UNIT 4: WATER TREATMNET

SEDIMENTATION AIDED WITH COAGULATION:

When water contains fine clay and colloidal impurities which are electrically charged are
continually in motion and never settle down due to gravitational force. Certain chemicals are added
to the water so as to remove such impurities which are not removed by plain sedimentation.

The chemical form insoluble, gelatinous, flocculent precipitate absorbs and entangle very fine
suspended matter and colloidal impurities during its formation and descent through water.

These coagulants further have an advantage of removing color, odor and taste from the water.
Turbidity of water reduced up to 5-10 NTU and bacteria removal up to 65%.

The use of coagulants is generally necessary for clarifying raw water containing turbidities
greater than 30 to 50 mg/l.

FACTORS AFFECTING COAGULATION

(a) Types of coagulant
(b) Quantity or dose of coagulant
(c) Characteristics of water such as
Type and quantity of suspended matter
Temperature of water
pH of water
(d) Time, violence and method of mixing

TYPES OF COAGULANTS

1. ALUMINIUM SULPHATE OR ALUM

This is the most common and universal coagulant used in water works. Its chemical composition
is Al2(SO4)3. 18H2O . It requires the presence of alkalinity in water to form the floc. Many waters
have bicarbonate alkalinity naturally in them.
When dissolved in water, aluminum sulphate tends to hydrolyze into aluminum hydroxide as is
evident from the following reaction:

Al2(SO4)3. 18H2O + 3Ca(HCO3)2 2Al(OH)3 + 3CaSO4 +18H2O + 6CO2

The Al(OH)3formed above is insoluble in water and is therefore a floc. There are two undesirable
outcomes of the above reaction (a) formation of permanent hardness by calcium sulphate (b)
formation of carbon dioxide which is corrosive to metals.

If natural alkalinity in water is insufficient to react with alum, lime is also added to water.
The lime CaO unites with water to form calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2 or hydrated lime
which reacts with alum as follows:

Al2(SO4)3. 18H2O + 3Ca(OH)2 2Al(OH)3 + 3CaSO4 + 18H2O

Alum is found to be effective when pH of water ranges between 6.5 to 8.5.

Its dosage depends upon turbidity, colour, taste, pH value and temperature of water.
The dosage of alum varies between 10 to 30 milligrams per liter of water.

Alum is preferred over other coagulants because

1. It reduces taste and odour in addition to turbidity in water.
2. It is cheap and the floc formed is quite tough to be broken easily.
3. It produces crystal clear water.

The main disadvantage of alum is that it is difficult

1. To dewater the sludge formed and is not easy to dispose it off as it is found unsuitable for filling
low lying lands.
2. The effective pH range for its use is small i.e.; 6.5 to 8.5 and in many cases require the
addition of external alkali salts, thereby rendering it costlier.

2. CHLORINATED COPPERAS

Hydrated ferrous sulphate (FeSO4.7H2O) is traditionally referred to as copperas.

It has too high solubility to act as a satisfactory coagulant at the usual pH range.
It is therefore first oxidized to ferric sulphate [Fe2(SO4)3] and ferric chloride [FeCl3] by mixing its
solution with a feed from a chlorinator before administering to the bulk of water. The resulting
reaction are:

6 FeSO4.7H2O + 3Cl2 2Fe2(SO4)3 + 2FeCl3 + 7H2O

The ferric sulphate and ferric chloride produced instantaneously are called chlorinated
copperas. Both of these are immediately available for the formation of ferric hydroxide floc
and helps in sedimentation; the resulting reactions are:

Fe2(SO4)3 + 3Ca(OH)2 3CaSO4 + 2Fe(OH)3

2FeCl3 + 3Ca(OH)2 3CaCl2 + 2Fe(OH)3
Chlorinated copperas is effective in removing colour also.

3. FERROUS SULPHATE AND LIME

Ferrous sulphate or copperas can react with natural calcium bicarbonate alkalinity in water, but
this is a very much delayed one. Hence lime is used with ferrous sulphate. The following
reaction takes place.
FeSO4.7H2O + Ca(OH)2 Fe(OH)2 + CaSO4 + 7H2O
Similarly when copperas is added earlier to lime, the reaction that takes place is:
FeSO4.7H2O + Ca(HCO3)2 Fe(HCO3)2 + CaSO4 + 7H2O
Fe(HCO3)2 + 2Ca(OH)2 Fe(OH)2 + 2CaCO3 + 2H2O

The ferric hydroxide Fe(OH)2 thus formed, though an efficient floc.

CHEMICAL FEEDING
There are two methods of feeding coagulants to water

(a)DRY FEEDING

Dry feeding is simple in operation and requires relatively less space for its working.
The feeding machines are also cheaper. However control of dose is difficult.
The coagulant in a powder form is kept in the tank with a hopper bottom. In order to prevent
the arching of the chemical, agitating plates are placed inside the tank. The coagulant in the powder
form is filled in the tank and is allowed to fall in the mixing basin. In figure (a) and b
the feeding is regulated by the speed of the toothed wheel or helical screw. The speed of the toothed
wheel or the helical screw is in turn controlled by connecting it to a Venturi device installed in the
raw water pipes bringing water to the mixing basin. The quantity of coagulant released is thus
controlled in proportion to the quantity of raw water entering the mixing tank.
(b) WET FEEDING

The solution of the coagulant of the required strength is prepared and stored in a tank from
Where it is allowed to fall in the mixing channel. The level of coagulant solution in the coagulant
feeding tank is maintained constant by means of a float control valve, in order to ensure a constant
rate of discharge for a certain fixed rate of raw water flow in the mixing basin. When the rate of
inflow of raw water changes, the rate of outflow of coagulant must also change.

Figure shows wet feeding by adjustable weir and float. The adjustable weir is in form of a sliding
cylinder having rectangular holes on its surface, and its movement is controlled by a lever system
moved by the float. The raw water channel and the float channel are inter-connected. When the
flow increases, the float rises, lowering the lip of the weir and thereby increasing the feed of the
coagulant. The reverse is true when the flow decreases. Thus the dose of the coagulant is
automatically controlled.

c. FLASH MIXING

The mechanically agitated mixing basins provide the best type of mixing as also the flocculating
devices. The chemical added to raw water is vigorously mixed and agitated by a flash mixer for
its rapid dispersion in raw water, and the water is then transferred to a flocculation tank provided
with slow mixer.
Mixing therefore involves high degree of turbulence and power dissipation.
A typical mixing basin provided with a flash mixer is shown in figure below
It consist of a rectangular tank which is provided with an impeller fixed to an impeller shaft. The
impeller is driven by an electric motor, and it revolves at a high speed in the tank.
The coagulant is brought by the coagulant pipe and is discharged just under the rotating fan. The
raw water is separately brought from the inlet end, and is deflected towards the moving impeller
by a deflecting wall. The thoroughly mixed water is taken out from the outlet end. A drain valve
is also provided to remove the sludge from the bottom of the flash mixer.
The impeller’s speed is generally kept between 100 to 120 r.p.m
The usual values of detention period may vary between ½ to 2 minutes.

CLARIFLOCCULATORS

Clariflocculator contains the following 4 units:

a) FEEDING DEVICE
b) MIXING DEVICE OR MIXING BASIN
c) FLOCCULATION TANK OR FLOCCULATOR
d) SETTLING TANK OR SEDIMENTATION TANK OR CLARIFIER.

The chemical coagulant is, first of all, fed (either dry or in solution form) in to the raw water
through the feeding device. This mixture is then thoroughly mixed and agitated in the mixing
basin. The floc which is formed as a result of chemical reaction taking place in the mixing basin,
is then allowed to consolidate in the flocculation tank. The flocculated water is finally passed in to
the sedimentation tank where these flocculated particles settle down and be removed. The resultant
water of low turbidity can be taken out through the outlet of the sedimentation tank, directly to the
rapid gravity filters, which do not function well with turbid waters expected from plain
sedimentation. The complete process of coagulation sedimentation may help in removing
turbidities up to as low values as 10-20 mg/l. It may also help in reducing the bacteria from the
water and thus to reduce the B-Coli index by as much as 70 %.
LABORATORY TESTING FOR DETERMINING OPTIMUM
COAGULANT QUANTITIES

JAR TEST
The best coagulant dose is determined first in the laboratory and then adjusted by actual
observations at the treatment plant. The common test which is performed to determine this
approximate optimum quantity of coagulant is known as jar test.
The apparatus which is used in this test is as shown in figure. The sample of raw water to be tested
is placed in a number of jars each having a capacity of about 1 litre. Normally 6 jars are used.
Different amounts of coagulant are then added to each jar. The driving unit is started. The paddles
connected with the driving shaft through stirring rods placed inside the jars, are thus made to rotate.
The formation of the floc in each jar is noted. The amount of coagulant in the jar which produces
a good floc with the least amount of coagulant, indicates the optimum dosage. The speed of the
paddles and the time of mixing may also be varied for different tests duringdetermining this least
optimum dosage.
Numerical problems on sedimentation tank

Find the settling velocity of a discrete particle in water under conditions when Reynold’s number
is less than 0.5. The diameter and specific gravity of the particles is 5x10-3cm and 2.65,
respectively. Water temperature is 200C (Kinematic viscosity of water at 200C=1.01x10-2 cm2/sec)

D = 5x10-3cm=0.05mm,
v = 1.01x10-2 cm2/sec
g = 981cm2/sec
G = 2.65