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WR 230: WATER TREATMENT

ENGINEERING
Instructor: Ms. Alexander
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Course Contents
Introduction

Screens

Sedimentation:
Loading of settling tanks
Efficiencies
Short circuiting
Design of settling tanks

Coagulation and flocculation
Double layer theory
Destabilization of colloids
Alum dose
Coagulating aids
Design of flocculators



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Course Contents contd
Filtration:
Fundamentals of filtration
Construction and details of slow and rapid sand
filters

Disinfection
Chlorine as a disinfectant, break-point chlorination
Chlorinators
Handling, storage and dosing of chemicals


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TEXTBOOKS
Shulz, C.R. and Okun, D.A. (1992): Surface Water
Treatment for Communities in Developing Countries,
John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York
Fair, G. Geyer, J., Okun, D.A (1989), Water Purification
and Wastewater Treatment and Disposal. McGraw-Hill,
Tokyo.
Walter, J. and Weber, J.R. (1990): Physicochemical
Processes for Water Quality Control, McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company, London.
Linsley, R.K (1992): Water Resources Engineering 4
th

edition, McGraw-Hill international editions, Civil
Engineering Series, New York
Tebbut, T.H.Y (1992): Principles of Water Quality
Control, Pergamon Press. Oxford
Degremont, Water Treatment Handbook, John Willey
and Sons


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INRODUCTION

1. General considerations of water treatment
1.1 Basic Objectives of Water Treatment
There are three basic objectives of water
treatment:
Production of water which is safe for human
consumption. Therefore water quality becomes a
criterion of first priority and also becomes a design
criterion for treatment or distribution systems.

Production of water appealing to the consumers:
Water quality becomes a criteria of second priority
and design criteria have to ensure production of
uniform water in order to discourage the people
from using other unsafe sources periodically.
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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.1 Basic Objectives of Water Treatment

Production costs should be reasonable
Treatment processes should be based on locally available
materials, operating manpower and maintenance as far as
possible.

Treatment process should be designed such that they
should treat water up to the desired standard for which it
is to be used. Complete purification is very difficult,
involves time and cost. Absolutely purified water is not
good for health as our bodies require certain elements
and if they are available in water, their removal is
unwise
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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.1 Basic Objectives of Water Treatment
The Requirement of Wholesome Water
(a) It should be free from pathogenic organisms
(b) It should be tasty, odor free and cool
(c) It should be colorless and sparkling, which may be accepted
by consumers
(d) It should not corrode pipe or cause encrustation
(e) It should have dissolved oxygen and free carbonic acid
(f) It should be free from all objectionable matter and
compound that may cause health problems

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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.1 Basic Objectives of Water Treatment
Water treatment is therefore required to
(a) Remove pathogenic organisms which may spread by
supplying of such polluted water
(b) For palatability, free from unpleasant tastes and odor
(c) For aesthetic point of view; It should have an inviting
appearance.
(d) To eliminate corrosive properties of water which affects
conduits and pipes. e.g pH
(e) To remove dissolved gases and color in water
(f) To make water fit for various domestic uses and various
industrial purposes.

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1. General considerations of water
treatment
1.2 An overview of water quality parameters
First priority:
E.coli, Coliforms, Turbidity, Electric Conductivity,
Fluoride, Iron, Nitrate, KMnO
4
-
value

Second priority:
Colour, Taste, pH, Alkalinity (CO
3
2-
or HCO
3
-
) and
Hardness



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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.3 Quality of some typical water sources
1.3.1 Factors affecting raw water quality








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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.3 Quality of some typical water sources
1.3.1 Factors affecting raw water quality
An example of influence of soil (Weathering of
rocks):
CaCO
3
+ H
2
O Ca
2+
HCO
3
-
+ OH
-

CaCO
3
+ H
2
CO
3
Ca
2+
+ 2HCO
3
-

Dissolution of CO
2
from atmosphere or Bio-
activity:
CO
2
+ H
2
O H
2
CO
3



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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.3 Quality of some typical water sources
Release of fluoride ions due to water infiltration:
Ca
3
(PO
4
)
3
F + H
2
O Ca
3
(PO
4
)
3
OH + F
-
+ H
+


Excess levels of Nitrates affect CO
2
/O
2
exchange
in the lungs of infants thus leading to
Methaemoglobinaemia which is sometimes
referred to as the blue baby disease

In general most waste inputs usually render water
unsafe for human consumption

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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.3 Quality of some typical water sources
Table 1.1 gives a general idea of the predominant
constituents of domestic and industrial wastes.
X..Indicates predominance of the constituent
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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.3 Quality of some typical water sources
1.3.2 Impurities found in Water
Suspended Solids: eg algae, fungi, organic & inorganic matter
etc. which may be removed by plain sedimentation and
infiltration
Colloidal impurities: These are finely divided dispersion of
particles in water, not visible to naked eye and can not be
removed by ordinary filters. They are always in motion and
they are charged electrically due to absorbed ion on the
surface of solid particle.
Dissolved Solids: Some impurities dissolves in water when it
moves over the rocks, soil etc.
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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.3 Quality of some typical water sources
1.3.3 Quality Generalization for various water
sources
(a) Surface water:
Usually soft
Eventually turbid due to washed down and eroded
soil particles
Bacteriological quality is poor and fluctuates with
seasons
Streams d/s of swamps have: high organic load, CO
2
,
H
2
S and are anaerobic i.e. have low O
2
content.
Streams downstream of waste disposal have high
NH
+
4
levels
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1. General considerations of water treatment
1.3 Quality of some typical water sources
1.3.2 Quality Generalization for various water
sources
(b) Ground water:
Moderately hard to hard
Low/ usually no Dissolved Oxygen
Low turbidity
Bacteriological quality good and low variations
Due to eventual biological activities in the soil; one finds
CO
2
HC0
3
-
Fe
2+
, Mn
2+
in the water.
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1. General considerations of water
treatment
1.4 "Unit operations" approach in water
treatment
With respect to chemical processes, the essence
of unit operations means that "any chemical
process can be resolved into a coordinated
series of unit actions".

In the field of Environmental Engineering, this
can be restated in the following manner:

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1. General considerations of water
treatment

"Treatment processes are a coordination
of a series of unit actions"




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1. General considerations of water
treatment
1.4 "Unit operations" approach in water
treatment
In the water industry, unit operations can be
classified into the following four main groups:
Gas transfer: Common examples are;
Addition of O
2
to enable precipitation of Iron and
Manganese to take place or to maintain aerobic
conditions in waste water treatment especially Aeration.
Removal of undesirable gases like CO2, H
2
S
(Desorption).
Addition of Cl
2
, O
3
or Chlorine dioxide (ClO
2
) for
disinfection.

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1. General considerations of water
treatment

Ion Transfer This can be effected by either
Chemical coagulation (or precipitation),
Adsorption or Ion exchange.
Chemical coagulation - Floc formation with for example:
Al
2
(SO
4
)
3
. 18H
2
O (Aluminium Sulphate or Alum) or
FeCl
3
(Ferric Chloride) or NaAlO
2
(Sodium Aluminate).
Phosphate precipitation in waste water treatment
Adsorption - With different forms of activated carbon in
order to remove odour, colour, oil and to improve the
taste
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1. General considerations of water
treatment
Solids transfer - Solids are removed from water
by screening (straining), sedimentation,
floatation and filtration.

Nutrients transfer. These unit operations have a
wide application in waste water treatment.



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1. General considerations of water
treatment
1.5 Criteria For Choice
1.5.1 Degree and method of Treatment
Nature of source
Quality of water of the source
Purpose for which it should be supplied for

1.5.2 Selecting the most suitable source of a treatment plant
Reliability yieldwise:- the source must be able to furnish the required
quantity of water at all times.
The Quality:- A determination must be made as to which treatment
process will ensure a satisfactory quality for end use in all seasons.
The cost for each available source:- this include Capital, Operational
and maintenance costs to assure both quality and quantity of water
for distribution. The selected source should minimise operational
attention for both treatment and pumping.
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1. General considerations of water
treatment
1.5 Criteria For Choice
1.5.3 Location of Treatment Plant
Treatment near the source
This require low head pump to pump the raw water to
the treatment plant and then high head pump to supply
water to the village. This may damage the pipe and also
may need to add disinfection due to the risk of
recontamination during transportation. The advantage
is to the communities living near the pipeline as they
may be supplied with clean water.
Treatment plant near the town
Water travel a short distance after treatment; This will
prevent water quality deterioration.
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1. General considerations of water
treatment
1.5 Criteria For Choice
1.5.3 Location of Treatment Plant
So where to locate the Treatment Plant?
Treatment Plant should be located away from any source of
pollution; water must be tapped upstream of point of pollution
The plant should be easily accessible for the persons connected
to operations and maintenance.
Treatment plant should be allocated where there is enough
space for future expansion
Topography of an area may be used to cut for the pumping cost
also to avoid flooding of treatment plant and pumping station.

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Various treatment methods and the
nature of impurities removed
Process Impurity removed
1. Aeration Tastes and odour removal, oxygen deficiency
2. Screening Floating matter
3. Plain
sedimentation
Large suspended solids
4. Coagulation Fine particles
5. Filtration Colloidal particles, microorganisms
6. Activated carbon Elements causing tastes and odours
7. Softening Hardness
8. Disinfection Living organisms including pathogens.
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Water treatment methods
Further comments
Note that not all treatment process will be
required for a treatment plant.

Treatment process will depend on the quality of
water at the source and nature of water required

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Water treatment methods
Further comments
In case of water taken from a surface source,
generally the treatment units required to make
the water fit for domestic use are:
Plain sedimentation,
Coagulation,
Filtration, and,
Disinfection

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Water treatment methods
Further comments
Apparently, whether required or not the
municipal water supply meant for domestic
purposes, irrespective of the type of source
should be properly disinfected.

This is a preventive measure against bacteria
contamination and it guards against after
growth.

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1.6 Classification of water sources with respect
to treatment requirements
Sources (in increasing order of
cost of treatment)
Feasible treatment
(in Tanzania)
GW (deep wells boreholes no
minerals)
None or low Cl
2
dosage
GW (Shallow wells) Disinfection (unless well protected)
Upland river Disinfection
Surface water (streams, lakes,
impoundments)
Filtration + Disinfection, Coagulation +
disinfection or pre filtration
GW (High mineral content) Aeration + softening + sedimentation (to
remove ppt from softening) +
disinfection
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Cost of treatment
Optimal size of the treatment plant should be sought to achieve
economy in costs of operation and maintenance and regular supply
of chemicals and fuel

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1.6 Classification of water sources with respect
to treatment requirements


Minimum design capacities should be adhered
to in order to ensure optimization of:
Costs
Operation + maintenance (manpower)
Regular supplies of chemicals, fuel.