PURIFICATION OF

WATER SUPPLY
 PURIFICATION OF WATER SUPPLY

• The raw water must be treated and purified before they can be supplied to the public for their
domestic, industrial or any other uses.

• The water must therefore be made safe, good in appearance and attractive to human taste and
tongue.
 METHODS OF PURIFICATION OF WATER
The various methods of purification of water are listed below:

i. Screening

ii. Plain sedimentation

iii. Sedimentation aided with coagulation

iv. Filtration

v. Disinfection

vi. Aeration

vii. Softening

viii. Miscellaneous treatments like defluorination , recarbonation, desalination etc.

LAYOUT OF WATER PURIFICATION
TANK
  SCREENING
• Screens are provided before the intake work so as to prevent the entry of big objects like debris ,
branches of tress , part of animal etc. While designing the screens clear opening should have sufficient
total area so that velocity through them is not more than 0.8 -1 m/s.

• Screens are classified into three types:-

A. Coarse Screens : Also known as Racks

a) These are placed in front of the fine screens. It consist of parallel iron rods placed vertically or at a
slight slope of about 2-10 cm center to center .

b) The spacing between the bars is 50 mm or more than this.

c) The coarse screens are normally kept inclined at 450 - 600 to horizontal so as to increase the opening
area and reduce flow velocity, thus making screens more effective.
B. Medium Screens:
• In this type of screen, spacing between the bars is 6-40 mm.

• These are fixed parallel to one another at desired space on a rectangular steel frame and are called
bar screens which are set in screen chamber.

• These are kept at about 30-60° to the direction of flow so as to increase the opening area .

• Screens can be either fixed or movable depending upon whether the screens are stationary or
capable of motion.
C. Fine screens :
• The fine screens are made of fine wire or perforated metal with openings >1 cm wide.

• These are used to remove the fine suspended solids .

• The chance of getting clogged is high , therefore needs regular cleaning.

SCREENS
  PLAIN SEDIMENTATION
• Sedimentation is done to remove the impurities which have specific gravity more than that of
water and are settle able.

• When water is moving these impurities remain in suspension due to the turbulence and as the
velocity is reduced they settle down.

• As per the theory of sedimentation the settlement of a particle depend upon the:

a) Velocity of flow

b) The viscosity of water

c) The size shape and specific gravity of particle.

• The settling velocity for spherical particle is given by:

Vs(d<0.1mm)

Where:

VS= Velocity of settlement of particle

d = diameter of particle in m

Ss= specific gravity of particle

v= kinematic viscosity of water in m2/sec

DESIGN IN PLAIN SEDIMENTATION TANK
• It is noted that :

Vs = settling velocity of the particle

V0 = over flow rate

As = surface area

Therefore,

If Vs > V0 , 100% removal of particle is there.

If Vs < V0 , no removal of particle is there .

• Considering a horizontal flowing rectangular tank with
V = uniform velocity
Q = discharge
V= =
From the figure :
• Slope vector from A to C:
=
VS =.

Vs = x =
VS =
Therefore,

Vs =

• Normally overflow rates vary between 12 - 18 m3 /day /m2in plain sedimentation tank.
• For sedimentation aided with coagulation it vary between 24 - 30m3/d/m2
 TYPES OF SEDIMENTATION TANK

• Horizontal flow tank

• Hopper Bottom Tanks

 1. HORIZONTAL FLOW TANK

• The direction of flow is horizontal in the tank.

• Equal velocity at all the points lying on each vertical line in the settling zone.

• It is basically of two types :

A. Rectangular tank

B. Circular tank
HORIZONTAL FLOW SEDIMENTATION TANK
• Maximun velocity to prevent bed uplift or scour is given by:

V(Ss-1)d
Where,

& 0.06 or more for non- uniform material

𝛾 = Darcy friction factor =0.025-0.03 for settling tank

Vd = displacement velocity

Practical relation between vd and vs:

Vd=10Vs
(Vs= settling velocity)
 A. RECTANGULAR TANK
• These are rectangular in plan and consists of large number of baffle walls.

• The function of baffle wall is to reduce the velocity of incoming water.

• Openings are given in baffle walls at different height. 

• Supervision & labor work is less.

• Less head loss due to outlet given at the top of tank.

• Because of continuous flow in tank time waste rate is low.

RECTANGULAR SEDIMENTATION TANK
 B. CIRCULAR TANK
• Circular sedimentation tank is costly at the view of construction.

• For dispose the sludge mechanical scraper available at bottom of the tank.

• Over flow rate of this type of tank is 1500 lit/hour/m2.

• There is two type of flow available in the tank :

A. Radial flow

B. Spiral flow
CIRCULAR TANK WITH RADIAL FLOW
 2. VERTICAL UP FLOW TANK
• Also known as Hopper bottom settling tank.

•  The shape of the base of this tank is hopper type.

• This are vertical flow tanks, because water flows upward & downward in these tank.

• The water enters in this tank from top inlet channel (Because of deflector box water flows from

upper to lower).

• Impurities settled at the bottom of the tank and pure water is taken by draw off channel.

• Sludge outlet pipe is used to take out the sludge from tank.

• Over flow rate = 2000 lit/hour/m2 .

• Detention period = 3 – 4 hours

VERTICAL UP FLOW TANK
 IMPORTANT DESIGN ELEMENTS OF

SEDIMENTATION TANK
I. OVER FLOW RATE OF SURFACE LOADING :
The quantity of water passing per hour per unit horizontal area is known as over flow or surface
loading.

Vs(cm/sec)=

surface loading = = 864000 VS l/d/m2

Therefore, 1 cm/sec settling velocity corresponds to a surface loading of 864000 l/d/m 2 or 36000
l/h/m2
 II. DETENTION PERIOD

It is the time for which the water was in the tank. The detention time (t), for a rectangular tank is
given by:

= =
Where,

B = Width of basin

H = Depth of water in the tank

Q = Discharge entering the basin

L = Length of basin
• Detention time for a circular tank is given by:

Where,

d = Diameter of tank

H = Vertical depth at wall or side water depth.

Q = Discharge entering the basin

• Detention time usually ranges between 4 to 8 hrs. for plain sedimentation.

• The width of tank is normally kept equal to 10 m and allowed to exceed 12 m.

• The length of the tank is not allowed to exceed 4 times the width.

• Cross-sectional area of the sedimentation tank is such as to provide a horizontal flow velocity
ranging between 0.15 to 0.9 m/min, normally kept at about 0.3 m/min.

• The total amount of flow from the tank within 24 hrs. generally equals the maximum daily
demand of water.
 III. DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY

• Displacement efficiency of sedimentation tank is the ratio of flowing through the period to
detention period.

• For the sedimentation tank, the displacement efficiency varies from 0.25 to 0.3.

• It is denoted by ndand is given by :

nd = =
 IV. FLOWING THROUGH PERIOD

• It is the average time required for batch of water to pass through the settling tank .

• It is always less than detention period.

• The flowing through period of an existing tank can be determine by placing sodium chloride in the
influent and testing for chloride content of the effluent.
 V. BASIN DIMENSIONS
• The surface area of the basin is determined on the basis of overflow ratio or surface loading.

• The length to width ratio of rectangular tank should be from 3.1 – 5.1.
  SEDIMENTATION AIDED WITH
COAGULATION
• Some of the colloidal impurities will not settle even if the water is detained for long periods in the
sedimentation tanks. So, the sedimentation is aided with coagulation. Coagulation is a process in which
some chemical like alum or ferrous sulphate is mixed in water resulting in particle destabilization.

• Flocculation is the second stage of the formation of settle able particles (or flocs) from destabilized
(neutral) colloidal particles and is achieved by gentle mixing.

• So in flocculation the alum is first mixed rapidly for dispersion and then slow mixing produces flocks.

• Both these stages of flocculation are greatly influenced by physical and chemical forces such as
electrical charge on particles, exchange capacity, particle size and concentration, pH, water temperature
and electrolyte concentration.
SEDIMENTATION AIDED WITH COAGULATION
 COAGULANTS
• When a chemical coagulant is dissolved in water and is mixed thoroughly, a thick
precipitates known as flocs are formed.

• Commonly used coagulants are listed below:

a) Aluminium sulphate or Alum

b) Chlorinated copperas

c) Ferrous sulphate and lime

d) Magnesium carbonate

e) Sodium aluminate
COAGULANTS
COMPARISON OF ALUM AND IRON SALTS

• Iron salts forms heavy flocs as compared to alum, hence more Solids are
removed .

• Time of reaction and flocs formation is less for iron salts, hence ‘t’ reduces.

• Iron salts can work efficiently over wider pH range .

• Iron salts can remove taste and odor .

• Less mud ball formation as compared to alum .

• Under some cases iron salts are more economical.

• Iron salts cause staining and promotes growth of iron bacteria.

• Iron salts make water more corrosive as compared to alum .

• Handling of iron salts requires skill .

• More CO2 is formed so water becomes corrosive .

• Alum Coagulation may not be proper, if K or Na are present in water.

NUMERICAL NO. 1
NUMERICL NO. 2
NUMERICAL NO. 3
NUMERICAL NO. 4
NUMERICAL NO. 5
  FILTERATION
Filtration is a physical and chemical process for separating suspended and colloidal impurities
from water by passage through a porous bed made up of gravel and sand etc.

The theory of filtration includes the following actions:

• Mechanical straining: The suspended particles present in water that are of bigger size than the
voids in the sand layers are retained their itself and the water becomes free of them.

• Sedimentation: The small voids in the sand act as tiny sedimentation tanks and the colloidal
matter arrested in these voids is a gelatinous mass and thus attracts other finer particles. These
finer particles are thus removed by the sedimentation.
• Biological metabolism: In this, certain micro-organisms are present in the sand voids. They

decompose the organic matter like the algae etc.

• Electrolytic change: In this, the sand grains of the filter media and the impurities in water carry

electrical charge of opposite nature which neutralizes each other and forces the particles to settle

now by gravity so a filter helps in purifying the water.

FILTERATION PROCESS
 FILTER MATERIAL

• The filter sand should be obtained from hard rock such as basalt , quartz .

• It should be free from dirt and other impurities.

• It should be uniform in nature and size.

• It should be resistant and hard.

• If placed in hydrochloric acid for 24 hrs., it should not loose more than 5% of its weight.
 TYPES OF FILTERS

• SLOW SAND FILTER

• RAPID GRAVITY FILTER

 1. SLOW SAND FILTER
• These are the water tight rectangular or shallow tank about 2.5 m – 4m deep
having area 100 -200 sq.m or more.

• These filters require large areas of land and a correspondingly large quantity of
filter media (sand) and base material (gravel).

• Cleaning of the filter is done by surface scrapping which may involve a lot of
labor.

• A slow sand filter is suitable when the availability of land, labor, filter media are
at a low cost
SLOW SAND FILTER
1. EFFECTIVE SIZE (D10) : The size of the sieve in mm through which 10% of the sample of
sand passes.

2. UNIFORMITY COEFFICIENT : The Ratio of sieve size in mm through which 60 % of

sample of sand will pass to effective size of the sand.

Cu =
3. DEPTH OF SAND : The depth of sand should be 60cm – 90 cm.

4. GRAVEL : Rounded gravel is to be used having density about 1600 kg /m3 .

 PARTS OF SLOW SAND FILTER

A. Enclosure tank :An open watertight rectangular tank constructed of brick masonry or stone
masonry or concrete. The tank hay depth of 2.5 to 3.5 m, surface area 50 to 1000 m2 or
depends upon the filtration rate which varies from 100 to lit/ hr /m2. The floor of the tank is
provided at the cross slope of 1 in 100 to 200 towards the central drain.

B. Filter media : It consists of a sand layer of 90 to 110 cm thick with effective sizes of 0.25 to
0.35 mm (0.3 mm common) and uniformity coefficient (Cu) of 3 to 5, Finer the sand increases
the removal efficiency of turbidity and bacteria but decrease filtration rate. The filter media
(sand) should not contain Ca and Mg more than 2%.
C. Base material : The filter media is supported on the base material (gravel) of a 30 to 75 cm
thick bed. The gravel bed is graded and it is laid in different layers each 15 cm thick.

D. Under drainage system : Under drainage system supports the filter media and the base material
and collects the filtered water and delivers it to the clean water reservoir. A central drain receives
filter water from lateral drains. The lateral drains are placed at a distance of 2 to 3 m and ended
about 50 to 80 cm from the walls of the tank.

E. Appurtenances : For efficient and proper functioning of filters, certain devices are installed
during construction known as appurtenance, such as vertical air pipes, depth controlling devices,
head loss, measuring devices, flow regulator, etc. When the rate of filtration reduces to specified
limit of 0.7-1.2m , the cleaning of filter is done.
F. Operation of filter :The water from sedimentation tank enter the slow sand filter through a
submersible inlet. The water passes through the filter media at an average rate of 2250 x106 – 3400
l/m2/day. The rate of filtration is continued until the difference between water level of filter and in
the outlet of chamber is slightly less than depth of water above the sand.
 RESULTS OF SLOW SAND FILTER

• Bacteria removal efficiency of a slow sand filter is quite efficient i.e. it is about 98 to 99%of
bacterial load from raw water.

• It can remove turbidity to the extent of about 50 ppm.

• 20 to 25% of color can be removed.

 2. RAPID SAND FILTER

• Also known as Rapid gravity filter .

•  Rapid sand filters provide rapid and efficient removal of relatively large suspended particles. 

• The filtration system requires a relatively small land area for operation.

• A continuously operating filter will usually require backwashing about 1-3 days (commonly, in 2
days) when raw water of relatively low turbidity is used.
RAPID GRAVITY FILTER
 PARTS OF RAPID SAND FILTER

A. Enclosure tank : Open and watertight rectangular tank constructed of brick or stone masonry
or concrete. The depth of the enclosure tank is about 2.5 to 3.5 m. The surface area or plan area
of the tank may vary from 10 to 50 m and the length to breadth ratio of the tank is normally
kept at 1.25 to 1.35.The filtration rate varies from 3000 to 6000 lit/ hr. /m².

B. Filter media : It consists of sand be or sand layer of 60 to 75 cm thick having effective size
0.45 to 0.7 mm. The uniformity coefficient (Cu) of filter media varies from 1.3 to 1.7 and
commonly 1.5
C. Base material : The filter media is supported on the base material (gravel) of a 45 to 60 cm
thick bed. The gravel bed is graded and is laid in different layers each 15 cm thick.

D. Under drainage system : In rapid sand filter under drainage system acts two Purposes;

• To collect filtered water.

• To provide uniform distribution of backwash water.

• There are various under-drainage systems for these filters out of which below two systems are commonly
adopted are described below.

1. Perforated pipe system : This system consists of a central drain or manifold to which several lateral
drains are connected on either side. The lateral drains are provided at a spacing of 15 to 30 cm with
perforations. This system is economical and simple in operation. However, more quantity of water in
high velocity needs for the backwashing of the filter.

2. Pipe and strainer system : This system also consists of a central drain or manifold to which several
lateral drains are connected on either side. Holes are drilled at the top of the laterals and each hole is
provided with a strainer. The strainers are either screwed or fixed on the top of the laterals drains.
Generally, the spacing of strainers is placed at 15 to 30 cm.
E. Appurtenances : For efficient and proper functioning of filter certain devices are provided
during construction known as appurtenances such as wash water trough, air compressor, valves,
head loss measuring devices, flow regulator, etc.

F. Flow rate controller : These are provided in filter to monitor and obtain uniform rate of flow.
 RESULTS OF RAPID SAND FILTER

• It is excepted that bacteria removal efficiency is about 80 to 90%.

• Turbidity of water can remove the extent of 35 to 40 ppm.

• These filters are highly efficient in color removal i.e. below 3 on the cobalt scale.
SLOW SAND FILTER VS RAPID SAND FILTER
SLOW SAND FILTER VS RAPID SAND FILTER
 PRESSURE FILTER

• It is a type of rapid sand filter placed within a closed , water-tight steel cylinder .

• The water passes through the sand bed under a pressure greater than atmospheric .

• The size of vertical filters varies from 0.3 m – 2.75 m in diameter and height may be 2 – 2.5 m

• The horizontal unit are generally 2 -3 m in diameter and length up to 6 m.

• The rate of filtration is 6000 -15000 l/h/m2 area of filter bed.

• It is of two types :

1. Vertical pressure filter

2. Horizontal pressure filter

PRESSURE FILTER
 ADVANTAGES
• Pressure filter is compact and can be handled easily.

• Small area is required for installation.

• No sedimentation and coagulant tanks are required.

• Filtered water comes out under pressure , no further pumping is required.

• Rate of filtration can be changed by change of compressed air pressure over the water .
 DISADVANTAGES

• Efficiency in removal of bacteria and turbidity is poor.

• Overall capacity of the filter is small.

• Not used for treating large quantity of water .

• Due to circular shape, design and fixing of back water channels is difficult.
  DISINFECTION
• The filtration of water removes a large percentage of bacteria but still some of the bacteria remain
there in the filtered water.

• This bacteria may be harmful bacteria (disease producing bacteria) known as pathogenic bacteria.
The process of killing these bacteria is known as disinfection.

• Generally the disinfection is done by adding chlorine to water.

DISINFECTION PROCESS
Following are some of the methods for disinfection :
• Boiling of water

• Treatment with excess lime

• Use of ozone

• Treatment with ultraviolet rays

• Use of potassium permanganate

• Treatment with silver

• Use of bromine, iodine and chlorine.

  AERATION

Aeration is performed for the following purposes:

1. To add oxygen to water for imparting freshness, for example water from underground sources
may have lesser oxygen.

2. For expulsion of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and other volatile substances causing taste
and odor.

3. To precipitate impurities like iron and manganese specially from underground water.
  WATER SOFTENING
• The reduction or removal of hardness from water is called as water softening.

• For industrial supplies softening is done for reducing scaling problems in boilers and the
interference in the working of dyeing systems.

• The temporary hardness or bicarbonate hardness can be removed by boiling or by adding lime.
The carbonates of calcium and magnesium are removed by sedimentation .

• The permanent hardness is removed by:

1. Lime-soda process

2. Zeolite process

3. Demineralization or deionization process