Remy Tshibangu: Water Treatment & Wastewater Treatment: Dept. of Civil Eng.

, CPUT 2024

Chapter 5: Introduction to water Treatment

Processes

Table of Contents
5.0 Introduction to water Treatment Processes ...................................................... 2
5.1 Waters requiring treatment ............................................................................... 2
5.2 Guidelines for the selection of a treatment processes ...................................... 2
5.3 Treatment Stages or Processes ....................................................................... 2
5.3.1 Screening ...................................................................................................... 3
5.3.2.1 Advantages of pre-settlement .................................................................... 4
5.3.3 Pre-chlorination ............................................................................................. 4
5.4 Western Cape Waters ...................................................................................... 5
5.5 pH Correction ................................................................................................... 5
5.6 Self-assessments ............................................................................................. 5
5.9 References ....................................................................................................... 5

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 Remy Tshibangu: Water Treatment & Wastewater Treatment: Dept. of Civil Eng., CPUT 2024

Chapter 5

5.0 Introduction to water Treatment Processes

Treatment of water is a requirement if it does not meet the prescribed

standards like the SANS 241:2011/12 (South African Standard). The Water
Services Act (No. 108 of 1997) states that drinking water quality should comply
with prescribed National Drinking Water Standard. The level of treatment
depends on the prescribed standard or guideline, whilst the treatment process
is dictated by the quality of the raw water.

5.1 Waters requiring treatment

• Surface waters: Streams, rivers, lakes require comprehensive

treatment
• Groundwater: limited treatment for groundwater and mostly
tertiary treatment

5.2 Guidelines for the selection of a treatment processes

• Appropriate technology:- Does the technology suit the prevailing

conditions
• reliability of technology
• availability of equipment, construction materials and chemicals
• Economic viability or is it affordable to the community
• water quality of raw and treated water and the
• pilot testing results (recommendations)
• standards/ guidelines to be satisfied
• availability of skilled and unskilled manpower to design and operate the
plan

5.3 Treatment Stages or Processes

Fig. 5.1 summarises the treatment processes for surface waters in their
sequence and some stages may be omitted (the dashed arrows).
Groundwater is generally of high quality and does not require treatment.

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 Remy Tshibangu: Water Treatment & Wastewater Treatment: Dept. of Civil Eng., CPUT 2024

Pre-chlorination
Screening Pre-settlement

Coagulation

Flocculation

Sedimentation

Distribution Disinfection Filtration

Fig. 5.1 Schematic illustration of treatments stages for surface waters

5.3.1 Screening

Screens are required to remove floating objects like rags, leaves and tree
trunks. The objective is to protect the subsequent unit processes like pumps
and pipe works. The screening process will be detailed in wastewater
treatment.

5.3.2 Pre-settlement or plain sedimentation

Pre-settlement is the first stage in water treatment for highly turbid waters.
The suspended solids will settle at the bottom of the sedimentation tank due
to gravitational forces. At this stage no chemicals are added.
Reservoirs/Dams also act as plain sedimentation tanks.

Pre-treatment alone will not be effective for small suspended particles less
than 50µm (colloids). Hence, there will be need for coagulation and

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 Remy Tshibangu: Water Treatment & Wastewater Treatment: Dept. of Civil Eng., CPUT 2024

flocculation, which will result in bigger particles with higher settling velocities.
Such particles will then settle down due to gravity in sedimentation tanks.

5.3.2.1 Advantages of pre-settlement

• Pre-settlement will reduce bacteria due to the retention time in the
tank. The bacteria will die due to unfavourable conditions. Produce
a water with consistent quality and hence attenuate sudden
fluctuations in river water quality.
• Reduces the concentration of the suspended solids in the next
stage of treatment.
• Less quantities of chemicals are used resulting in savings. This will
be an added advantage for highly turbid rivers.
• The volumes of sludges (chemical) produce in the conventional
sedimentation are reduced and consequently the frequency of
cleaning or desludging is also reduced.
• Prolonged storage should be discarded because it result in growth
of algae and this will increase the treatment costs.

5.3.3 Pre-chlorination
It is used to control algae, taste and odour and entails the addition of suitable
doses of chlorine in the first stage of water treatment. Pre-chlorination
improve coagulation, but excessive chlorination has the following
disadvantages:
• Odour and taste problems
• Formation of Trihalomethanes (THMs)

Trihalomethanes are volatile halogenated organic compounds often formed

during chlorine disinfection as a result of the reaction of chlorine with certain
types of organic material present in the raw water. Common organic material
include humic and fulvic acids and certain species of algae. The THMs are
suspected to be carcinogenic and hence can cause cancer. In drinking water
the most common and measurable THMS are:
• chloroform ( CHCl 3 )
• bromodichloromethane ( CHCl2 Br )
• dibromochloromethane ( CHClBr2 )
• Bromoform ( CHBr3 )
The sum of the above THMS is called Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), and
chloroform is usually the most abundant, and often accounting for greater than
90% of the TTHM. SANS 241:15 recommend a maximum value of 200µg/L for
the total THMS (TTHMs).

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 Remy Tshibangu: Water Treatment & Wastewater Treatment: Dept. of Civil Eng., CPUT 2024

5.4 Western Cape Waters

In Western Cape, the water has a high organic content (humic material) from
mountains. Due to possible problems of THMs, they do not pre-chlorinate. The raw
water is dosed with lime for pH correction. Activated carbon and a coagulant are
applied to reduce the tastes due the humic material. There is also chlorination
before filtration to reduce the growth of algae which may block the sand filters.
Stabilisation and pH correction is also done before the water enters the storage
reservoirs. Also UV and ozonation may be uses as a substitute for chlorine.

5.5 pH Correction
The pH correction of the raw water is necessary for the following reasons:
▪ For optimum formulation of flocs, the pH should be between 6-8.
▪ Acid is formed when aluminium sulphate reacts with water, so it is
necessary to maintain the desired pH range. To achieve a satisfactory
final pH, it’s usually necessary to add an alkali and rapid mixing will be
important.
▪ hydrated lime is often added for pH correction on cost grounds

5.6 Self-assessments
5.7
i. Outline the guidelines you would follow in the selection of an appropriate
treatment technology
ii. Describe why treatment is necessary for surface waters compared to
groundwater
iii. Compare and contrast the quality of surface and ground water
iv. Describe in detail the components of a water supply scheme.
v. Give the advantages and disadvantages of the following intake works:
vi. Submerged intakes
vii. Intake towers
viii. With aid of a sketch summarise the stages involved in water treatment
ix. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of pre-settlement in water
treatment
x. Outline the advantages and disadvantages of pre-chlorination
xi. Why is pH correction necessary in raw water?

5.9 References

1. Peavy H. S., Rowe D. R., and Tchobanoglous G., (1985), Environmental

Engineering, McGraw Hill, New York, USA
2. Terrence McGhee Water supply
3. Thiart A. (2012), Water and Wastewater Treatment, CPUT, SAGT-MEDIA,
Cape Town

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