Water Treatment Blog

1.  What happens towater to be made drinkable in cities?
      The U.S. Enviormental Protection Agency defines whether water is "safe", to meet those requerments it can't contain any harmful bacteria, or other desease causeing toxins.  Treating water so that it is drinkable is put into five different steps. The first is Aeration, during that they mix all the water together to liberate dissolved gasses.  The second is Flocculation, where they add compounds to the water so that any clay or other natural particals stick to the compound and create a big clup easy to remove.  The third, sedimentation, is when the water is left undisturbed so that the particals and compound that clumped together can settle.  The fourth Filtration, this is when the water is run through several filters to remove any particals still excisting in the water.  The last is Disenfection, which is when they treat the water so that any desease causing things still in the water can be killed.  After those five steps the water can be drank.

2.  What happens to water when it is flushed, how is it treated?
      After we flush the sewage regularly goes to a sewage tank in a persons back yard or to a sewage treatment plant, where it will be treated.  In 1995  data was gathered about how 26% of the sewage leaving your house either evaporates or is transpired from your yard and the other 74% is sent to the plant.  At the plant it is cleaned and used for other purposes like watering a golf course.