Water Treatment Basics

The United States enjoys one of the best supplies of drinking water in the world. This is also because water utilities across the country have in place effective processes to remove contaminants that cause waterborne diseases. The most commonly used processes include filtration, flocculatin and sedimentation, and disinfection.

Flocculation/Sedimentation

The flocculation process coagulates (joins together) particles with alum and metal salts so that they settle out of the water as sediment. Sedimentation is simply a gravity process that removes flocculated particles from the water.

Filtration

Filtration removes remaining particles from the water supply. Those particles may include silt, natural organic matter, iron and manganese, and microorganisms. Filtration clarifies water and improves the effectiveness of disinfection.

Disinfection (Chlorination, ozonation)

Water is then disinfected to ensure that dangerous microbes are killed. Chlorine- based disinfectants or ozone are used because they are very effective. Chlorine- based disinfectants also provide residual protection against biological contamination in the water distribution system. This is a critical step to assure our water is safe all the way to the consumer's tap.