WATER PURIFICATION PROCESSES

IN NATURAL SYSTEMS
• Natural forms of pollutants have always been
present in surface waters.
• Impurities may come from:
– air, eroded from land surfaces or leached from the soil
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
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• 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
 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
• Its success depends upon discharging relatively small
quantities of waste into large bodies of water
1) Dilution
• 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.

• 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.
• 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
Ex.
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.
 CAQA + CwQw = CBQB
(10 mg/L)(20 m3/s) + (250 mg/L)(1.5 m3/s) = CBQB

where : QB=QA+QW
QB= 20 m3/s + 1.5 m3/s
Substitute the values and compute
CB = 26.74mg/L
 2) Effluent from a wastewater treatment plant is
discharged to a surface stream. The characteristics
of the effluent and stream are as follows:

FLOW BOD5 AMMONIA NITRATE CHLORIDE

EFFLUENT 8640 m3/d 25 mg/L 7 mg/L 10 mg/L 15 mg/L

STREAM 1.2 m3/s 2.1 mg/L 0 mg/L 3.0 mg/L 5.0 mg/L

Determine the stream characteristics after mixing with

the waste has occurred.
2) Sedimentation and Re – suspension
• Suspended solids are one of the most
common water pollutants and in suspension
– It increase turbidity and
– reduce light penetration that may restrict the
photosynthetic activity of plants,
– inhibit vision of aquatic animals,
– interfere with feeding of aquatic animals that
obtain food from filtration and
– be abrasive to respiratory structures such as gills
of fish.
• Sedimentation
– 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.
– Anaerobic conditions are likely to develop in
sediments and any organics trapped in them will
decompose, releasing soluble compounds into the
stream above.
• Sedimentation
– 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.
• Resuspension 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.
3) Filtration
• Large bits of debris lodge on reeds or stones as they
move along streambeds 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 downward into groundwater aquifers,
filtration of much more sophisticated type occurs. If
the soil layers are deep and fine enough, removal of
suspended material is essentially complete by the
time waters enters the aquifer.
3) Filtration
• A water percolates from the surface
downward into groundwater aquifers,
filtration of much more sophisticated type
occurs. If the soil layers are deep and fine
enough, removal of suspended material is
essentially complete by the time waters
enters the aquifer.
4) Gas Transfer
• The replenishment of oxygen lost to bacterial
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)
5) Heat Transfer
• Bodies of water lose and gain heat much
more slowly than do land or air masses and
under most circumstances
• Water temperature is fairly constant and
changes gradually with the seasons.
• Meteorological variables and other factors
such as channel characteristics (depth, width,
surface area), channel volume etc. affect the
rate of heat transfer in bodies of water.
 CHEMICAL PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE SELF -
PURIFICATION OF WATERCOURSES
• Natural watercourses contain many dissolved
minerals and gases that interact chemically
with one another.
• Redox (reduction – oxidation), dissolution –
precipitation and other chemical conversions
may alternately aid or obstruct natural
purification processes in natural water
systems
Chemical Conversions:
1) Oxidation – reduction conversion are
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
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. Ex. 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.
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.
Types of Metabolic Processes:
1) Catabolism – breakdown of complex molecules
to simple molecules producing energy.
2) Anabolism – simple substance is synthesized to
complex molecules using the energy from
catabolism
- 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.
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
(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 anaerobes in
the absence of O2
 (c) Phototrophs – utilize sunlight for energy
and inorganic substances for material
source
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 - are microscopic aquatic animals of the
phylum Rotifera. Their diet most commonly consists
of dead or decomposing organic materials,
Crustaceans – crab, shrimp, lobsters

Sludge worms, etc,