Community & Household Water Treatment

 Community Water Treatment

Drinking water sources can be contaminated, and disease-causing substances must be removed with proper treatment. To supply safe drinking water to their communities, public drinking water systems employ a variety of water treatment processes. The following are the most frequent water treatment steps employed by community water systems today (mostly surface water treatment):

Coagulation and Flocculation

The first processes in water treatment are usually coagulation and flocculation. The water is treated using chemicals that have a positive charge. These compounds' positive charge cancels out the negative charge of dirt and other dissolved particles in water. When this happens, the particles bind to the chemicals and create floc, which is bigger particles.

Sedimentation

Floc settles to the bottom of the water supply during sedimentation because of its weight. Sedimentation is the term for the process of settling.

Filtration

The clean water on the top passes filter of different compositions (sand, gravity and wool and charcoal), to the bottom of the water supply in order to remove dissolved particulate matter, such as dust, parasites, bacteria, viruses, and pollutants.

Disinfection

After filtering, the water can be added to destroy any other parasites, bacteria and viruses (for example chlorine and chloramine) and protect the water from pathogens by being tubeled to houses and businesses.

Figure 1 Water treatment cycle. Image courtesy by EPA.

Chloramine, chlorine disinfection and fluoridation of water

Depending on the water quality at the treatment facility, waters can be treated differently in different localities. Surface water usually requires more processing and filtration than ground

water since there are more sediments and pollutants on lakes, rivers, and streams and they are more likely than soil water to get contaminated.

Some sources of water may include by-products of disinfection, inorganic substances, organic compounds, and radionuclides. The water treatment may also include specialized ways for regulating or eradicating the formation.

Community water fluoridation safely and efficiently prevents tooth decay. Water fluoridation is one of the 10 major triumphs of 20th-century public health.

Household Water Treatment

Two kinds consist of household water treatment systems: use point and input point external (NSF). Point of entry systems is normally installed and treat most of the water that enters the residence after water metering. Point of use is water treatment in batches and provides a tap of water, such as a kitchen or toilet sink or an auxiliary valve attached to a tap.

The most common types of household water treatment systems consist of:

Systems of filtration

A water filter is a device that, by use of a chemical, biological and physical barrier, eliminates contaminants from the water.

Water Softeners

A water softener is a tool that decreases water hardness. A water softening device normally employs sodium or potassium ions to replace the "hardness" ions calcium and magnesium ions.

Systems of distillation

The distillation process is used to boil contaminated water and to collect and condense the vapor in a separate container, leaving behind many solid impurities.

Disinfection

Disinfection is a physical and chemical procedure that disables or kills harmful bacteria. Chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and ozone are examples of chemical disinfectants. Examples include ultraviolet light, electrical radiation, and heat. Physical disinfectants.