WATER SUPPLY QUALITY

WATER QUALITY
• Water quality are measurements of the characteristics of water, which can include
chemical, biological, physical, and radiological characteristics. This is usually measured
relative to human needs, though it can also be looked at in terms of how the quality of
water affects animal and plant ecosystems.

THERE ARE LOTS OF THINGS WE CAN MEASURE THAT FORMS PART OF WATER QUALITY. LET'S
DISCUSS A FEW OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES IN MORE DETAIL

• A water sample's pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline the water is. Good quality
water should be close to neutral, which is a pH of 7. Numbers bigger than that are
alkaline, and numbers smaller than that are acidic. Strong acids are caustic, and strong
alkalis are corrosive. Acids burn away at your tissues and cause pain, where as alkalis get
absorbed into tissues, but either way they cause a lot of damage. Neutral water is easier
for the body to handle. If a water's pH is off, it's because of other things being mixed in
the water. Slightly alkali water is usually due to minerals and is probably fine.
• Heavy metals are metals that have high densities, and usually refers to toxic heavy
metals like cadmium, mercury, arsenic and lead, that have got into the water due to
nearby factories or old lead piping. These toxic materials are really bad for you, so it's
important that water contain as few of them as possible. Your body has to work hard to
filter them out and avoid them killing cells.
• Radon is a radioactive element that is bad for humans, and can sometimes be found in
water supplies. Some radioactive material is natural because it's found in many rocks
underground, and this especially happens when water is supplied from underground.
Radon can cause the development of cancers in humans, and so is best avoided.
• Drug content refers to the amount of pharmaceutical drugs found in the water. These
can find their way into water supplies due to factories pumping waste products into the
water, and due to farmers giving drugs to their livestock. They have all kinds of mixed
effects on humans which are often poorly researched and hard to predict.

WATER RESOURCE
• Surface of water is:
- 97% saltwater
-2.4% glaciers and polar ice cap
- 0.6% other land surface water
4 TYPES OF WATER
• Surface waters include streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands.   In this case the
word stream represents all flowing surface water, think large rivers to small brooks and
everything in between. Surface waters, because they are easily accessed, provide
(according to a 2010 USGS study) around 78% of the fresh water we use. The number
will vary based on variables like drought. Over 1.2 billion people rely primarily on
surface water in big cities around the world.  

• Groundwater, which makes up around 22% of the water we use, is the water beneath
the earth’s surface filling cracks and other openings in beds of rock and sand. It exists in
soils and sands that are able to retain water. The water table is the line between
unsaturated soil and saturated soil. Below the water table is where rocks and soil are full
of water.

• Wastewater is any water that has been affected in quality by human activities.
Wastewater can develop from agricultural activities, urban water use, and sewer inflow
and stormwater runoff just to name a few. Wastewater from a municipality is also called
sewage. Most of us don’t want to think about it, but at times the water that swirls in the
bowl ends up being treated and ends up in our taps. This is recycled water. 

• Stormwater is defined by U.S. EPA as the runoff generated when precipitation from rain
and snowmelt events flows over land or impervious surfaces without percolating into
the ground.  This water runs over surfaces like asphalt containing pollutants like engine
oil, fertilizer, and radiator fluid. Stormwater not soaking into the ground ends up as
surface runoff draining into rivers, lakes, streams and oceans. In the future capturing
more stormwater draining to the ocean is critical to meeting water demands in the
United States. This covers four basic types of water that our critical to our survival. It is
just the basics, but enough information to help us understand where we need to
conserve and where we need to access more water in our battle for water conservation.
 
IMPORTANCE OF WATER SUPPLY QUALITY
•  To supply a population with water, normally potable (drinking water), and water for
washing, cooking and waste disposal.
• Clean water is the BEST way to prevent the spread of the many diseases that can cause
havoc in a closely packed population of humans. Diseases such as typhoid, cholera etc,
as well as diseases that are caused by poor hygiene such as salmonella, e coli etc. Clean
water and hand washing stop the spread of disease within a household.

CONVENTIONAL SURFACE WATER TREATMENT

Steps in the treatment process:
• Collection • Sedimentation and Clarification
• Screening and Straining • Filtration
• Chemical Addition  • Disinfection
• Coagulation and Flocculation • Storage
• Distribution