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Water Treatment - 2

Softening
• The term hardness is used to characterize a water that does not
lather well, causes a scum in the bath tub, and leaves hard, white,
crusty deposits (scale) on coffee pots, tea kettles, and hot water
heaters. The failure to lather well and the formation of scum on bath
tubs is the result of the reactions of calcium and magnesium with
the soap.
• As a result of this complexation reaction, soap cannot interact with
the dirt on clothing, and the calcium-soap complex itself forms
undesirable precipitates.
• Hardness is defined as the sum of all polyvalent cations (in
consistent units). The common units of expression are mg/L as
CaCO 3 or milliequivalents per liter (meq/L).
Softening
• Carbonate hardness is defined as the amount of
hardness equal to the total hardness or the total alkalinity,
whichever is less. Carbonate hardness is often called
temporary hardness because boiling the water removes
it.
• Noncarbonate hardness is defined as the total hardness
in excess of the alkalinity. If the alkalinity is equal to or
greater than the total hardness, then there is no
noncarbonate hardness. Noncarbonate hardness is called
permanent hardness because it is not removed when
water is heated.
SOFTENING
• The removal of ions that cause hardness is called
softening. The majority of treatment systems that employ
softening are those using a groundwater source. There
are, however, a number of surface water sources with a
groundwater component that is hard that employ softening
as part of their treatment process. Softening can be
accomplished by the lime-soda process, ion exchange,
nanofiltration, or reverse osmosis.
Delineation of Membrane Processes
• Reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF), and electrodialysis
are membrane processes that use the differences in permeability
of water constituents as a separation technique. The membrane is a
synthetic material that is semipermeable; that is, it is highly
permeable to some constituents and less permeable to others. To
remove a constituent from the water, the water is pumped against
the surface of a membrane resulting in a separation of product and
waste streams.
• Four types of pressure driven membranes are generally recognized:
microfiltration (MF),
• ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO).
The hierarchy of the processes is identified by the types of materials
rejected, operating pressures, and nominal pore sizes on an order-
of-magnitude basis.
REVERSE OSMOSIS

• Osmosis is defined as the spontaneous transport of a


solvent (in this case, water) from a dilute solution to a
concentrated solution across an ideal semipermeable
membrane that impedes passage of the solute (ions in
solution) but allows the solvent (water) to flow. This is
noted as the osmotic pressure. If pressure is exerted to
overcome the osmotic pressure, the solvent (pure water)
will flow from the saline side to the fresh water side. The
semipermeable membrane will not allow the passage of
molecules other than water and gases.
Sedimentation
• One of the objectives of the coagulation and flocculation
processes is to enhance the size of particles so that they will
settle in a reasonable period of time. The lime-soda softening
process objective is to remove hardness by forming an
insoluble precipitate. Once the particles and precipitate are
formed, the most common means of removing them from the
water is by gravitational settling in a sedimentation basin (also
called a clarifier or settling tank ). Other means, such as direct
filtration or flotation, may also be employed.
• In the design of an ideal sedimentation tank, one of the
controlling parameters is the settling velocity ( v s ) of the
particle to be removed; the settling properties of particles are
categorized into four classes: (1) discrete particle settling, (2)
flocculant settling, (3) hindered settling, and (4) compression
settling. By convention these categories have been labeled
Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV settling.
Type I Sedimentation

• Type I sedimentation is characterized by particles that settle


discretely at a constant settling velocity. They settle as individual
particles and do not flocculate during settling. Examples of these
particles are sand and grit (a mixture of abrasive particles that may
include sand, broken glass, etc.). Generally speaking, the only
applications of Type I settling are during presedimentation for sand
removal prior to coagulation in a potable water plant, in settling of
sand particles during cleaning of rapid sand filters, and in grit
chambers.
Type I Sedimentation
Type I settling.
• Four zones in the basin: inlet, outlet, sludge, and settling.
• Even distribution of flow (uniform horizontal velocity) entering the settling
zone.
• Even distribution of flow leaving the settling zone.
• Uniform distribution of particles through the depth of the inlet zone end of
the settling zone.
• Particles that enter the sludge zone are captured and remain in the sludge
zone.
• Particles that enter the outlet zone are not removed from the water.
Type II Sedimentation

• Type II sedimentation is characterized by particles that


flocculate during sedimentation. These types of particles
occur in alum or iron coagulation, in wastewater primary
sedimentation, and in settling tanks in trickling filtration
Type III and Type IV Sedimentation
• When the water contains a high concentration of particles (for example,
greater than 1,000 mg/L) both Type III ( hindered settling or zone settling)
and Type IV ( compression settling) occur along with discrete and
flocculant settling. Zone settling occurs in lime-softening sedimentation,
activatedsludge sedimentation, and sludge thickeners. With a high particle
concentration the free area between the particles is reduced. This causes
greater interparticle fluid velocities that reduce the settling velocity below
that of the individual particles. Because of the high concentration of
particles, the liquid tends to move up through the interstices between the
particles. As a result, the particles that are in contact with one another
tend to settle as a zone or “blanket.” The particles in contact tend to
maintain the same relative position. This results in a
• relatively clear layer above the settling mass of settling particles. This
phenomenon is known as hindered settling. The rate of hindered settling
is a function of the concentration of the particles and their characteristics.
As settling continues, a compressed layer of particles begins to form. The
particles are in contact and do not really settle. A more correct way to
visualize the phenomena is the flow of water out of a mat of particles that
is being compressed. Thus, it is called compression settling.
FILTRATION
• In order to reduce the turbidity to this level, a filtration process is
normally used. The most common filtration process is granular
filtration where the suspended or colloidal impurities are separated
from water by passage through a porous medium. The medium is
usually a bed of sand or other media such as coal, activated
carbon, or garnet.
• A number of classification systems are used to describe granular
filters including media type,filtration rate, washing technique, and
filtration rate control ,slow sand, rapid sand, and high-rate filters
with either multimedia or deep monomedium the focus is on rapid
sand and high-rate filters. Pressure filters (also called precoat
filters) and automatic backwash filters.
• The grain size, or perhaps more correctly the grain size distribution,
affects both the hydraulic performance of the filtration process and
the efficiency of particle removal. The grain size analysis begins by
placing the sieve screens in ascending order with the largest
opening on top and the smallest opening on the bottom
DISINFECTION
• Disinfection is used in water treatment to reduce pathogens to an
acceptable level. Disinfection is not the same as sterilization.
Sterilization implies the destruction of all living organisms. Drinking
water does not need to be sterile to be safe to drink.
• Three categories of human enteric pathogens are of concern in
drinking water: bacteria, viruses, and amebic cysts. Disinfection
must be capable of destroying all three.
• Five agents have found common use in disinfecting drinking water:
(1) free chlorine, (2) combined chlorine, (3) ozone, (4) chlorine
dioxide, and (5)ultraviolet irradiation
DISINFECTION
• The chlorine demand of a water is the difference between
the amount of chlorine added and the amount of free,
combined or total chlorine remaining at the end of the
contact period. A similar definition may be used for chlorine
dioxide or ozone. The demand is a function of the water
quality characteristics, pH, temperature of the water, amount
of oxidant applied, and the time of contact. Significant
amounts of ammonia in the water react with chlorine to
produce an unpleasant taste and odor (T&O). One method
for removing T&O is by the addition of chlorine in a process
called breakpoint chlorination.
EMERGENCY DISINFECTION

When disasters such as floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes


occur or when the water treatment plant disinfection
system fails, emergency precautions are required to
prevent widespread disease.

In the case of disruption of the water treatment plant


disinfection system, loss of water pressure due to a break in
the water main, or similar circumstances, the water utility will
announce a boil water advisory notice. This means that water
to be used for consumption, food preparation,and brushing
teeth should be boiled vigorously (rolling boil) for 5 minutes.
EMERGENCY DISINFECTION
In the case of natural disasters, the boil water advisory should also be given. In
addition, treatment of other water for washing hands and utensils is also
recommended. Clear water may be obtained by filtering through clean cloth.
Disinfection of the clear water can be accomplished with household bleach. In
general, commercial household bleach contains 5.2 percent (52,000 mg/L) NaOCL.
Two to four drops of household bleach per liter of water will provide a measure of
protection.Boiled water should be stored in containers cleaned with boiled water or
disinfected water

For extended durations without public water supply, advisories should also
include instructions to bury fecal waste and to wash hands in disinfected or
boiled water. Epidemics that follow natural disasters often claim more lives
than the disaster because these simple measures are not implemented

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