WATER TREATMENT

PRE TREATMENT CHLORINATION REVERSE OSMOSIS

Water pre - treatment

Water in Nature Contains 1. Suspended impurities Silt, Mud, Organic
debris, Colloidal matter, etc.

2. Organic matter Bacteria, Algae, Dissolved

Organic matter.

3. Dissolved Matter Mainly Salts of Alkali

and Alkaline earth metals.

Recommended Treatments
1. Organic Matter Chlorination. 2. Suspended Matter Coagulation / Flocculation 3. Dissolved Matter R.O, Ion Exchange Steps 1 and 2 Comes Under Pre Treatment. Pre Treatment is done to meet the process and drinking water requirement and also to maintain the plant cooling water system and the DM Plant.

Process of chlorination
Chlorination is done by dissolving gaseous chlorine in water through the ejector system. Solubility of chlorine in water is approximately 7000 ppm. Chlorine is a strong oxidising agent. The effect of chlorine in water are: 1. Disinfection 2. Destruction of organic matter 3. Control of slime and algae 4. Control of Iron, Manganese and Sulphate reducing bacteria 5. Control of the colour, odour and taste of water.

Reactions of Chlorine in Water

Chlorine hydrolyses in water to form hypochlorous acid and the hypochlorite ion. Cl2 + H2O HOCl + HCl This reaction occurs readily at pH >3.0 Further, HOCl H+ + OClThis reaction is favoured by high pH. The prime oxidising agent is HOCl and to a much lower degree OCl- ion. Hence as pH increases, the effectiveness of chlorine decreases.

Chlorine Demand is the difference between the amount of Chlorine applied to a water and the of free residual chlorine that remains after a certain contact time. Breakpoint Chlorination is the addition of Chlorine to water until the chlorine demand has been satisfied. Any further addition of chlorine produce a residual directly proportional to the amount added.

Break point chlorination is to be adopted when treating water of very high ammonia and organic contents.

Alternatives of Chlorination
Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl) Available Chlorine is 12 15%. Feasible in coastal plants where brine and power are easily available. Bleaching Powder Solid. Available chlorine is ~ 30%. Increases the calcium content of water. Tends to form slime. Ozone Good option for drinking water. Highly unsatable. Has to be prepared in situ. Lower persistency. Bromination For high pH waters. Chemical biocides Proprietary chemicals for specified targeted use.

CLARIFICATION
The process of removing suspended matter. - Coagulation - Flocculation - sedimentation Coagulation is the process of destabilisation by charge neutralisation.
Finely divided particles suspended in surface water repel each other because their surfaces are predominantly negatively charged. Once neutralised, particles no longer repel each other and can be brought together. This is achieved by adding inorganic salts of aluminium or iron which neutralise the charge on the turbidity particle. Eg. Alum.

Flocculation is the process of bringing together the

destabilised or coagulated particles to form a larger agglomeration or floc. Coagulation and flocculation are aided and enhanced by Coagulant / Flocculant aids like polyelectrolytes. These are long chain polymer molecules with higher charge density. They help form larger floc which settles faster. Unlike inorganic coagulants they do not decrease the pH of the treated water nor increase the TDS.

Sedimentation refers to the physical removal from

suspension or settling that occurs once the particles are coagulated and flocculated.

Clariflocculators
The Three processes happening in a clarification equipment are - Rapid mix for coagulation - Moderate mixing for flocculation and - Floc and water separation. The most common design is the upflow clarifier where the water flows up while the floc settles.The two types are - Sludge blanket type and - Solids contact type Both utilise part of the settled floc to enhance sedimentation.

Latest Trends
Ballasted floc reactors Based on the fact that heavier floc sinks faster. A weighing agent like micro sand is added at the flocculation stage which makes the sedimentation rate very high. The sand is recirculated. Adsorption clarifiers Coagulated water is introduced through a packed bed of buoyant adsorption media which provides a high surface area for adsorption of the coagulated solids. Flocculation is enhanced by contact with previously attached solids and by the hydraulic shear that develops in the packed bed.

Filtration
Gravity and pressure filters Multimedia filters Gravel as support media and sand /
anthracite as filter media.

Underdrain System For the support of gravel bed.

Assures the uniform collection of filtered water and the uniform distribution of the backwash water.

Control devices The Rate of Flow (ROF) and the Loss of

Head (LOH) meters ensures the efficient operation of the filters.

Reverse Osmosis
Osmosis is the tendency of a fluid to pass through a
semipermeable membrane like the wall of a living cell into a solution of higher concentration so as to equalise the concentration on both sides of the membrane. The pressure developed in the process is called the osmotic pressure.

Reverse Osmosis is the process in which a pressure

exceeding the osmotic pressure is applied in the opposite direction so as to make water flow from the higher concentration side to the lower concentration side.

Membranes
Cellulose acetate membranes First membranes to be used. Hydrolyses slowly in the process enhanced by higher water temperature as well as pH above 5.0. These are also susceptible to organic fouling and biodegradation. Polyamide Thin Film membranes Better in performance in comparison to CA membranes. They are costlier and has poorer tolerance for free chlorine.

Membrane Elements
Hollow Fibre
Fibre size thin tube membranes. A bundle is created by folding a group of fibre in U form and epoxy casting one end on a tube sheet.The feed travels radially from centre to the outside. The configuration is such that it is easily fouled by fine particulate matter and is difficult to clean.

Spiral Wound
Membrane sheets are made into an envelop with a permeate collector in the middle. Each such envelop is separated by spacers. Several such units are wound spirally on perforated permeate collection tube. This is the most common design.

R.O Units
R.O units are pressure vessels housing multiple R.O elements. The elements are interconnected at the permeate tube through O rings which prevent contamination of the permeate. Several such vessels are connected parallely to form one stage in a unit. Depending on the specifications and requirements of the treated water as well as the quality of input water, there can be several such stages in a large R.O unit.

Definitions
Feed flow = Permeate flow + Concentrate flow Recovery (%) = Permeate flow 100 Feed flow Salt Rejection (%) = Feed Concn. Permeate Concn. 100 Feed Concn.

Process Flow Diagram of R.O System

Pre treated water

Antiscalant dispersant

Multimedia filter To prevent fouling Of R.O units

Softener To remove Hardness and Prevent scaling

In R.O units Acid dosing Bisulphite dosing

R.O unit To remove Dissolved salts

Cartridge filters

Activated Carbon Filter