University of Buraimi

Faculty of Engineering
Civil Engineering

Environmental Engineering

Chapter 4
Water Treatment

Dr. Mohammed Seyam

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Water Cycleand WaterResources

2
Water Distribution on Earth

Rivers and lakes :

0.0072% of
total water in the world

Fresh Ground water

0.076%
total water in the world

3
Percentof UsableWater

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Usable Waterquality
Isthe1 % usable water quality suitable
for direct use?

•Surface water is mostly contaminated and not suitable

for direct usage. Surface water has open surfaces,
consequently it is subjected to direct pollution from
natural and humanactivities.
•Ground water is usually suitable for direct usage since
it is naturally protected by the geological formations of
earth. However, contamination may reach groundwater .
In this case it should be purified before usage. 5
 Definition of waterPollution

Water Pollution isdefinedas:

Thepresenceof impurities in water in such quantity and

of such nature as to impair the use of the water for a
stated purpose.

Pollution = pure water +impurities

•Notice that pure water “ H2O” does not exist on earth.

•Water vapor can be considered as pure water. However,
when it rains and runs over the earth surface or through
the ground layers many impurities dissolve or stick to it.6
 Definition of waterTreatment

Water treatment is definedas:

The process of reduction or removal of impurities from

water to acceptable concentrations suitable for a stated
usage.
Typesof Impurities inwater
Dissolved solids (organic and inorganic)
Suspended solids (organic andinorganic)
‐ settleable
‐ Non settleable
Colloidal solids (organicandinorganic)
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 Water TreatmentMethods

‐Each type of the mentioned solids requires special

method to be reduced or removed from water

‐Water purification " treatment " methods areclassified

into three maincategories:

‐ Physical methods
‐ Chemical methods
‐ BiologicalMethods

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 Water TreatmentMethods

Examples on each treatmentcategory:

‐ Physicalmethods
• sedimentation
• Filtration
• Flocculation
• Adsorption
• air stripping
• Aeration
• Reverse Osmoses desalination "RO"
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 Water TreatmentMethods

‐ Chemicalmethods

• Coagulation
• Softening
• Chemical precipitations
• Disinfection with chlorine andOzone
• Oxidation reductionreactions
• Desalination using Electodialysis.
• Ionic Exchange

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 Water TreatmentMethods

‐ Biologicalmethods

• Denitrification “nitrate removal“ usingbiological

reactors.

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 Impurities inWater
Constituent Chemical Formula Difficulties Caused Means of Treatment

imparts unsightly appearance

to water; deposits in water
Turbidity ----------- lines, process equipment, etc.; coagulation, settling, and filtration
interferes with most process
uses

chief source of scale in heat

calcium and exchange equipment, boilers,
Hardness magnesium salts, pipe lines, etc.; forms curds softening; demineralization
expressed asCaCO3 with soap, interferes with
dyeing, etc.

foam and carryover of solids

bicarbonate(HCO -), with steam; embrittlement of
3
carbonate (CO 2-),and lime and lime-soda softening; acid
3
boiler steel; bicarbonate and
Alkalinity treatment; demineralization
hydroxide(OH-), carbonate produce CO2 in
dealkalization by anion exchange
expressed as CaCO3 steam, a source of corrosion in
condensate lines

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 Impurities inWater
Constituent Chemical Formula Difficulties Caused Means of Treatment

FreeMineral H2SO4 , HCI. etc.,

Acid corrosion neutralization with alkalies
expressed as CaCO3

aeration, neutralizationwith
Carbon Dioxide CO2 corrosion in water lines alkalies

hydrogen ion
concentrationdefined
PH as:
PH= ‐log[H+]

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 Impurities inWater
Constituent Chemical Formula Difficulties Caused Means of Treatment

adds to solids content of

water, but in itself is not
SO42- usually significant, combines
Sulfate
with calcium to formcalcium
sulfate scale
demineralization, reverse
osmosis, electrodialysis,
evaporation

adds to solids content and demineralization, reverse

Chloride Cl - increases corrosive character of osmosis, electrodialysis,
water evaporation

adds to solids content,high

demineralization, reverse
concentrations cause
Nitrate NO - osmosis, Electodialysis,
3 methemoglobinemia in
evaporation
infants;

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 Impurities inWater
Constituent Chemical Formula Difficulties Caused Means of Treatment

cause of mottled enamelin

teeth; also used for controlof
Fluoride F-
dental decay: not usually
significant industrially
adsorption with magnesium
hydroxide, calcium phosphate,or
bone black; alum coagulation

adds to solids content of

water: when combinedwith demineralization, reverse
Sodium Na+ OH-, causes corrosionin osmosis, Electodialysis,
boilers under certain evaporation
conditions

scale in boilers and cooling

water systems; insoluble adsorption, demineralization,
Silica SiO2 turbine blade deposits dueto reverse osmosis, evaporation
silica vaporization

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 Impurities inWater
Constituent Chemical Formula Difficulties Caused Means of Treatment

source of deposits in water

aeration; coagulation and
Fe2+ (ferrous) lines, boilers. etc.; interferes
Iron filtration; lime softening; cation
Fe3+ (ferric) with dyeing, tanning,
exchange
papermaking, etc.

Manganese Mn2+ same as iron same as iron

usually present as a result of

floc carryover from clarifier;
improved clarifier and filter
Aluminum AI3+ can cause deposits incooling
operation
systems and contribute to
complex boiler scales

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 Impurities inWater
Constituent Chemical Formula Difficulties Caused Means of Treatment

corrosion of : water lines,

sodium sulfite; corrosion
Oxygen O2 heat exchangeequipment,
inhibitors
boilers, return lines, etc.

Hydrogen cause of rotten

" egg odor; aeration; chlorination;highly
H2S
Sulfide corrosion basic anion exchange
"

corrosion of copper andzinc

cation exchange with hydrogen
Ammonia NH3 alloys by formation of
zeolite; chlorination;
complex soluble ion

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 Impurities inWater
Constituent Chemical Formula Difficulties Caused
refers to total amountof
dissolved matter, determined
by evaporation; high
Dissolved Solids none concentrations are
objectionable because of
process interference and as a
cause of foaming inboilers
refers to the measureof
Suspended undissolved matter,
none
Solids determined by filtrationand
drying
refers to the sum of dissolved
Total Solids none and suspended solids,
Means of Treatment
lime softening and cation
exchange by hydrogenzeolite;
demineralization, reverse
osmosis, electrodialysis,
evaporation
filtration, usually preceded by
coagulation and settling
see "Dissolved Solids" and
"Suspended Solids"
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Water quality characteristics

a. Physical characteristics:-

• Turbidity
• Color
• Taste and odor
• Temperature

b. Chemical characteristics:

• Many dissolved chemicals exist in water and many of them are

of concern such as:-
Chloride, fluorides, Iron, lead, manganese, sodium, sulfate,zinc,
toxic inorganic substances, toxic organic substances,

c. Microbiological characteristic:-
Pathogens: viruses, bacteria, protozoa, helminthes (warms)
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20
 Drinking Water Quality Standards (WHO)
Element/Compound Symbol Acceptable Level (mg/l) MCL (mg/l)
Total Disolves Solids TDS 500 1500
Total Hardness TH (CaCO3) 100 500
Detergents ABS 0.5 1
Aluminum Al 0.2 0.3
Iron Fe 0.3 1
Manganese Mn 0.1 0.2
Copper Cu 1 1.5
Zinc Zn 5 15
Sodium Na 200 400
Nickel Ni 0.05 0.1
Chloride Cl 200 400
Fluoride F 1 1.5
Sulfate SO4 200 500
Nitrate NO3 45 70
Silver Ag 0.01 0.05
Magnesium Mg 50 120
Calcium Ca 100 200
Potassium K 10 12
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 Drinking Water Quality Standards (WHO)
ChemicalStandards
(Toxicelements)

Parameter Symbol MCL (mg/l)

Lead Pb 0.01
Selenium Se 0.01
Arsenic As 0.05
Chromium Cr 0.05
Cyanide Cn 0.05
Cadmium Cd 0.005
Mercury Hg 0.001
Antimony Sb 0.005
Nickel Ni 0.05
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 Palestinian Water Quality Standards
Element/Compound Symbol MCL (mg/l)
Total Dissolves Solids TDS 1500
Total Hardness TH (CaCO3) 600
Alkalinity 400
Detergents ABS 0.5
Sodium Na 200
Chloride Cl 600
Fluoride F 1.5
Sulfate SO4 400
Nitrate NO3 70
Nitrite NO2 0.1
Ammonium NH4 0.5
Magnesium Mg 150
Calcium Ca 100- 200
Potassium K 12
Residual chlorine 0.2- 0.8 25
Most common water treatmentplants

Water treatment plants can beclassifiedas:‐

A) Simple disinfection:‐ (Ground water)

It is a direct pumping and chlorine injection. Used to
treat high qualitywater.
B) Filtration plants: (surfacewater)
• Removes: color,turbidity, taste, odor, and bacteria
• if the source water has better quality with lower
solids, flocculation and sedimentation can be
omitted, this modification is called directfiltration.
C) softening plants:‐ (groundwater)
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Most common water treatmentplants

1- Ground Water well

Ground
Water Disinfection Storage Distribution
wel

Simple DisinfectionTreatmentPlant

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Ground
Water Aeration Filtration
well

Storage Distribution
Disinfection

Simple DisinfectionTreatmentPlant

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2- Surface Water

FiltrationTreatmentPlant

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2- Surface Water

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