Making Water Drinkable

1. 10.5 Making Water Drinkable • Water treatment is the process of making water suitable for a desired end-use (such as drinking) or returning it to its natural state. • Water may also be treated with UV light, or boiled to remove disease-causing organisms. • There is no process at water treatment plants to remove substances such as pharmaceuticals (antibiotics and birth control chemicals) and oil-based liquids (motor oil and paint) from the water. It is very important that we keep these substances out of our water supply. water treatment floc sustainability

3. During the Intake process, large objects such as sticks, leaves and garbage are removed from the water. A metal screen or filter is placed over the intake pipe to stop these contaminates • The next stage is the Addition of Chemicals into the water. Alum is added, which causes the remaining small particles to be trapped in a sticky substance that floats to the surface • The Sedimentation Process is when the floc begins to settle to the bottom of the sedimentation tank. Sand or small gravel filters out the floc before it moves on to final filtration

4. The final Filtration process runs the water through a fine particle filter to remove the remaining particles and fine sediment that has made it this far. Often these filters contain carbon to aid in the filtration process • Disinfection is when chemicals are added to the water system to kill any microbes or bacteria that may remain in the water system. Chlorine is added to kill bacteria and fluoride to help protect your teeth • Water is then stored in large contained water tanks to be sent to your local neighborhoods and homes