Mar.
09, 2019
WATER PURIFICATION
PROCESSES IN NATURAL
SYSTEMS
1 2
• Quantity of waste products
increased until the self –
purification capacity of local
bodies of water was exceeded.
Smaller streams were first
affected then larger streams and
lakes ultimately becoming
polluted.
3 4
• Speed and completeness with which
these processes occur depend on many
variables that are system specific.
System variables that have an influence
on the natural purification process are:
(a) hydraulic characteristics (b) physical
characteristics of bottom and bank
material (c) variations in sunlight (d)
temperature (e) chemical nature of the
natural water
5 6
• Natural forms of pollutants have always been
present in surface waters. Many of the impurities
were washed from the air, eroded from land
surfaces or leached from the soil and found their
way into surface water. Natural purification
processes were able to remove or otherwise
render these materials harmless.
• Human activity increased the amount and
changed the nature of pollutants entering
watercourses
Settlements → Villages → Towns → Cities
• Only in recent decades have POLLUTION
CONTROL PROGRAMS been initiated in an
attempt to reduce contaminants discharged
to bodies of water to the level that the
natural purification processes can once
again assimilate them.
• Self –purification mechanisms of natural
water systems include: physical, chemical,
and biological processes.
• The same physical, chemical and
biological processes that serve to
purify natural water systems also
work in engineered systems. In
water and wastewater treatment
plants, the rate and extent of these
processes are managed by
controlling the system variables.
1

• A thorough knowledge of the
natural purification processes is
essential to the understanding
of
1)the assimilative capacity of
surface waters
2)the operations of engineered
systems
7 8
• Although a powerful adjunct to self –
cleaning mechanisms of surface water,
its success depends upon discharging
relatively small quantities of waste into
large bodies of water
• Growth in population and industrial
activity, with increasing water demand
and wastewater quantities precludes
the use of many streams for dilution of
raw or poorly treated wastewaters
9 10
• The dilution capacity of a stream can be
calculated using the principles of mass balance. If
the volumetric flowrate and the concentration of
a given material are known in both the stream
and waste discharge, the concentration after
mixing can be calculated as:
CsQs + CwQw = CmQm
where: C – the concentration of selected material
(in mass/volume)
Q – the volumetric flowrate (volume/time)
s, w and m – means stream, waste and
mixture conditions
11
Mar. 09, 2019
PHYSICAL PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE SELF
- PURIFICATION OF WATERCOURSES
1) Dilution
• Wastewater disposal practices were based
on the premise that “the solution to
pollution is dilution”
• It was considered the most economical
means of wastewater disposal and was
considered good engineering practice
• Under present regulations,
maximum allowable loads are
set independently of dilution
capacity – only when the
standard maximum load is
violated then dilution capacity is
considered.
Example:
1) A treated wastewater enters a stream
as shown. The concentration of sodium
in the stream at point A is 10 mg/L and
the flowrate is 20 m3/s. The
concentration of sodium in the waste
stream is 250 mg/L and the flowrate is
1.5 m3/s. Determine the concentration
of sodium at point B assuming complete
mixing has occurred.
12
2
 Mar. 09, 2019

2) Effluent from a wastewater treatment is

discharged to a surface stream. The
2) Sedimentation and Re – suspension
characteristics of the effluent and stream are as • Suspended solids are one of the most
follows: common water pollutants and in
FLOW BOD5 AMMONIA NITRATE CHLORIDE suspension, solids increase turbidity and
reduce light penetration may restrict the
EFFLUENT 8640 m3/d 25 mg/L 7 mg/L 10 mg/L 15 mg/L photosynthetic activity of plants, inhibit
vision of aquatic animals, interfere with
STREAM 1.2 m3/s 2.1 mg/L 0 mg/L 3.0 mg/L 5.0 mg/L
feeding of aquatic animals that obtain food
Determine the stream characteristics after from filtration and be abrasive to
mixing with the waste has occurred. respiratory structures such as gills of fish.

13 14

Sedimentation - This natural sedimentation is not without

– nature’s method of removing
suspended particles from
watercourse and most large solids will
settle out readily in quiescent water.
Particles in the colloidal size range can
stay in suspension for long periods of
time though eventually most of these
will also settle out.
drawbacks. Anaerobic conditions are likely to
develop in sediments and any organics trapped in
a them will decompose, releasing soluble compounds
into the stream above. Sediments deposit can also
alter streambed by filling up the pore space and
creating unsuitable conditions for the reproduction
of many aquatic organisms. It can also alter its
course or hamper navigation activities and it reduce
reservoir storage capacities and silt in harbors and
increase flooding due to channel fill – in.

15 16

• Re-suspension of solids is common

in times of flooding or heavy runoff.
Increased turbulence may
resuspend solids formerly deposited
along normally quiescent areas of
stream and carry them for
considerable distances downstream
and eventually they will settle again.

17 18

3
 Mar. 09, 2019

3) Filtration
• Large bits of debris lodge on reeds or stones as
they move along streambeds and they remain
caught until high waters wash them into
mainstream again. Small bits of organic matters
and inorganic clays and other sediments may be
filtered out by pebbles or rocks along the
streambed. A water percolates from the surface
In this photo taken by Canadian Peter Mark in the end of April, 2012, and
released on Wednesday, May 2, a Harley-Davidson motorbike lies on a beach
downward into groundwater aquifers, filtration
in Graham Island, western Canada. Japanese media say the motorcycle lost in of much more sophisticated type occurs. If the
last year's tsunami washed up on the island about 6,400 kilometers (4,000 soil layers are deep and fine enough, removal of
miles) away. The rusted bike was originally found by Mark in a large white suspended material is essentially complete by
container where its owner, Ikuo Yokoyama, had kept it. The container was
later washed away, leaving the motorbike half-buried. the time waters enters the aquifer.

19 20

4) Gas Transfer
• The transfer of gases into and out of water is an
important part of the natural purification
process. The replenishment of oxygen lost to
bacteria degradation of organic waste is
accomplished by the transfer of oxygen from the
air into the water. Conversely, gases evolved in
the water by chemical and biological processes
may be transferred from the water to the
atmosphere. Gas transfer is affected by
solubility (extent to which gas is soluble in
water) and transfer rate (rate at which
dissolution or release occurs)

21 22

5) Heat Transfer CHEMICAL PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE SELF

• Bodies of water lose and gain heat much more - PURIFICATION OF WATERCOURSES
slowly than do land or air masses and under most
circumstances, water temperature is fairly constant • Natural watercourses contain many
and changes gradually with the seasons. dissolved minerals and gases that interact
Meteorological variables and other factors such as
channel characteristics (depth, width, surface area),
chemically with one another.
channel volume etc. affect the rate of heat transfer • Redox (reduction – oxidation), dissolution –
in bodies of water. For streams heated by solar precipitation and other chemical
radiation over several miles of heat. Aquatic plants
and animals have not developed sufficient conversions may alternately aid or obstruct
adaptability to deal with abrupt changes in natural purification processes in natural
temperature and only the most hardy species water systems
survive such changes.

23 24

4

Chemical Conversions:
1) Oxidation – reduction conversion
– biochemically mediated
2) Dissolution – precipitation
– solid dissolve in water are essential to the
metabolic and reproductive activities of
microorganisms that degrade and stabilize
organic waste – this is directly or indirectly
influenced by dissolution – precipitation
25
BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE SELF -
PURIFICATION OF WATERCOURSES
• Chemical reactions are biologically mediated –
these reactions are not spontaneous and require
external sources of energy for initiation.
* Metabolism – sum total of the processes by
which living organisms assimilate and use food
for subsistence, growth and reproduction.
Metabolic processes and the organisms involved
are a vital part in self – purification of natural
water system.
27
MICROORGANISMS THAT PLAY AN
IMPORTANT ROLE IN NATURAL WATER
SYSTEMS
1) Bacteria – the primary decomposers of
organic material. They are classified
according to the energy and material
sources that they require:
(a) Autotrophs – organisms that derive both
energy and material from inorganic sources.
Their major function is to convert N and S
compounds into stable end – products
29
Mar. 09, 2019
3) Natural chemical conversions that take
place in water can change materials into a
form that is soluble and therefore usable by
various aquatic organisms.
Example: N and P – most essential
nutrients for the growth of microorganisms
and plankton.
4) Chemical conversions can help stabilize pH
of water bodies. Ex. HCO3- acts as a buffer
to protect a stream from pH fluctuations
harmful to aquatic systems.
26
Types of Metabolic Processes:
1) Catabolism – provides the energy for the
synthesis of new cells, as well as for the
maintenance of other cell functions
2) Anabolism – provides the material
necessary for cell growth
• When external food source is interrupted,
organisms will use stored food for
maintenance energy – a process called
Endogenous catabolism.
28
(b) Heterotrophs – bacteria that obtain both
energy and material from organic sources. Most
important bacteria in the degradation of organic
material. They are further classified into:
▪ aerobic heterotrophs – require O2 in their
metabolic process
▪ anaerobic heterotrophs – utilize organics in the
absence of O2
▪ facultative heterotrophs – functions as aerobes
when O2 is present and anaerobic in the absence
of O2
Phototrophs – utilize sunlight for energy and
inorganic substances for material source
30
5
 Mar. 09, 2019

2) Algae – these are autotrophic,

photosynthetic organisms which
metabolize the waste product of
heterotrophic bacteria while obtaining
energy from sunlight.
3) Protozoa – single – cell organisms that
reproduce by binary fission. Protozoa are
voracious consumers of organic material
and are important members of the aquatic
community.
Other organisms: Rotifers and crustacea,
sludge worms, etc,

31