Professional Documents
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CH 3
CH 3
To make a water supply scheme successful, it is also necessary to have adequate sources of water supply. In fact,
two aspects of water supply scheme i.e. Demand and availability of water, should balance each other. If the supply
is more than the demand, it is the best combination but if available supply of water is able to meet demand of
water. New water supply sources will have to be found out to balance the demand and supply.
An important source of water is rainfall. As time is passing, it has become necessary to find other sources of water.
The scientists have started experiments to find out feasibilities of converting ocean water and sewage effluent to
potable water.
The total surface of earth covered by the seas is about 71% and land occupies the remaining 29 % of earth surface.
If need arises in future, polar glaciers may be attacked to secure water. It is estimated that polar glaciers contain
about 24 x 103 km3 volume of water and with the help of nuclear power stations, there is possibility of making me
of this vast volume of water for future generations.
RAINFALL AND RUNOFF:
The rainfall on an area is expressed as millimeters over the entire area for a certain fixed interval of time, i.e., day,
month, season or year. Thus, the quantity of water obtained from rainfall during a certain interval of time can be
easily worked out by the multiplication of the area and depth of rainfall.
But all the water coming dawn from the rainfall is not available for further use. Some quantity of it is lost either in
evaporation or percolation or transpiration. Evaporation is the loss of water from land and water surfaces back to
the atmosphere due to action of heat of the sun. Percolation indicates the loss of water penetrated into the soil
and it may join some underground source of water. transpiration is the loss of water caused by the leaves of the
growing vegetation. The net quantity of rain water which remains on surface after all these losses is termed as
surface runoff This surface runoff is seen in the form of various stream which ultimately join and form a river.
The surface runoff is harmful because of the following reasons;
(1) Economic: If surface runoff is to be used economically. it requires costly reservoirs or land improvement
schemes.
(2) Erosion: It take: away top soil and the soil erosion to surface runoff causes serious economic losses.
(3) Loss of water: it takes away the water which might have been used for agricultural purposes.
TYPES OF SOURCES:
Sources from which water can be obtained can be classified in two groups which are;
1. Surface sources.
2. Underground sources.
SURFACE SOURCES:
In this type of source, the surface runoff is available for water supply schemes. Usual forms of surface sources are
as follows;
i. Lakes and streams
ii. Rivers
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iii. Storage reservoirs
→ Selection of site.
→ Storage capacity.
→ Height of dam.
→ Type of dam.
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UNDERGROUND SOURCES:
In this type of source, the water percolated in the ground is brought back through various means. Following terms
are important to know with relation to underground water sources.
a. Aquifers: the surface of earth contains alternate layers of pervious and impervious strata. The pervious
layer (through which water can pass) is called aquifer. If the aquifer consists sand and gravel, it provides
good quality of drinking water.
b. Movement of ground water: the underground water moves due to actions of gravity and molecular
attraction of surface tension. The velocity of flow depends on slope of ground water surface, hydraulic
properties of soil and temperature of water.
c. Porosity: It is defined as the ratio of volume of voids in soil to its total volume. The percentage of porosity
of certain soils shows its ability to allow flow of water.
d. Quality of water: underground waters are generally free from impurities because of the multiple layers of
sand filters but it may contain small quantity of bacteria. It can also absorb salts from ground during
percolation. The type of ground generally contributes to the quality of water in it.
e. Water table: the upper surface of free water in top soil is called ground water table. The level of water table
is variable. It rises with higher percolation in monsoon and falls down in dry season.
FORMS OF UNDERGROUND SOURCES:
Following are the forms in which underground sources are found:
i. Infiltration galleries
ii. Infiltration wells
iii. Springs
iv. Wells
i. INFILTRATION GALLERIES:
Infiltration gallery is a horizontal or nearly horizontal tunnel which is constructed through water bearing strata. It
is also called horizontal well. The gallery is constructed with brick walls with slab roof. It obtains its water from
water bearing strata by various porous drain pipes. These pipes are covered with gravel, pebbles to restrict entry
of fine material into pipe. The gallery is laid at slope and the water collected is led to sump where it is treated and
then pumped and supplied to consumers.
Infiltration galleries are useful when there is sufficient water available in ground in shallow depths. The galleries
are usually constructed at a depth of 5 to 10 meters from the ground level.
ii. INFILTRATION WELLS:
In order to obtain large quantities of water, infiltration wells are sunk in series in river banks. The wells are closed
at top and open at bottom. These are constructed of brick masonry with open joints. The water infiltrates through
the bottom of the well where it passes through sand bed and gets purified.
The infiltration wells are connected by porous pipes to a collecting sump where it is pumped to purification plant.
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iii. SPRINGS:
When ground water appears at the surface for any reason, springs are formed. They serve as a water supply source
for small towns. Some springs discharge hot water due to chemicals in their composition. The hot springs can’t be
used for domestic water supply.
A good spring proves to be a good source of water but it is difficult to find a good spring for water supply purpose.
When a spring is to be developed as a source of water supply, the following factors should be examined;
WATER TREATMENT
Water to be used in a public water supply is required to be fit for drinking. This implies that it poses no danger to
health, and it should be colorless, clear, odorless, sparkling and pleasant to taste. The raw or treated water is
analyzed by testing their physical, chemical and bacteriological characteristics:
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PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
i. TURBIDITY: The turbidity is expressed in matter per million parts of water shortly written as p.p.m. The
measurement of turbidity is done by means of turbidity rod.
ii. COLOR: The measure of color is done by tintometer. The instrument has an eyepiece with two holes. A
standard color slide is seen with one hole and sample is observed through another hole. The color is compared
with standard colors.
iii. TASTE AND ODOR: The taste and odor is measured by threshold number. The water to be tested is diluted
with odor-free water and the mixture at which odor becomes detectable is determined. It indicates the
threshold number. For public water supply, the threshold number shouldn’t be more than 3.
iv. TEMPERATURE: The temperature of water to be supplied depends on the depths from which it is drawn. The
desirable temperature of potable water is 10oc while temperature of 25oc is considered unpleasant.