BS Environmental and Sanitary Engineering

Fresh Water – water having a salt concentration below 0.01% (lakes, rivers, groundwater and other
bodies of water that have a through flow of water from rainfall.
Salt water – Water, typical of oceans and seas, that contains at least 3% salt (30 parts salt per 1000
parts water)
Purified Water – Water which undergoes treatment, physical, biological or chemical means to improve
water quality. Purification is an artificial means of obtaining chemically pure water. Water that has had
pollutants removed or rendered harmless.
Contaminated Water – Water with any materials or substance that affects the quality of water and
affects the health of an individual.
Polluted Water – Water with the presence of any foreign substance ( organic, inorganic, radiological,
biological) which tends to degrade its quality so as to constitute health hazard and impair the potability
of water. Water that contains one or more impurities that make the water unsuitable for a desired use.
Hard water - Water with the presence of elements such as calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Iron (Fe),
and aluminum (Al) which causes hardness. This is characterized by the difficulty of producing lather
from detergents and the presence of scale deposits in pipes and heaters or boilers.
Soft water – Water without the presence of Calcium and Magnesium. This is characterized by easiness
of producing lather from detergents and absence of scale formation in boilers, heaters and pipes.
Grey Water – Water from laundries, wash basins, sinks, shower, bathtubs.
Black Water – Water plus human waste that is flushed out of toilets and urinals.
Storm Water – Rain, surface-runoff. (rainwater drained from roof gutters and downspouts.
Water Sources:
Groundwater – That portion of the rainwater which has percolated into the earth to form
underground deposits called aquifers (water-bearing soil formations).
Surface Runoff – include river, lakes, ponds and impounding reservoirs.
Water wells – water that flows into wells is called groundwater. This water comes from rain that is
absorbed into the ground and is slowly filtered through the different layers of the ground and into the
ground-water reservoir known as aquifers. The top of this zone is known as the water table, the level
at which water stands in a well that is not being pumped.

Wells – Are holes in the earth from which a fluid may be withdrawn using manual or mechanical means
such as draw bucket, pump, etc.
- It is a hole which has been dug, bored, driven or drilled beneath the ground for the purpose
of extracting groundwater.
Two Zone:
1. Unsaturated Zone – which is immediately beneath the ground surface and contains both water
and air in the voids and pores.
2. Saturated Zone – where voids are all filled with water. Water in the saturated zone is referred
to as groundwater.
Water Table – is the boundary between the unsaturated zone and the saturated zone.
Two types of Aquifer:
1. Unconfined Aquifer – whose upper limit is the water table, are often shallow and the hydraulic
pressure at its surface water level or water table is equal to the atmospheric pressure.
2. Confined Aquifer – Where an aquifer is sandwiched between an upper impermeable layer and
a lower impermeable layer.

Fundamentals of Water Supply Prepared by: Engr. Ruel Galutan