How To Purify Drinking Water?

2023 Author: Douglas Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:23

Do you drink tap water? No? And you are doing the right thing: the water entering our homes, as a rule, requires additional treatment. Moreover, untreated water can be poisoned. Easy. Or ruin expensive plumbing. Our hair stood on end when we learned what can sometimes be found in the water supply and what it all leads to. Judge for yourself. So, in our water you can find …

Undissolved mechanical particles, sand, suspended matter, rust and colloidal substances lead to accelerated abrasive wear of plumbing fixtures and pipes and to their clogging.

Iron and manganese dissolved in water leave rusty smudges on plumbing fixtures. And in the mouth - a glandular taste. Moreover, ferruginous-manganese water “at first glance” cannot be identified: outwardly completely transparent water flows from the tap, but when standing or heating, such water acquires a yellowish-brown color.

The increased content of calcium and magnesium salts dissolved in water makes the water hard. With such water, it is quite possible for sediment and whitish streaks to form on the surface of a bath, sink, etc. These salts, which are also called hardness salts, lead to scale formation. But if the kettle can be cleaned of scale, then the walls of boilers, columns, as well as pipes for hot water are not so easy to clean. As a result, scale disrupts the heat exchange process and leads to overheating of heating elements, excessive consumption of electricity and gas. Scale deposits cause up to 90% of water heater failures.

Organic substances, residual chlorine, hydrogen sulfide give water an unpleasant taste, smell and color (these are the so-called organoleptic indicators).

Some germs and bacteria that live in untreated water can pose a threat to human health and life. Moreover, even relatively safe bacteria in the process of life release organic substances that not only affect the organoleptic characteristics of water, but can enter into chemical reactions (for example, with chlorine) and form toxic and carcinogenic compounds.

Can you imagine? Moreover, it turns out that this is not a complete list of problems with water. So what can you do? As they say, calmness, only calmness. All of these troubles can be avoided. For example, using water treatment systems. There is a typical water treatment scheme for residential buildings. The structure of such a system includes: sediment filter, deferrization filter, softener filter, salt solvent tank, carbon filter, ultraviolet sterilizer and drinking water preparation system. Consider what is intended for what in this system.

Sediment filters are needed to purify water from mechanical particles, sand, suspensions, rust and colloidal substances.

To remove relatively large particles (over 20-50 microns), coarse mesh or disc filters are used. But they have one drawback, as experts say, - a relatively low dirt holding capacity. Therefore, if the water is heavily contaminated, such filters must be washed. And quite often.

Mainly dehydrated aluminosilicate is used as a filtering medium. And for finer cleaning (from 5 to 20 microns), a backfill made of special ceramics, for example, Makrolite, is used.

Deironing filters. Filters of this class are designed mainly to remove iron and manganese dissolved in water from water. Various substances containing manganese dioxide (Birm, Filox, Greensand, etc.) are used as a filter medium. Manganese dioxide serves as a catalyst for the oxidation reaction, in which iron and / or manganese dissolved in water transform into an insoluble form and precipitate. This sediment is retained in the layer of the filtering medium and then washed out into the drain during flushing.

In addition, during the oxidation of iron and manganese, some filters effectively remove hydrogen sulfide dissolved in water. Some of the filter media require regeneration (i.e. recovery) with potassium permanganate.

Softening filters are designed to reduce water hardness. They use special fillings, with the help of which iron, manganese, nitrates, nitrites, sulfates, salts of heavy metals, and organic compounds are partially removed from the water.

These filters require regeneration with a brine solution, therefore they are equipped with a special tank for preparing a regeneration solution (the so-called brine tank).

Carbon filters. Activated carbon has long been used in water treatment to improve the organoleptic properties of water (that is, to eliminate foreign taste, odor, color). Due to their high adsorption capacity, such filters absorb residual chlorine, dissolved gases, and organic compounds.

But, as experts say, it is difficult to remove organic matter from the coal itself, so a salvo discharge of pollution into the water is possible. To avoid this, you need to periodically change the activated carbon backfill.

By the way, activated carbon from coconut shells is used to increase the filter's service life. Moreover, its adsorption capacity is already 4 times higher than that of coal obtained by traditional methods (from birch wood).

And further. To combat biological overgrowth, special coals with so-called bacteriostatic additives are used.

Ultraviolet sterilizers. This, as it turned out, is the most common method for combating bacteriological pollution (that is, the presence of microbes and bacteria in the water). In fact, the cleaning takes place by irradiating the water with ultraviolet light. This treatment guarantees almost complete sterilization of the water. Water is sterilized with special ultraviolet lamps mounted in a rigid case, inside of which water flows.

But that's not all. Let's figure out how to make the water perfectly drinkable.

Drinking water treatment systems

Today, the most advanced systems for the preparation of drinking water are called reverse osmosis systems. The water in them passes through a system of cartridges and a semi-permeable membrane, clearing it from salts dissolved in it, mechanical impurities and bacteria. Moreover, no chemicals are used in the cleaning process.

As a result of purification, pure drinking water with an excellent taste is obtained, which in its properties is close to thawed glacial water. It is this water that is considered the safest for humans. The degree of purification is 98–99%. Such systems are installed, as a rule, in the kitchen and are used only to obtain drinking water. The systems are installed under the sink, and they are equipped with all the necessary fittings for tapping into the cold water line. A separate tap is displayed for clean water.

So - delicious water to you, dear readers! And good osmosis.