Stages in Water Treatment

1.1) SCREENING: The first operation performed on incoming wastewater for removing materials
that might damage equipment or hinder further treatment. Screening devices are used to remove
coarse solids from wastewater. Coarse solids consist of sticks, rags, boards, and other large
objects that find their way to the wastewater collection systems. Removal of these materials
protects pumps and other mechanical equipment and prevents clogging of valves and other
appurtenances in the wastewater plant.
Classification:
a) Coarse screens
b) Fine screens
Cleaning Method:
a) Mechanically – cleaned bar screens (must be in angles)
1) Bar racks – 3 to 4 inches apart, filter out larger particles.
2) Bar screen – 0.5 to 1.5 cm apart to filter out smaller particles
b) Manually cleaned bar screens
Disposal of Screenings:
1) Removal by hauling to disposal areas (landfilling)
2) Disposal by burial on the plant site (small installation only)
3) Incineration either alone or in combination with sludge and grit (large installations)
4) Disposal with municipal solid wastes
5) Grinding and returning to the wastewater flow (for organic wastes)
1.2) COMMINUTION
Screening are sometimes shredded and returned to the wastewater flow. A hammermill device is
most often used for this purpose. The shredder or comminutor is located across flow path and
intercept the coarse solids and shred them to approximately 8 mm in size. These solids remain
water. A comminutor device called a barminutor uses a certical bar screen with a cutting head
that travels up and down the rack bars, shredding the intercepted material. Channel design for
comminutors is like that for screens
2) AERATION: Wastewater aeration is the process of adding air into wastewater to allow aerobic
bio-degradation of the pollutant components. It is an integral part of most biological wastewater
treatment systems. Unlike chemical treatment which uses chemicals to react and stabilize
contaminants in the wastewater stream, biological treatment uses microorganisms that occur
naturally in wastewater to degrade wastewater contaminants.
Aeration Methods in Activated Sludge Process
1. Diffused Air Aeration
In diffused air aeration method compressed air is blown through the sewage and air is diffused
in sewage by diffuser. Diffusers are of two types: Plate diffuser and Tube diffuser
2. Mechanical Aeration
In this method the surface of sewage is agitated violently with the help of some mechanical
equipment to encourage absorption of oxygen from atmosphere. There are two well known
forms of mechanical aerator. Vertical surface aerator and Horizontal surface aerator.
3. Combine Aerator
In this system, diffused air aeration and mechanical aeration are combined in a single unit.
The well known type of such combination is Dorrocoaerator.
3) COAGULATION: In water treatment, coagulation flocculation involves the addition
of polymers that clump the small, destabilized particles together into larger aggregates so that
they can be more easily separated from the water.
Factors: Coagulation is affected by the type of coagulant used, its dose and mass; pH and
initial turbidity of the water that is being treated; and properties of the pollutants present. The
effectiveness of the coagulation process is also affected by pretreatments like oxidation.
Mechanism: In a colloidal suspension, particles will settle very slowly or not at all because the
colloidal particles carry surface electrical charges that mutually repel each other. A coagulant
(typically a metallic salt) with the opposite charge is added to the water to overcome the
repulsive charge and "destabilize" the suspension.
Limitations: Coagulation itself results in the formation of floc but flocculation is required to help
the floc further aggregate and settle. The coagulation-flocculation process itself removes only
 about 60%-70% of Natural Organic Matter (NOM) and thus, other processes like oxidation,
filtration and sedimentation are necessary for complete raw water or wastewater
treatment. Coagulant aids (polymers that bridge the colloids together) are also often used to
increase the efficiency of the process.
4.1) PLAIN SEDIMENTATION: The process in which water is kept in a tank or basin so that the
suspended particles present in water may settle under the action of gravity without an
addition of any chemical is known as plain sedimentation. This process involves the storage of
water on large reservoirs undisturbed over a long period of time (more than one month).
Impurities that are either dissolved or suspended in water are allowed to settle. Since the
impurities have larger density than water, we rely on the gravity for the sanitation.
4.2) SEDIMENTATION WITH COAGULATION: In sedimentation with coagulation, the following
three operations are involved. A) Feeding and mixing of coagulant B) Flocculation
C)Sedimentation
Common coagulants: Aluminum sulphate, Iron salts, Chlorinated copperas, Sodium aluminate
5) FILTRATION: Water flows through a filter designed to remove particles in the water. The filters
are made of layers of sand and gravel, and in some cases, crushed anthracite. Filtration collects
the suspended impurities in water and enhances the effectiveness of disinfection. The filters are
routinely cleaned by backwashing.
Types of Filters:
1) Rapid Sand Filters
2) High Rate Filters
3) Pressure Filters
6) WATER SOFTENING: The removal of calcium, magnesium, and certain other
metal cations in hard water. The resulting soft water requires less soap for the same cleaning
effort as soap is not wasted mopping up calcium ions. Soft water also EXTENDS the lifetime of
plumbing by reducing or eliminating scale build-up in pipes and fittings. Water softening is
usually achieved using lime softening or ion-exchange resins.
Types of Water Hardness
1) Temporary Hardness
2) Permanent Hardness
Methods of Softening
1) Ion-exchange resin devices
2) Reverse Osmosis
Lime softening- the process in which lime is added to hard water to make it softer. It has several
advantages over the ion-exchange method but requires full-time, trained personnel to run the
equipment.
7) MISCELLANEOUS TREATMENT: Activated carbon filters are generally employed in the process
of removing organic compounds and/or extracting free chlorine from water, thereby making
the water suitable for discharge or use in manufacturing processes. Eliminating organics in
potable water, such as humic and fulvic acid, prevents chlorine in the water from chemically
reacting with the acids and forming trihalomethanes, a class of known carcinogens.
Activated Carbon (AC) filtration, as with any water treatment method, is not capable of
removing every possible type of contaminant. For example, sodium, microbes, fluoride, and
nitrates cannot be removed with AC filtration. Water softening also cannot be achieved with
AC filters. In addition, heavy metals, such as lead, can only be removed with a very specific
kind of activated carbon water treatment, which is typically used only in residential point-of-
use filters.
Two types of Activation:
1) Steam Activation
2) Chemical Activation
Lime soda process is one of the water softener systems. In this system calcium hydroxide and
soda ash are used as reagents. By this process soluble magnesium and calcium salts are
removed as calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide precipitated. After removal of this
precipitated, we obtain soft water.