ES200 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES:

Science & Engineering

Module-A

Water Quality Management

Lecture-4 Amritanshu Shriwastav

ESED, IIT Bombay
amritan@iitb.ac.in
2 Recap
3 Learning Objectives
Conventional Surface Water Treatment
System

 Water collection, treatment, and distribution

4 Typical Water Use Pattern

Raw Water
Water Source (e.g. River)

Collection
Water Treatment System
Treated
Water
Distribution

Municipal Use
(Homes etc.)

Raw
Municipal
Wastewater Sewage
Treatment System Collection
Treated
Wastewater
Discharge
5 Municipal Water Treatment

 The purpose of municipal water treatment is to

bring raw water up to potable water quality.

 Most of the raw water sources are either surface

water (rivers, lakes) or groundwater.

 Depending on the source, characteristics of the

raw water vary and so do the treatment options.

Reading Assignment
What are the major differences in the quality of surface
water and groundwater?
 Municipal Surface Water
6 Treatment

Characteristic pollutants in raw surface

water
 Large floating matter (e.g. leaves, plastic etc.)

 Dissolved and suspended solids/particles (organic

and inorganic)

 Biological agents (e.g. pathogens)

 Municipal Surface Water
7 Treatment
Unit Processes

 As the pollutants differ widely in their properties, a

single treatment process is not feasible/efficient for
all of them.

 Multiple unit processes targeted for some specific

pollutant/group of pollutants are designed and
used.

 A sequential operation of these unit processes is

called as the treatment train, and which results in
comprehensive treatment of the water.
 Municipal Surface Water
8 Treatment

http://cof-cof.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Surface-
Water-Treatment-Plant.gif
 Municipal Surface Water
9 Treatment
Raw Water

Screening  Removal of large materials

 Disinfection, control of odor,
Pre-chlorination algae during treatment
 Beneficial for coagulation
Coagulation

Flocculation
 Removal of particles
 Some dissolved material
Sedimentation

Filtration

Post-chlorination  Residual disinfection

Storage Domestic Use

 Municipal Surface Water
10 Treatment
Screening

 Removes large solids

 Logs
 Branches
 Rags
 Fish
 Simple process
https://webpages.uidaho.edu/l
 Trash removal can be manual or arc380/new380/assets/images/
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 Municipal Surface Water
11 Treatment
Screening
Screening

Coarse screen Fine screen Microscreen

6 to 150 mm < 6 mm < 0.5 μm

Hand Mechanically
Cleaned Cleaned

Chain- Reciprocating Catenary Continuous

driven rake belt
 Municipal Surface Water
12 Treatment Screening

(a)Chain driven
(b)Reciprocating rake
(c) Catenary
(d)Continuous belt

Metcalf & Eddy (2003)

 Municipal Surface Water
13 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation
 Smaller particles still remain in the water, which need to be removed.
 Basic and oldest mechanism for their removal is gravitational settling
(or sedimentation) as per Stokes’ Law.
 However, some particles are either too small to settle, or have some
electrostatic charge (e.g. dust/soil particles are in general negatively
charged) due to which they repel each other and do not settle
efficiently (called as Colloids).
 Colloidal particles are aggregates of atoms, molecules, or mixed
materials that are considered larger than individual atoms or
molecules, but are small enough to possess properties greatly different
from coarse dispersions.
 One basic process to remove such particles is by some how bringing
them together, so as to increase their effective size (and thus weight)
leading to better settling properties.
 It requires the understanding of particle-particle interactions.
 Municipal Surface Water
14 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

Electrical Double Layer

Charge neutrality is maintained

by thickness of diffuse layer.

https://openi.nlm.nih.gov/imgs/512/2
2/3070078/PMC3070078_249_2010_66
1_Fig1_HTML.png
 Municipal Surface Water
15 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation
Particle-Particle Interaction

An Energy Barrier is to be
crossed if two particles in a
colloid are to come together.
https://qp
h.ec.quor
acdn.net  Increase the energy of the
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particles (e.g. increase the
c34900ab temperature or stirring etc.)
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remove the charges on
particles, add particles with
opposite charges etc.)
Destabilizing the particles
 Municipal Surface Water
16 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

Coagulation is the process of destabilizing the particles.

 Change the property of Media so that repulsion does

not start even when particles are brought much closer
(reduce the thickness of counter ions)

 Change the properties of Particles so that their

charges are neutralized (reduce the overall repulsion)

 Provide external bridges (e.g. precipitates) to

connect the far located particles
 Municipal Surface Water
17 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation
Some common coagulants:
Alum [Al2(SO4)3·18H2O]
FeCl3

These coagulants can either produce active

species that neutralize the charge on the
particles (e.g. Al(OH)2+, AlOH2+ etc.) or produce
flocs (e.g. Al(OH)3) that entrap the colloid
particles.

Coagulation requires very rapid mixing of coagulants

with the particles for short duration (1-2 minutes)
 Municipal Surface Water
18 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

Flocculation is the process of getting the destabilized

particles to collide with each other so that they could
form flocs (or larger/heavier particles).

 Require some relative motion between particles

 Gentle mixing for long time (1 – 2 hours)
 Municipal Surface Water
19 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

Once sufficiently large flocs are formed, they are

allowed to settle by gravity. The process is called as
sedimentation or settling.

http://www.ecologixsystems.com/images/chemical-jar-tests.jpg
 Municipal Surface Water
20 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

rp = Radius of particle
Buoyant Force Drag Force dp = Diameter of particle
4 3 1 ρp = Density of particle
Fb = πr ρl g Fd = CD Ap ρl vp2
3 2 ρl = Density of liquid
Ap = C. S. area of particle
CD = Drag Coefficient
vp = Settling velocity of particle
Gravitational Force
4 g = Acceleration due to gravity
Fg = πr 3 ρp g
3
 Municipal Surface Water
21 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

https://cheguide.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/12/drop_drag_coefficient.png
μ = Dynamic viscosity (N-s/m2)
 Municipal Surface Water
22 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

24 3
For spherical particles, and NRe ≤ 104 CD = + + 0.34
Re Re

At equilibrium Fg = Fb + Fd

𝐠(𝛒𝐩 −𝛒𝐥 )𝐝𝟐𝐩

Settling velocity 𝐯𝐩 =
𝟏𝟖𝛍
 Municipal Surface Water
23 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

Type I: Discrete particle settling

Particles settle individually without interaction
with neighbouring particles.
Type II: Flocculent particles settling
Flocculation causes the particles to increase in
mass and settle at a faster rate.
Type III: Hindered or Zone settling
The mass of particles tends to settle as a unit
with individual particles remaining in fixed
positions with respect to each other.
Type IV: Compression settling
The concentration of particles is so high that
sedimentation can only occur through
compaction of the structure.
 Municipal Surface Water
24 Treatment
Coagulation – Flocculation – Sedimentation

Municipal Surface Water Treatment: Discrete Settling

 Stokes Law

 Circular or Rectangular
Channel

https://theconstructor.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/12/types-of-sedimentation-tank.jpg
https://ak2.picdn.net/shutterstock/vi
deos/4148686/thumb/1.jpg?i10c=img
.resize(height:160)
 Municipal Surface Water
25 Treatment
Filtration: Rapid Sand Filter
Some flocs still resist settling

Water Size (mm) Depth (cm)

Anthracite 0.70 30

Sand 0.45-0.55 45

Gravel 5-60 45
Depth can vary
depending on
various factors
 Municipal Surface Water
26 Treatment
Filtration: Rapid Sand Filter

 Removes the flocs that resist settling

 Filtration due to Mechanical Straining and Adsorption

 Effluent ~ 0.5 NTU

 Requires frequent backwashing (with treated water)

as huge head loss is encountered after ~12 hours of
operation

Reading Assignment
What is Slow Sand Filtration?
 Municipal Surface Water
27 Treatment
Disinfection by Chlorination

 Primary disinfection: To kill any pathogens in the water

 Secondary (or Residual) disinfection: To prevent pathogen

regrowth in the water during the period before use

Free Chlorine Disinfection

Cl2(aq) + H2O ↔ HOCl + H+ + Cl-

HOCl ↔ OCl- + H+

HOCl : Hypochlorous acid

OCl- : Hypochlorite Ion
 Municipal Surface Water
28 Treatment
Disinfection by Chlorination

 Free chlorine oxidizes the bacterial cell, thus killing them.

 Free available residual chlorine: [HOCl] + [OCl-] helps in residual

disinfection; however they have short life time in water.

 Ammonia is added to react with free chlorine and form chloramines

(NH2Cl, NHCl2, and NCl3).

 Chloramines are less effective oxidants, but more persistent in water,

and thus can provide residual disinfection in distribution systems for
longer durations.

 Problem with chlorination occurs due to the formation of Disinfection

byproducts (DBPs), many of which are carcinogenic.
 Municipal Surface Water
29 Treatment
Disinfection by Chlorination
Disinfectin

Free Chlorine Disinfection: Break Point Chlorination

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 Municipal Surface Water
30 Treatment

http://cof-cof.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2012/03
/Surface-Water-
Treatment-Plant.gif
31 Next Lecture:

Conventional Municipal
Wastewater Treatment System