CHAPTER 1

By : EN MOHD HAFIZ BIN TUPARMAN

WATER TREATMENT
SYSTEM
 INTRODUCTION

• Water is necessary for life on earth. In nature it comes in

three aggregate forms (snow / ice, liquid, vapour / steam).
• The majority of particle transport is carried out through
water. In water many particles become dissolved.
• In our society water fulfills many functions as the
foundation for a natural habitat and more specifically for
human activities, such as domestic use, industrial and
agricultural usages, fishing, transportation and recreation.
• All natural waters contain suspended or dissolved
inorganic or organic chemicals to some degree.
• Whether they are present in high enough
concentration to be considered as impurities depends
on the water use.
 OBJECTIVE OF WATER
TREATMENT SYSTEM
• Objective of water treatment process are to remove the
different impurities in the raw water, to render the water
safe and clean and to ensure the treated water quality
meets the drinking water standards.

• The types of treatment required depends on the

characteristics of the raw water.
 TYPES OF CONTAMINANTS IN
WATER
CONTAMINANT TREATMENT

Turbidity Filtration
Color
Microbial
Disinfection
• Chlorine
• Carbon Dioxide
Microorganisms •
•
Chloramines
Ozone

Packed Tower Aeration

GAC
PAC
Organics Diffused Aeration
Oxidation Processes
RO
Turbidity is a measure of the clarity of water. Water that has a very high turbidity will
appear cloudy or opaque while water with very low turbidity will appear clear or
translucent. Turbidity is caused by particles such as silt, clay, microorganisms, and
organic matter.
TYPICAL PROCESS FLOW OF WATER
TREATMENT SYSTEM
ALUM AND LIME
PROCCESS AND
STORAGE

INTAKE MIXING POINT SEDIMENTATION

AERATION
TANK

CHLORINE FILTRATION
STORAGE

CHLORINE
CONSUMER WATER TANK
MIXING POINT
 INTAKES
• Intakes are structures constructed in or adjacent to

lakes, reservoirs, or rivers for the purpose of

withdrawing water.

• In general, they consist of an opening with a grate

or strainer through which the water enters, and a

conduit to conduct the water by gravity to a low-lift

pumping station.
• The water is pumped from the low-lift pumping station
to the water treatment facility.
• Schematic diagrams of lake and river intake systems
are shown in Figures 3-1 and 3-2 .
• 2 types of intake;
a) Surface Intake
b) Submerged Intake
Structure of Surface Intake
Structure of Submerged Intake
 MIXING POINT

• Alum (aluminium sulfat) and Lime (CaO) added to the

raw water.
• Then the water will be transferred to aeration tank.
Liquid chemical feed system.
 ALUM

• Aluminium sulphate (Al2(SO4)3.16H2O) is commonly

used as a coagulant.
• The alum is dissolved in the water and the aluminium
ions (Al3+) that form, have a high capacity to
neutralise the negative charges which are carried
by the colloidal particles and which contribute to their
stability.
• The aluminium ions hydrolyse and form aluminium
hydroxide (Al(OH)3), which precipitates as a solid.
 LIME
• Hydrated lime's chemical name is calcium hydroxide,
and its chemical formula is Ca(OH)2.
• When lime is added to water the pH increases,
resulting in the formation of carbonate ions from the
natural alkalinity in the water.
• The increase in carbonate concentration together with
calcium added in the lime results in the precipitation of
calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
• The calcium carbonate crystals enmesh colloidal
particles in the same way as alum or ferric flocs.
.
 AERATION TANK
• Aeration is used in water treatment as a
pretreatment in the process of removing iron
and hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) from
water.

• The process of bringing water and air into close

contact to remove or modify constituents in the
water.

• Function to remove the air and gases from the

water.

• Example; CO2, and hydrogen suphide

• Adding oxygen into the water

• Remove unwanted odor from water.

 SEDIMENTATION TANK

• Sedimentation processes are used

to clarify turbid and/or colored
waters, and are used in conjunction
with chemical precipitation to
remove dissolved impurities such as
iron, manganese,calcium, and
magnesium compounds, as well
as silica and fluorides.

• The formation of floc occurred here

• The flocs will settle down at the

bottom of the tank.
• ‘Scrapers’ will push the flocs to the hopper at
the bottom of the tank.

• Eventually only clean water will remains in the

tank.
 COAGULATION
• The particles suspended in water result in a turbid, or
colored, appearance that is objectionable, and they
have a static charge (usually negative) that causes the
particles to repel each other and remain suspended.
• By adding certain chemicals, it is possible to neutralize
these charges, permitting the particles to agglomerate
and settle from the liquid more effectively.
• The current practice is to refer to this neutralization or
destabilization step as coagulation
• Inorganic chemicals such as aluminum sulfate (alum), ferrous
sulfate (copperas), ferric chloride, and sodium aluminate, as
well as a long list of organic polymers, are used for
coagulating and flocculating suspended matter in water.

• Coagulation takes place very quickly—a few seconds to 1

minute—and the chemicals should be added with intense
mixing in order to obtain maximum efficiency
 FLOCCULATION

• The subsequent gathering together of the particles into

larger, more settleable “flocs” as flocculation

• The water treatment process following coagulation, which

uses gentle stirring to bring suspended particles together so
they will form larger, more settleable particles called floc.

• Floc which is big and heavy will evetually settle down in

settling tank.
• Flocculation, normally requires detention periods of 20
to 45 min
• Once the chemicals have been added, should be
accomplished by relatively gentle mixing.
• The mixing is carried out in a flocculation basin, and its
purpose is to bring about the maximum collisions
between the suspended particles without shearing or
breaking apart the particles that have already been
formed.
 FILTRATION
• Filtration is a fundamental unit operation that
separates suspended particle matter from water.

• Filters are used in water treatment to remove

relatively low concentrations of suspended matter
when a high clarity is needed.

• 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.
• water containing the suspended matter is applied to
the top of the filter.
• The suspended matter is filtered from the water. As
material accumulates in the interstices of the granular
medium, the headloss through the filter increases.
• When either the headloss or the effluent turbidity
reaches a predetermined limit, filtration is terminated
and the filter is cleaned.
• The filter is cleaned by backwashing; that is, clean
water is pumped backwards through the filter.
Rapind Sand Filtration
Filter House - where final clarification takes place

Water in Rapid Sand

Filter Filters
 CHLORINE MIXING POINT

• 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.

• Chlorine is the most common disinfecting chemical used.

• The term chlorination is often used synonymously with

disinfection.
• Chlorine may be used as an element (Cl2 ), as sodium
hypochlorite (NaOCl), also known as bleach, as calcium
hypochlorite [Ca(OCl) 2 ], also known as HTH ® , or as
chlorinated lime (CaOCl 2 ).

• When chlorine is added to water, a mixture of

hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) is
formed:

• Chlorine will remove all the dangerous bacteria in the

water

• The water is now potable

*
 LOWER RESERVOIR

*
 ELEVATED RESERVOIR

*
 * The Maintenance Of Water
Treatment Plant Component

*Intake, screener
Screeners:
• In the case of hand raked screens, the screens should be raked at least hourly.

• Screenings should be allowed to drain for an hour, until the screen is raked again.

• Surfaces on which screenings have been deposited, should be hosed down on a daily basis,
in such a way that wash water flows back into the wastewater stream.

• There is often more than one grit channel or grit removal hopper.

• Grit channels should be taken out of operation at least once a day, drained and the grit
deposited onto drainage platforms

• The total flow should be read daily at the same time and recorded.
Coagulation & flocculation:
• two parallel systems of coagulation/flocculation units to facilitate removing one half of the
basins for maintenance.
Each unit is separated by baffles to prevent short circuiting
• The flocculators usually are driven by multiple variable speed drive units.
Desirable speed of the flocculators to prevent breaking up the large floc particles which have
formed.
• The flocculators should have a detention time of 30 minutes.
• Jar tests should be done to varify the doses of chemicals and the speed of the flocculators
to determine if an improved process could be developed.
*
 • The maintenance of the flocculation drive units usually is
lubrication of the motor and drive units according to the
manufacturer's recommendations.

• Horizontal paddles usually have submerged bearings, drive chains,

or packing which requires additional checking and maintenance.

• The flocculation basins should be drained approximately every

six months to check the condition of the paddles or blades, to
remove any accumulation of settled material, and to check on the
condition of the basin's structure.
*
 Sedimentation:
• Sedimentation is the slow, quiet settling of the floc and suspended matter from the water
by gravity. The sedimentation basins can be rectangular or circular in shape.

• There should be at least duplicate units to facilitate cleaning.

• The basins should have a detention time of four (4) hours.

• The inlet devices should be designed to distribute the water for uniform velocities and
care should be taken to prevent short circuiting of flows.

• There should be surface skimming to collect floating debris, such as leaves, scum, etc.

• When the basins are drained for cleaning, the condition of the basins and the sludge
collection equipment should be checked carefully.
*
 *
• The filtration process is the passing of the water through a bed of fine material, such as
sand, coal, or other fine granular material. The filter media can be uniform in sizing, but
higher and more effective filter rates are attained by use of mixed media.

• As a coating builds and penetrates into the filter bed, the head loss across the filter
becomes greater until the flow rate is greatly reduced.

• At this time the filter must be backwashed to cleanse the media of the floc and
particulate matter.
*
• The filter control valves should be checked routinely for proper
operation and any leakage.
• The filter media should be examined annually to evaluate its overall
condition.
• Is the media uniformly graded and distributed?
• Is there the proper depth of each gradation of media?
• Expose the underdrain system to check if the holes or nozzles are
clogged.
• The backwash and surface wash pumps should be checked and
lubricated according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
• The surface wash equipment, including nozzles, should be checked
periodically for free operation and proper position over the media.
*
*
Disinfection:
• Water can be disinfected by heat, radiation, or chemical treatment;
however, the only widely accepted method is chemical treatment.
Chlorination usually is accomplished by either gas chlorinators,
hypo- chlorinators or chlorine dioxide generators.
• On a daily basis chlorinators should be inspected for proper
operation and leaks.
• The items to be checked should include injector water supply
pressure, injector vacuum, chlorine supply pressure feed rate on
rotor-meter tube.
• The chlorine residual should be checked and recorded.
• On a weekly basis check chlorinator feed rates through the full
range of its capacity, clean any filters, and check operation of
all valves.
• On a monthly basis, exercise all chlorine valves, inspect
ventilation, heating, and lighting equipment for proper
operation.
• Check the chlorinator vent line for obstructions such as insect
nests, inspect the vacuum system for leaks, and perform other
maintenance.
• Inspect all safety equipment for proper operation including
chlorine alarm system and the self-contained breathing
apparatus or gas masks.
• Some abnormal operating conditions which could occur are:
• Chlorine leak - A chlorine leak is usually detectable by your sense of
smell as soon as you arrive at the chlorination location.
• Low gas pressure - If the chlorine gas pressure drops, it usually is the
result of the chlorine container being empty, clogged filters, or
closed valves. To correct, replace the container, clean the filters, and
check the valves.
• Injector vacuum too low - If the injector vacuum drops too low, the
chlorinator should automatically shut off. The cause of the vacuum
being low is a leak in the vacuum hoses, low water pressure, or
Clogged ejector.
If there is a vacuum leak, repair the leak. If there is low water
pressure, check the source, pump operation, or line strainers. If the
ejector is clogged, remove and clean it.