Wastewater is any water that has been contaminated with other substances like chemicals, soaps, oils, food scraps and human waste. Every territory and state in Australia has formal authorities that mandate rules and regulations with regard to water treatment in Australia.
If you own or operate a business that generates wastewater, you must set up systems to treat wastewater to ensure that you stay compliant with governing water authorities. If you fail to do so, you run the risk of being subject to lawsuits, hefty fines or even business closure.
The safety of potable water depends on water purification. Water should be tested to ensure that it complies with the guidelines of the government to serve as safe water for drinking. Complying with these standards is vital to ensure that the water is sufficiently purified and has a positive impact on the community.
The Five Stages of Water Treatment
The following are the most important five stages of water treatment to be implemented by water specialists:
● Screening
When water flows into the plant for water treatment, either from the ground, rivers or lakes, it passes via a screen. This screen helps remove large contaminants, such as fish, wood, seaweed and other objects easily visible to the naked eye. When it comes to groundwater resources, it is usually not required to go through the process of screening since the very step of extraction from the ground serves as a natural process of screening, although it might be necessary if the water being extracted contains large impurities.
● Coagulation
In this phase of coagulation, the treatment plant personnel add chemicals to the water which react with particulate matter in the water, resulting in the formation of larger particles in the water. Among the most popular coagulants are ferric sulphate and aluminium sulphate. These are fed into the water at points of high levels of turbulence.
Such particles formed out of the coagulants have a sticky texture and are referred to as floc. This floc draws to it any particles of dirt and ultimately becomes so heavy as to sink down into the bottom of the tank in which water is stored.
● Sedimentation
The term sediment refers to particles of dirt and floc that sink to the bottom of the storage tank. During this process, the water, as well as the sediments at the bottom of the tank, flows into a basin for sedimentation. Sedimentation tanks are so created to reduce the flow velocity of water to permit better settling of suspended solids. Again, the heavy floc particles settle down into the basin’s bottom until removal.
● Filtration
Next, the water being made treated is passed through a layer of sand and gravel (sometimes charcoal). The layer of sand is usually 2.5 feet in depth, while the layer of gravel is around 1 foot deep. At times, pressure filters may also be used to maintain hydraulic head, and floc is removed using gravity filters. Such filtration systems get rid of any extra particles that remain after the process of sedimentation, like algae or turbidity. Following this, water is passed by water specialists into a tank that is closed.
● Disinfection
In these tanks, chemicals like chlorine are used for disinfection and killing microbes like bacteria. This ensures the water is kept clean till it is distributed to the community. This impact is accomplished via pipes that bring water to offices and homes. Till then, the water stays in the tank, subject to purification.
Note that if one’s primary water source is water directly from the ground, the only stage of treatment required is the last stage of disinfection.
In sum, these are the five stages of water treatment in Australia to arrange clean and safe drinking water for the community.
