Course: BFM 203 Water Treatment and Control

Lecture

Water Treatment Processes

Water Treatment Processes

In the operation of water treatment plants, three basic objectives are controlling production of 1) safe and 2) aesthetically pleasing drinking water at a 3) reasonable cost. Of course, the production of SAFE drinking water is always the primary concern of water treatment operators. The order of importance between cost and aesthetics is often dictated by the population served. The choice to spend more money to treat water to a higher aesthetic standard is likely in affluent communities.

As depicted in the illustration below, the conventional surface water treatment plant takes raw water from the source and passes it through a series of treatment processes that generally include coagulation, flocculation, sludge collection, filtration, disinfection and fluoridation, storage, and distribution. The types of processes depend on a number of factors that include the following:

- Impurities in the water
- Water quality standards
- Water demand based on population
- Fire protection requirements
- Cost consideration

SOURCE: http://sawater.com.au/NR/rdonlyres/172B3CDC-38D7-4056-8175-D56D329A56A9/0/diag_water_treat.gif

This basic water treatment process video (link opens in a new browser window) on You Tube provides an elementary overview of the water treatment process.