How To Treat Water Turbidity ?

 

The turbidity is a measure of water clarity, how well the light can penetrate into the water. The higher the intensity of scattered light, the higher the turbidity. Material that causes water to be turbid include clay, silt, very tiny inorganic and organic matter, algae, dissolved colored organic compounds, and plankton and other microscopic organisms.

In streams, increased sedimentation and siltation can occur, which can result in harm to habitat areas for fish and other aquatic life. Particles also provide attachment places for other pollutants, notably metals and bacteria. For this reason, turbidity readings can be used as an indicator of potential pollution in a water body.

 

Excess Slush In Hooghly River..

Recently, the Kolkata municipal corporation has been forced to reduce the supply of potable water as its treatment plants are getting raw water with unusually high content of slush or suspended solids. The water treatment plants are designed to handle a certain volume of suspended solids. The unusually high volume of these substances forced Kolkata municipal corporation to reduce the production of water to treat the turbidity. So now we just have a glimpse about the risks and challenges in treating water turbidity and available solutions.

 

How Turbidity Affects Human Health?

Excessive turbidity, or cloudiness, in drinking water is aesthetically unappealing, and may also represent a health concern. Turbidity can provide food and shelter for pathogens. If not removed, the causes of high turbidity can promote re growth of pathogens in the water, leading to waterborne disease outbreaks, which have caused significant cases of intestinal sickness throughout the United States and the world. Although turbidity is not a direct indicator of health risk, numerous studies show a strong relationship between removal of turbidity and removal of protozoa. The particles of turbidity provide "shelter" for microbes by reducing their exposure to attack by disinfectants. Microbial attachment to particulate material has been considered to aid in microbe survival.

Fortunately, traditional water treatment processes have the ability to effectively remove turbidity when operated properly.

 

Simple And Best Method To Treat Turbidity

Cloth Filtration  

A simple option to pre-treat turbid water is to filter through a locally available cloth.  Users pour water from the transport container through the cloth into the storage container.  The benefits of this option include its simplicity, the wide availability of cloth, and the fact that filtration through multiple layers of sari cloth has been shown to reduce cholera transmission in Bangladesh by removing the copepods to which the cholera bacteria are attached.  Drawbacks of this option are that the filtration capacity of cloth varies greatly, and filtering through multiple layers of cloth can be very slow.  In laboratory studies, the use of cloth filtration reduced the turbidity of water, but did not reduce its chlorine demand, the amount of chlorine that is used up by organics before disinfection can occur.

Sand Filtration  

Filtration through clean sand is a fast and simple pre-treatment option.  Users pour water from a transport container through a container of sand with gravel and a spigot at the bottom.  The water then flows into a storage container.  The benefits of sand filtration are that it is effective at removing some bacteria, it is simple and fast for the user, and, if sand is available locally, it is inexpensive.  The drawback of sand filtration is that it requires three containers and a spigot.  In laboratory studies, the use of sand filtration significantly reduced both the turbidity and the chlorine demand of turbid water.

Settling & Decanting.

Settling and decanting is a method to reduce turbidity by letting the water sit for 2-24 hours so that the particulates settle to the bottom of the container.  The clear water is then decanted off the top into a second container.  The benefit of settling and decanting is that it requires no equipment besides the containers.  The drawbacks of settling and decanting are the need for multiple containers, the time it takes the water to settle, and, if the containers are opaque, the difficulty in observing the effect of settling.  In laboratory studies, the use of settling and decanting significantly reduced both the turbidity and the chlorine demand of turbid waters.

Alum Flocculation.

Aluminum sulfate is widely used as a flocculent in water treatment plants in the United States and Europe.  It is also widely available in developing countries, sold in naturally occurring mineral blocks of soft white stone, and generally called ‘alum’.  There are numerous ways to use alum as a flocculent, including crushing it into a powder before adding it to water, stirring, and decanting; or, stirring the whole stone in the water for a few seconds and waiting for the solids to settle.  The benefits of alum are that it is widely available, is proven to reduce turbidity, and is inexpensive.  The drawbacks of alum are that the necessary dosage varies unpredictably, it can change the pH of the treated water, and using too much leads to a salty, unpalatable taste.  In laboratory studies, the use of alum significantly reduced the turbidity of water, and also significantly reduced the chlorine demand of turbid waters

 

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Our team comprises of highly qualified environment engineers, experts, and techno crafts in the field of water treatment management. We are the best water treatment company in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. We committed ourselves to provide best in class water treatment service to save our environment as possible as we can. We provide all kind of solutions to water and waste water treatment.