No matter where you are in the country, having access to clean drinking water is crucial to you and your family. That’s why there should be a focus on how water is treated. Public water systems use various treatment methods to provide drinking water to the people. Although they may differ in cleaning and sanitizing the water, the water treatment system process follows similar steps. Here’s a brief rundown of it:
Step 1: Coagulation
Often, the first step in treating your drinking water is coagulation. It’s the process where positively charged chemicals, usually consisting of a specific type of salt, iron, or aluminum, are added to the water. These chemicals then neutralize the negatively charged dirt and other dissolved solids like gravel, sand, and more. If not removed properly, these contaminants can negatively affect the taste and color of the water.
Step 2: Flocculation
However, some contaminants can still pass through the coagulation step. That’s where the flocculation starts. It is the process where the water is slowly stirred so that the remaining sediments and particles coagulate to form heavier particles called flocs. Due to their larger size, flocs settle down to the bottom more rapidly.
Coagulation and flocculation are very effective methods of removing the fine suspended particles. Most if not all of the bacteria and viruses in the water are already gone from the water. However, water treatment doesn’t end here.
Step 3: Filtration
Once the flocs have settled to the bottom, the filtration process begins. To separate the flocs from the clean water, it must go through a series of filters that vary in pore size and materials used.
There are a few different types of water filters, including mechanical, absorption, ion exchange, sequestration, and reverse osmosis. Each one of them can filter out a specific water problem. Most of the time, multiple filters are used to clean the water thoroughly.
Step 4: Disinfection
Now that the dissolved solids are filtered out of the water, some water treatment facilities may add in a few more chemical disinfectants like chlorine or chloramine. This is to ensure that the remaining parasites and other microorganisms are killed off.
Some facilities may use other disinfection methods like UV light and ozone. Ozone has been proven to be stronger than regular chlorine in killing off microorganisms in the water. Meanwhile, UV light damages the DNA in bacteria and viruses without affecting the taste and color of the water.
Keep in mind that water can be treated in a different method in specific communities. It depends on the quality of the water that enters the treatment plant. Contact Adams Water Conditioning today and schedule an appointment for more on how we clean our water.
