WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
Access to clean water is considered one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. More
than 40% of the world’s population faces water shortages.
97.5% of water – salt water
2.5% of water – fresh water
In that 2.5% of water, 70% of fresh water is locked up in glaciers. Remaining water is
present as solid moisture or is found in deep underground aquifers as ground water. Hence
1% of planets fresh water is available for human consumption.
Around 66.3 million people do not have access to safe drinking water
By 2025, water withdrawn will increase by 50% in developing countries and 18% by
developed countries. Hence 2/3rd of the people will be living in high water stress. The
withdrawal of water is predominantly from underground aquifers.
- Currently 1/3rd of people are in water stress (schools, hospitals)
- due to the existence of very limited fresh water resources
Furthermore, a child died every 90 seconds due to a water related disease.

ELEMENT SAFE LIMITS mg/l

Aluminium 0.2
Ammonia -
Antionony 0.005
Arsenic 0.01
Barium 0.3
Beryllium -
Baron 0.3
Cadmium 0.003
Chloride 0.01
Copper 2
Cyanide 0.07
D.O -
Fluoride 1.5
Hardness CaCO3
Hydrogen sulfide H2S
Iron Fe
Lead 0.01
 Manganese 0.5
Mercury 0.001
Molybdenum 0.07
Nitrate or Nitritre 50
Selerium 0.01
Sodium 200
Sulfate 500
Uranium 1.4
Zinc 3

Pollution free, clean portable water is mandatory which is used for residential, industrial
and agricultural purpose. The various sources of fresh water includes ponds, rivers, lakes,
lakes and oceans are polluted from either domestic or industrial water bodies without
adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.
- Another major source of water pollution is industrial and agricultural runoff.
- Plans and living organism present in water bodies are affected by pollution present in
water bodies.
Particulate or gaseous or pollutants indirectly contaminate surface water through rain or
acid rain.
When contaminated surface water seeps through soil to the underground aquifer it
pollutes the groundwater. surface water and ground water are interrelated.

Contaminants :
Depends on source

Natural
•Natural organic matter(NOM)
•Salts (mineral)
•Suspended solids
•Micro-organism

Synthetic
•Heavy metals
•dyes
•fertilizers
•chemicals
 Consequences of using untreated water to industry
- Corrosion
- Scaling
Water is the basic utility in industry.
Uses of Water in Industry:
- Raw material
- Solvent
- Cleaning
- Steam production (energy as heat)
- Condensing purpose (cooling water)
- Heat transfer media in heat exchanges
- Coolant
Broad chemical treatment options for various applications
CHEMICAL TREATMENT PROCESS TYPICAL APPLICATIONS
1. Aeration Removing of odour-causing substances,
VOC
2. Chemical coagulation Destabilization of suspended particulates in
water for aggregation
3. Neutralization Controlling pH
4. Chemical oxidation Reduction of BOD,COD, Microorganisms,
odour-causing substances of water
5. Chemical precipitation Removal of heavy metals & hardness
6. Ion exchange Removal of hardness causing ions
7. Chemical disinfection Elimination of pathogens
8. AOP Removal of refractory organic compounds
MAJOR TREATMENT METHODOLOGIES
COAGULATION
- Removes particulate & colloidal pollutants
- Clumps small particles into flocks of neutralizing the repulsive electrical charges of
particles
- Increase size of aquatic contaminants to filterable levels
- Low cost and easy
- Destabilise negatively charged particle like clay, algae, cyst and rives
- Aggregate it through Vander walls interactions
- Proper dosage is necessary to avoid fermentation of small flock
COAGULANTS
- Inorganic metal salts
- Organic macromolecules
- Aluminium
- Organic polymers
- Iron based
ADSORPTION
Surface phenomena, controlled NOM
To enable contaminants to bound on adsorption
PAC, HIOP, Chitosan

CHEMICAL PRECIPITATION TECHNOLOGY FOR MOBILIZATION TO

SOLID PHASE
- The insoluble contaminants in an aqueous system can be mobilized to solid phase
through chemical precipitation
- For e.g. The dominant arsenic compounds are precipitated as arsenic sulphides, ferric
arsenic, and calcium arsenate. The role of pH is dominant here.
- Useful for large scale contaminated water. Disadvantage: Generation of large amount
of sludge coupled with relatively high maintenance and operational cost.
- E.g., Ca, Al and ferric items are highly used for precipitations
- E.g., Coagulation – flocculation
- Coagulation means driving together
- The process of destabilization of colloidal suspension or charged particles.
- Next step is flocculation
Flocculation or flock formation
- Enhances settling of fine particles through agglomeration of the destabilized particle.
- The coagulation precipitation process is pH dependant.

Schematic of coagulation – flocculation – precipitation – settling system

There are three basic units
- Rapid mixing tank
- Flocculation tank
- Settling tank

RAPID MIXING
Rapid mixing unit is meant for rapid mixing of the coagulating reagents with the help of
high-speed mechanical agitation. This facilitates fast dispersion of the chemical reagents
throughout the aqueous medium resulting in efficient utilization of the consumable
chemicals
The second unit facilitates flock formation where mild agitation helps particle-particle
interaction and flock formation.
In the third unit, there is no agitation where formed flocks at the bottom leaving clear
supernotutous to overflow from the top of the settling unit.

ENCHANCED COAGULATION TECHNOLOGY

Separation by chemical coagulation – precipitation can be enhanced by adding coarse
particles like calcite. Smaller calcite particles (30-45 cm) can be more effective tha larger
ones due to larger specific surface area.
For example, during arsenic separation, the arsenic coagulates and gets coated on the
surface of such calcite particle for eventual removal as precipitates. It attains bigger size and
greater density facilitating easy and quite settling in downstream sedimentation and
filtration.
FLOCCULATION
PERI KINETIC FLOCCULATION
Flocculation needs particle-particle interaction and when such interaction is facilitated by
Brownian movement without the aids of external mechanical stirring of aqueous medium it
is called peri kinetic flocculation.
ORTHOKINETIC FLOCCULATIOM
The flocculation that results from particle-particle interaction – collision following external
mechanical stirring of the medium is called orthokinetic flocculation.

Destabilisation of the colloidal matter takes place through a series of surface reactions
depending on the type and dense of the flocculating reagent added, Ph, types of impurities
present. E.g., Ferric sulphate
For example, the positively charged ions (coagulants) attract the negatively charged
particles that cause colour and turbidity then they form tiny particles called micro flocks.
This marks the beginning of coagulation. The coagulation steps occur very quickly in a
matter of microsecond.
Finally, the microflock particles grow into easily visible mature flock particle. This growth
occurs by the continual attraction of colour and turbidity causing materials by viruses,
bacteria and algae present in the microflock and by the random collision of the microflocks
that cause particles to stick together.
During sedimentation, large flock particles settle rapidly leaving the water clean.
Sedimentation is the final step in any water physiochemical water treatment step.
COAGULANTS
- Inorganic metal salts
- Organic macromolecule
- Aluminium based
- Iron based
- Organic polymers

WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES

(I) Preliminary treatment
- Removes coarse solids and other large material ( screening)
 (II) Primary treatment
- Removal of settleable organic and inorganic solids by sedimentation
(III) Secondary treatment
- Removal of biodegradable dissolved a colloidal organic matter using biological
treatment
(IV) Tertiary treatment
- Removal of nitrogen, phosphates, additional suspended solids, refractory organics,
heavy metals and dissolved salts.
SEDIMENTATION
- To remove suspended impurities which make use of gravitational force
- Done in a basin
- Suspended impurities settle down at the bottom of the basin
- Clean water is drawn from rod
- Excess coagulants settle down

TYPES OF SETTLING:
- Free settling
- Hindered settling
FREE SETTLING:
- Particles settling won’t be affected by opposite particles
- Particle falls within gravitational force fed through a stationary fluid
- Individual particle doesn’t collide
- Particles will have sufficient distance from way of container
- When particulate solid in a suspension is low
HINDERED SETTLING
- Affected by opposite particles and wall of containers
- Particles colloid
- When colloid Is more (massive)
- Setting speed is less (low...)
FILTRATION
- Slow sand filter
- Rapid sand filter
- Multimedia sand filter
(I) Slow sand filter
- Fine sand supported by gravel
- Capture particles near the surface of the bed
- Clean away top layer of sand that contain particles
(I) Rapid sand filter
- Large sand grains supported by gravel
- Capture particles throughout the bed
- Cleaned by backwashing water through
(II) Multimedia filter
- Consists of 2 or more layers of different granular material with different particles
(combined)
- Anthracite coal, sand and gravel
- Therefore, particle is different, layers are neatly separated
PRINCIPLE –
Physical – chemical process
DISINFECTION (Sterilization)
- Removal or deactivation or killing of pathogenic micro-organisms
- Destroying of microorganisms results in termination of growth and reproduction
- Can be attained by means of physical or chemical disinfectants
- The agent also remove organic contaminants from water which is the source of
nutrients
- E.g., of chemical disinfectants: chlorine(cl2), chlorine dioxide(clO2), Ozone(O3), Hypo
chlorine(Ocl-), Halogens, Br,I
Metals : Cu24,Ag7,kMnO4, soaps and detergents, hydrogen peroxide.
- For physical disinfection of water,
Ultraviolet (Uv)
Electronic radiation
Gamma rays
Sounds
Heat
- This is the final step to reduce pathogens microorganisms in drinking water

MECHANISHM OF DISINFECTION
- cell wall disruption of microorganisms
- changes in cell permeability, protoplasm (because of structural activity) which hinders the
ability to multiply & also causes microorganisms to die out.

WATER TREATMENT BY MEMBRANE – SEPARATION TECHNOLOGY –

SEMIPERMEABLE BARRIER
A membrane is said to be a thin, discrete interface that act as a selective barrier and allows
the separation of specific species in a fluid stream by the combination of sieving and
diffusion mechanism.
- It allows the rapid transport of one component while hindering the transport of other
components
- Wide range of particles can be separated from macromolecules to monovalent ions.

Major membrane processes:

- Microfiltration (MF)
- Ultrafiltration (UF)
- Nanofiltration (NF)
- Reverse Osmosis (RO)

Membrane materials
Polymers, metal membranes, ceramic, clay
 PROCESS OPERATING FEED REJECTED PRECISE
TECHNOLOGY PRESSURE (Bar) RECOVERY(%) SPECIES
MF 0.5-2 90-99.9 Bacteria, cyst 0.1-10 um
pore
UF 1-5 80-98 NOM, 0.5 – 10 micron
Suspended
solids
NF 3-15 50-95 Divalent ions 10 -9 size
pesticides 1-10 microns
RO 10-60 30-90 Monovalent 10 -10
ions, dyes

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN), PVDF (Polyvinylidene difluoride), PES (Polyethersulpfone), Cellulose

acetate (CA)

NANOTECHNOLOGY IN WATER TREATMENT

Materials like ceramic, polymeric or metallic acquire unique properties such as electrical,
magnetic at nanoscale because of the location of associated atoms and molecules at
surface. Nanomaterials are extremely reactive.
UNIT 2

CHEMICAL TREATMENT
- a variety of chemical treatments may be adopted depending on the source of water,
requirement of the end use, and cost. Such chemical treatments broadly include
chemical coagulation, chemical precipitation, chemical disinfection, chemical
oxidation, advanced oxidation, ion exchange, and chemical neutralization.
- Chemical treatment processes are remarkably fast but are not considered eco-
friendly processes due to the involvement of harsh chemicals, the creation of harmful
by-products in some cases, and the generation of huge amounts of sludge.
- But in many cases, as a pre-treatment step, chemical treatment can help in removing
certain specific contaminants with a high degree of efficiency while rendering
subsequent downstream treatments easier.
- For example, the presence of certain toxic chemicals like cyanide in wastewater turns
biological treatment to be very difficult but a chemical pre-treatment for cyanide
removal can make the biological treatment very successful. Chemical neutralization
of wastewater streams is often the most important first step in the train of water-
treatment units
AERATION
Aeration is a simpler operation and has the potential to improve water quality significantly.
The taste and odour problems frequently encountered in drinking water can be largely
overcome by aeration particularly when it is due to dissolved gases like H2S and volatile
organic compounds (VOCs). The presence of algae, iron, manganese, and other impurities
may contribute to taste and odour problems and in such cases no single.
MECHANISM OF WATER-QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
Aeration or air stripping improves water quality through the following:
1. Aeration removes dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide mainly by
a mechanical scrubbing mechanism but stripping off of the volatile reaction products and
precipitation of the solid phase may also take place through chemical conversions
2. Removal of the dissolved gases eliminates the causes of taste and odour problems.
3. Water quality improves as VOCs are stripped out.
4. Additional oxygenation of the treated water improves its quality as potable water
through high oxygen saturation.
5. Additional oxygenation helps in the oxidation of iron and manganese by making them
insoluble and thus causing their separation from the aqueous phase through chemical
precipitation.
6. Oxygenation through aeration prevents formation of reducing environments that
exacerbate taste and odour problems.
METHODS OF AERATION
There are several methods of aeration and the most appropriate method is generally based
on contaminant-removal efficiency and cost. The most widely adopted aeration practices
are based on the use of fountain-type devices, cascade aerators, cascade tray aerators, and
diffused aerators.
FOUNTAIN OR SPRAY-NOZZLE AERATORS
Spray nozzles have been used for many years in the water-treatment field.
The most common application is fountain-type aeration in which water is sprayed under
pressure into the open atmosphere.
Fountain-type aerators are widely used to control taste and odour problems, to prevent
anaerobic decay of natural organic matter accumulated in the reservoir, and to prevent the
solubilization of iron and manganese present in reservoir bottom sediments

CASCADING-TRAY AERATORS
Cascading-tray aerators have been used in water treatment for a long time. These aerators
use multistage waterfalls that help control taste and odour problems while precipitating
soluble iron and manganese
DIFFUSED AERATORS
Diffused aeration involves releasing compressed air bubbles from a diffuser element located
at the bottom of a water column. Diffused aeration is sometimes used for VOC removal but
is not generally cost-effective or as efficient as packed-tower air stripping. Diffused aeration
is sometimes employed in source-water reservoirs to control taste and odor problems and
to oxidize iron and manganese

PACKED-TOWER STRIPPING AERATORS

Packed-tower aeration is widely used in water-treatment fields because of increasing
concern and regulation of VOCs in drinking water.
Packed-tower stripping generally consists of packing materials with high-surface area
supported and contained in a cylindrical shell. Water normally flows downward through the
packing material with forced draft or induced draft upward airflow. The high specific surface
area of the packing material provides a higher liquid gas mass transfer area than provided
by other aeration and stripping methods. Packed-tower stripping is more effective for
removal of VOCs that are more volatile than traditional contaminants of concern such as
carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.
AERATION IN ODOR REMOVAL
Oxygen of air mixed into water by aeration effectively removes tastes and odors caused by
iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide. Aeration rings the offending material in to direct
contact with oxygen in the atmosphere. The materials are then oxidized into stable, safe
factors

Other Oxidizing Agents in Odor Removal

(I) Chlorine (Cl)
- Addition of chlorine in water
- For example, algae-caused odours described as fishy, grassy, or septic can be
controlled by pre-chlorination
- Chlorine can also intensify certain tastes and odours. For example, chlorine combines
with phenols in water, producing extremely objectionable medicinal tastes.
(II) Potassium Permanganate (KMnO4)
- Potassium permanganate (KMnO4), used either alone or in combination with other
chemicals, is effective in removing iron and manganese and oxidizing organic and
inorganic materials that cause taste and odour
- When it is added to water containing taste-odor compounds, the reaction is:

- Dosages of KMnO4 vary from 0.5 to 15 mg/L, although dosages in the range of
0.5 2.5 mg/L are usually adequate to oxidize most taste-and-odor-producing
chemicals

CHEMICAL COAGULATION
- To coagulate means to drive together. In coagulation, colloidal and finely divided
suspended matters are driven together to help form flocks that can subsequently be
separated out from the aqueous medium through sedimentation or filtration leaving
a clear water stream.
- Chemical flocculating agents are added to the water to be treated. Destabilization of
the colloidal matter takes place through a series of surface reactions depending on
the type and dose of the flocculating reagent added, medium pH, types of impurities
present and their concentration, agitation in the medium, duration of flocculation,
zeta potential, and temperature.
 - While there are several coagulants available for water treatment, in this section, the
chemical changes that take place in presence of the two most widely used
flocculants, namely alum and ferric sulfate, will be described.
(I) Alum as Coagulant
- highly effective, low cost, availability, and ease of handling.
- Alum is available in two forms: filter alum and liquid alum.
- Filter alum is the solid or dry alum [Al2(SO4)3.14H2O] that is ivory-white in
colour and available in lump ground or powdered form.
- Liquid alum is alum in solution [Al2(SO4)3.xH2O]. Liquid alum is available in
different strengths
- Depending on the form, filter alum varies in density. Liquid alum has a density
considerably higher than that of water
THE MECHANISM OF COAGULATION- FLOCCULATION can be explained through the
following three steps:
Step-1
The positively charged aluminum ions (Al31) attract the negatively charged particles that
cause color and turbidity, then they form tiny particles called microflocks. This marks the
beginning of coagulation.
Step-2
As many of these microflock particles are now positively charged, they begin to attract and
hold more negatively charged color-causing and turbidity-causing material in the second
step. These first two coagulation steps occur very quickly, in a matter of microseconds.
Step-3
In the final step, the microflock particles grow into easily visible, mature flock particles. This
growth occurs partly by the continual attraction of the color and turbidity-causing
materials; partly by the adsorption of viruses, bacteria, and algae into the microflock; and
partly by the random collision of the microflocks that cause particles to sticks together.
Later, during sedimentation, the large flock particles settle rapidly, leaving the water clear.
The optimum alum dosage for the best results depends on the various factors described in
the previous section. In general, alum dosage ranges from 15 to 100 mg/L, and the effective
pH ranges between 5.5 and 8.5. The pH needs to be adjusted within this range (by
increasing alkalinity) for the best performance of alum. The optimum pH for can be found
through jar-test experiments.
(II) Ferric Sulfate as Coagulant
Ferric sulfate is a reddish-gray [commercially called Ferric-flock, Fe2(SO4)3.3H2O] or
grayish-white [commercially called Ferriclear, Fe(SO4)3 2H2O] granular material.
Like alum, ferric sulfate also requires alkalinity in the water in order to form the flock
particles ferric hydroxide [Fe(OH)3].
ADVANTAGES.
the flock particles [Fe(OH)3] of ferric hydroxides have much higher density than alum flocks
and are more easily or quickly removed by sedimentation. The desired chemical reactions
involving ferric sulfate take place favourably over a much wider range of pH (3.5- 9.0)
DISADVANTAGES
ferric sulfate can stain equipment and is difficult to dissolve, and its solution is corrosive and
it may react with organics to form soluble iron (Fe12 ).
optimum dosages in water treatment vary between 5 and 50 mg/L.

CHEMICAL NEUTRALIZATION
Chemical neutralization is done by adding acids or alkali to a water stock prior to the final
treatment. This is particularly essential for protecting downstream equipment from
corrosion attack. Many downstream chemical or biological treatments need pH adjustment
for optimum performance.

CHEMICAL PRECIPITATION
The principles of chemical precipitation are widely exploited in the removal of heavy metals
and hardness-causing metals. Removal of hardness of water using lime [Ca(OH)2] or soda
ash[Na2CO3] is called water softening
Removal of iron and manganese also takes place during softening at high pH (10-11)
HARDNESS OF WATER
Hardness of water is caused by the presence of multivalent ions (e.g., Ca21, Mg21) in high
concentration. Aluminum, strontium, zinc, and iron may also contribute to hardness but
normally these metals are not present in water in high enough concentration to cause
hardness. Soft water may also contain multivalent ions (Ca21, Mg21) but in small
con centration. Such hardness may be temporary when multivalent ions are present as
bicarbonates (calcium bicarbonate, magnesium bicarbonate) as this hardness can be easily
removed by boiling water, resulting in precipitation of the ions as carbonates. On the other
hand, permanent hardness is caused by the presence of sulfate or chlorides of multivalent
ions like calcium and magnesium that do not precipitate out on boiling the water.
Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs)
-AOPs were first proposed in the 1980s for drinking water treatment and later were widely
studied for treatment of different wastewaters.
-During the AOP treatment of wastewater, hydroxyl radicals (OH·) or sulfate radicals (SO4 ·−
)
-AOP is defined as the oxidation processes involving the generation of hydroxyl radicals
(OH·) in sufficient quantity to effect water purification
-Advanced chemical oxidation typically involves the use of chemical oxidants (e.g. ozone or
hydrogen peroxide) to generate hydroxyl radicals (i.e. •OH), one of the strongest oxidants
known.
- Hydroxyl radicals are reactive and non-selective, capable of rapidly degrading a number of
organic compounds, which are very reactive, and short-lived oxidants..
-Hydroxyl radicals may be produced insystems using: ultraviolet radiation/hydrogen
peroxide, ozone/hydrogen peroxide, ultravioletradiation/ozone, Fenton’s reagent (ferrous iron
and hydrogen peroxide), titaniumdioxide/ultraviolet radiation, and through other means.

- Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are alternatives to the incineration of wastes, which
has many disadvantages.
- Generally, the treatment efficiencies rely heavily upon the selected AOP type, physical and
chemical properties of target pollutants, and operating conditions
-
–
 - AOPs are suited for destroying dissolved organic contaminants such as halogenated
hydrocarbons (trichloroethane, trichloroethylene), aromatic compounds (benzene,
toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene – BTEX), pentachlorophenol (PCP), nitrophenols,
detergents, pesticides, etc.
- AOPs can also be used to oxidize inorganic contaminants such as cyanide, sulphide,
- . That is why they are called the water treatment processes of the 21st century

ADVANCED OXIDATION METHODS

Several methods are available for generating # OH radicals.

These include both non-photochemical and photochemical methods:
– Ozonation at elevated pH (>8.5)
– Ozone + hydrogen peroxide (O3/H2O2)
– Ozone + catalyst (O3/CAT)
– Fenton system (
Ozone + hydrogen peroxide (O3/H2O2) – (peroxone)
Photochemical methods
Conventional ozone or hydrogen peroxide oxidation of organic compounds does not
completely oxidize organics to CO2 and H2O in many cases.
This, can be achieved by supplementing the reaction with UV radiation.
UV lamps must have a maximum radiation output at 254 nm for an efficient ozone
photolysis. Many organic contaminants absorb UV energy in the range of 200–300 nm and
decompose due to direct photolysis or become excited and more reactive with chemical
oxidants. H
Ozone–UV radiation (O3/UV)
Ozone readily absorbs UV radiation at 254 nm wavelength (the extinction coefficient ε254
nm = 3300 M–1 cm–1 ) producing H2O2 as an intermediate, which then decomposes to # OH
Hydrogen peroxide–UV radiation (H2O2/UV)
Ozone–hydrogen peroxide–UV radiation (O3/H2O2/UV)
The addition of H2O2 to the O3/UV process accelerates the decomposition of ozone, which
results in an increased rate of # OH generation
Photocatalytic oxidation (UV/TiO2)
The basis of photocatalysis is the photo-excitation of a semiconductor that is solid as a result
of the absorption of electromagnetic radiation, often, but not exclusively, in the near UV
spectrum.
Limitations Costs may be higher than competing technologies because of energy
requirements.
Advantages of AOP
• Effective in removing resistant organic compounds
• Capable of complete mineralization of organic compounds to CO2.
• Not susceptible to the presence of toxic chemicals
• Generally produce innocuous end products
• Can be used to pretreat toxic compounds so that they can be bio-treated