INTRODUCTION TO WATER TREATMENT

Water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, and it exists in gaseous, liquid,

and solid states. Water is one of the most plentiful and essential compounds, occurring
as a liquid on Earth’s surface under normal conditions, which makes it invaluable
for human uses and as plantand animal habitat. Since water is readily changed to a
vapour (gas), it can travel through the atmosphere from the oceans inland, where it
condenses and nourishes life.
Water can be used for direct and indirect purposes. Direct purposes
include bathing, drinking, and cooking, while examples of indirect
purposes are the use of water in processing wood to make paper and in
producing steel for automobiles. The bulk of the world's water use is for
agriculture, industry, and electricity
The water treatment department in BAGCO produces quality and well treated water for her sister company
GOLDEN PENNY, for the production of food and food products such as spaghetti, noodles, chin-chin etc.
they are also responsible for the water used in boiler steam engine, the boiler feed requirement are being
controlled according to standard. They also are responsible for the water consumed by the employee.

SOURCES OF WATER IN BAGCO

Source water refers to bodies of water (such as rivers, streams, lakes,
reservoirs, springs, and ground water) that provide water to public
drinking-water supplies and private wells. Water sources can include:

 Surface water (for example, a lake, river, or reservoir)

Surface water collects on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, reservoir,

or ocean. Surface water is constantly evaporating out of water bodies,
seeping into ground water supplies, and being replenished by rain and
snow. A springexternal icon is where ground water comes to the surface
and becomes surface water. Public drinking water systems that use water
from streams, rivers, lakes, or reservoirs treat the water before it reaches
your tap.

 Ground water (for example, an aquifer)

Ground water is located below the surface of the earth in spaces between
rock and soil. Ground water is naturally filtered, which might remove some
germs and chemicals depending on the water’s depth and the area’s local
geology. Water that comes from a well is ground water and might receive
some level of treatmentbefore it reaches your tap.

But here in BAGCO, the water is gotten from BOREHOLE (ground water).. The borehole is about 320ft in
depth, there are 6 boreholes in use for BAGCO water treatment plant, each of these borehole is powered by
10Hp (7.5kw) submersible pump and with an average of 8.0L/S output to the surface
 WATER TREATMENT PROCESS .
water treatment , process by which undesired chemical compounds,
organic and inorganic materials, and biological contaminants are removed
from water.

There are several methods used in the water purification process, which
include:
(1) physical processes, such as filtration, sedimentation, or distillation;
(2) biological processes, such as sand filters, active carbon;
(3) chemical processes, such as flocculation, chlorination, the use of
ultraviolet light.
Historical evidence suggests that water treatment was recognized and
practiced by ancient civilizations. Basic treatments for water purification
have been documented in Greek and Sanskritwritings,
and Egyptians used alum for precipitation as early as 1500 BCE.
In modern times, the quality to which water must be purified is typically set
by government agencies. Whether set locally, nationally, or internationally,
government standards typically set maximum concentrations of harmful
contaminants that can be allowed in safe water. Since it is nearly impossible
to examine water simply on the basis of appearance, multiple processes,
such as physical, chemical, or biological analyses, have been developed to
test contamination levels. Levels of organic and inorganic chemicals, such
as chloride, copper, manganese, sulfates, and zinc, microbial pathogens,
radioactive materials, and dissolved and suspended solids, as well as pH,
odour, colour, and taste, are some of the common parameters analyzed to
assess water quality and contamination levels.
Most water used in industrialized countries is treated at water treatment
plants. Although the methods those plants use in pretreatment depend on
their size and the severity of the contamination, those practices have been
standardized to ensure general compliance with national and international
regulations. The majority of water is purified after it has been pumped from
its natural source or directed via pipelines into holding tanks. After the
water has been transported to a central location, the process of purification
begins.
STAGES INVOLE IN WATER TREATMENT PROCESS

Screening
 screening, which removes large debris such as sticks and trash from the

water to be treated. Screening is generally used when purifying surface

water such as that from lakes and rivers. Surface water presents a greater

risk of having been polluted with large amounts of contaminants.

But here in Bagco Our water source is from BOREHOLE (Ground

water),screening step is skipped

Aeration

Aeration is the process of exposing the raw water to the atmosphere so as to

facilitate the removal of odour and the exposure of harmful micro-organisms to the

sunlight rays (UVrays).

The kind of problem the raw water in BAGCO has, is a fundamental high iron content aside the general
acidic nature of rawest borehole water
Hence, the design of BAGCO water treatment and choice of chemicals engineered towards effective
removal of iron (Fe2+).

From the borehole, water goes into the aeration tower; the aeration tower creates enough surface area for
atmospheric air (oxygen) to come in contact with the raw water. The chemical process allows a mixture of
oxygen and water. The supply of oxygen to water aids the process of oxidation there by creating and
enabling environment for dissolved iron solute (Fe2+) to become oxidized to Fe3+ and been precipitated
out of the water as insoluble solutes of iron (iii) Fe3+.

ADDITION OF SELECTIVE CHEMICALS

Just at the base of the aeration tower, the chemicals are allowed to come in by means of dosing pump. The
addition of the chemicals with aeration makes the oxidation process very rapid and obvious as the water
changes color from its usual colorless nature and become brownish indicating that ferric iron (soluble iron)
in water is changing to ferrous iron (insoluble iron) which is brownish in color.

Fe2 + O2 ------ Fe3

As the water flows into the various compartments of the treatment tank, there is thorough mixture of
chemicals and aerated water and the conversion process of iron (ii) to iron (iii) becomes more obvious and
distinct

The choice chemicals here are caustic soda (NaOH)

Caustic soda increases the pH of water(helps to bring the acidic nature of raw water to
neutral PH value) and can easily change hard water to a much closer
approximation to neutral when injected into the water treatment system.
Caustic soda decreases the solubility of dangerous metals, such as lead and
copper.
and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) which is an oxidizing agent, Hydrogen
peroxide works as a
high-level disinfectant. It reacts very quickly, disintegrating into hydrogen
and water without leaving any by-products. This process increases the
amount of oxygen in water. the hydrogen peroxide is basically a disinfectant which takes care
of microbes to an appreciable extent. Aside the specific role, the choice and combinations of these
chemicals enables the oxidation (removal) of iron.
Other people uses chlorine as disinfectant. If you have surface water and need to disinfect it, especially if
there is algae, then chlorine is dramatically superior to hydrogen peroxide. However, if you have
incredibly high iron or sulfur, chlorine is not a good choice, but hydrogen peroxide is.
Surface water disinfection
by hydrogen peroxide is not allowed, unless it is
used in combination with other disinfectants (UV, ozone, silver salts or
ammonia quart salts).
Bagco operates on ground water and has issue with high concentration of iron thereby uses
Hydrogen peroxide together with silver nitrate

silver stabilised hydrogen peroxide is a very effective, multi-purpose

disinfectant that is effective against an extensive range of organisms. It is
now used in a wide range of industrial and commercial applications where
the control of bacteria, viruses, moulds and fungi is essential.
Sedimentation

From the treatment tank, the water is allowed to flow by gravity into retention tank where the water is
retained and allowed to sediment
Sedimentation is accomplished by decreasing the velocity of the water as its flows
into the retention tank to a point below which the particles will no longer remain in
suspension. When the velocity no longer supports the transport of the particles,
gravity will remove them from the flow.
FILTRATION

the water from retention tank is allowed to flow through filtration channels by means of surface pumps
(also referred to as transfer pumps). The filtration channels are also referred to as FILTER VESSELS.

A typical plant consists of two filter vessels with different filtration media,
the first vessel contains sharp fine sand

A sand filter, or sand water filter, makes use of sand to filter water. The water to be purified slowly sinks
through the sand of the sand filter(,typically 0.75 mm sand 750 mm deep.) leaving the dirt particles from
the water behind in the fine pores of the sand.

and the second contain a specialized material media for the removal of iron and manganese thereby
serving as a final polishing surface for the water, this medium is called by the acronym “BIRM” meaning
back washable iron and manganese removal media. The BIRM consist of hydrolyte and activated carbon.
acts as an insoluble catalyst to enhance the reaction between dissolved oxygen and the iron compounds to
form ferric hydroxide which is then removed through mechanical filtration in the media bed.
 Having passed through these two filtration media, the water produced is portable water which could be
used directly for general human use.