Water Treatment Processes

The treatment of water for both human consumption and the the treatment of waste water are two extensive processes with many overlapping similarities. Within my CIV342 Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes class, I not only learned greatly about these processes of water treatment, but was able to take actual water samples and perform lab analysis on the samples.

Before my experience in my Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes class, I had very little functional knowledge of water treatment. Essentially, I knew the water was filtered and chlorine added to disinfect it. Now, I have not only begun to learn the processes, but having performed lab analysis, I have produced 6 reports based on the evidence found in the lab. Within my reports I first began with determining water quality parameter including pH, Alkalinity, hardness, turbidity, and solids within a sample. Now that I was able to test the parameters of a water sample, I was now able to modify the sample through processes such as coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, softening, and chlorination.

Through lab analysis, I was able to determine many important variables including:

• Determining the optimal alum dosage for coagulation

• Removal of turbidity and head loss through a dual media filter

• Softening of hard water using lime and soda ash

• Creation of a chlorine demand curve

• Measurement of the biochemical oxygen demand for a wastewater sample