and 2.5
to 3.5m is the final limit when cleaning is required.
Typical Rapid Gravity Filter Flow Operation
Isometric view of Rapid Sand Filter
Backwashing of Rapid Sand Filter
For a filter to operate efficiently, it must be cleaned before the next
filter run. If the water applied to a filter is of very good quality, the
filter runs can be very long. Some filters can operate longer than
one week before needing to be backwashed. However, this is not
recommended as long filter runs can cause the filter media to pack
down so that it is difficult to expand the bed during the backwash.
Treated water from storage is used for the backwash cycle. This
treated water is generally taken from elevated storage tanks or
pumped in from the clear well.
The filter backwash rate has to be great enough to expand and
agitate the filter media and suspend the floc in the water for
removal. However, if the filter backwash rate is too high, media will
be washed from the filter into the troughs and out of the filter.
When is Backwashing Needed
The filter should be backwashed when the following
conditions have been met:
The head loss is so high that the filter no longer
produces water at the desired rate; and/or
Floc starts to break through the filter and the turbidity in
the filter effluent increases; and/or
A filter run reaches a given hour of operation.
g) Disinfection
Water is disinfected to kill any pathogens that may be
present in the water supply and provide protection against
possible later contamination in the distribution system.
Without disinfection, the risk from waterborne disease is
increased. The two most common methods to kill
microorganisms in the water supply are oxidation with
chemicals such as chlorine or ozone or irradiation with
ultra-violet (UV) radiation.
(h) Water Distribution System
After disinfection and fluoridation processes, the last and
final stage of water treatment schemes is the distribution
of water to the customer. The distribution system is a
network of pipe lines inside the municipal or service area
limit and consists of transmission, balancing and service
reservoir.
All the processes involved in water treatment systems are
summarized here.
Thank You
