DEMYSTIFIED . QUIZZES . #WTFACT . LISTS . ON THIS DAY . BIOGRAPHIES .

EXPLORE START YOUR FREE TRIAL SEARCH BRITANNICA 

 Water puri cation     

Contents PUBLIC HEALTH
 ARTICLE  MEDIA INFO PRINT CITE FEEDBACK SHARE

Introduction
New Sludge drying technology - Sludge treatment
Determining water quality technologies OPEN
Sludge dryer machine reduces moisture from 85% to 10%. Design meet your requirements. phnix-
Process e.com

Pretreatment

Other puri cation steps Water puri cation

Industrial water puri cation PUBLIC HEALTH
Saline water puri cation

System con gurations and WRITTEN BY: Archis Ambulkar, Stephen T. Schroth, Jordan K. Lanfair
improvements See Article History

Alternative Title: water treatment

Water puri cation, process by which undesired chemical compounds,

organic and inorganic materials, and biological contaminants are removed
from water. That process also includes distillation (the conversion of a
liquid into vapour to condense it back to liquid form) and deionization (ion
removal through the extraction of dissolved salts). One major purpose of
water puri cation is to provide clean drinking water. Water puri cation
Stainless steel water
ltration system
also meets the needs of medical, pharmacological, chemical, and
Custom Homebrew Filters
industrial applications for clean and potable water. The puri cation
Stainless Steel Brew Filters Custom Filters
procedure reduces the concentration of contaminants such as suspended Available
arborfab.com
particles, parasites, bacteria, algae, viruses, and fungi. Water puri cation
takes place on scales from the large (e.g., for an entire city) to the small
OPEN
(e.g., for individual households).

BRITANNICA EXPLORES Water puri cation

QUICK FACTS
EARTH'S TO-DO LIST
Human action has triggered a vast cascade
of environmental problems that now
threaten the continued ability of both natural
and human systems to ourish. Solving the
critical environmental problems of global
warming, water scarcity, pollution, and
biodiversity loss are perhaps the greatest
challenges of the 21st century. Will we rise to
meet them?

View Media Page

Most communities rely on natural bodies of water as intake sources for

KEY PEOPLE
water puri cation and for day-to-day use. In general, these resources can Sir Edward Frankland

be classi ed as groundwater or surface water and commonly include

RELATED TOPICS
underground aquifers, creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes. With recent
Water supply system
technological advancements, oceans and saltwater seas have also been Filtration
used as alternative water sources for drinking and domestic use. Recycling
Disinfection
Chlorination
Determining Water Quality
Historical evidence suggests that water treatment was recognized and
practiced by ancient civilizations. Basic treatments for water puri cation
have been documented in Greek and Sanskrit writings, and Egyptians
used alum for precipitation as early as 1500 BCE.

In modern times, the quality to which water must be puri ed is typically

set by government agencies. Whether set locally, nationally, or
internationally, government standards typically set maximum
concentrations of harmful contaminants that can be allowed in safe water.
Since it is nearly impossible to examine water simply on the basis of
appearance, multiple processes, such as physical, chemical, or biological
analyses, have been developed to test contamination levels. Levels of
organic and inorganic chemicals, such as chloride, copper, manganese,
sulfates, and zinc, microbial pathogens, radioactive materials, and
dissolved and suspended solids, as well as pH, odour, colour, and taste, are
some of the common parameters analyzed to assess water quality and
contamination levels.

Facts Matter. Support the truth and unlock all of Britannica’s

content.
Start Your Free Trial Today

Regular household methods such as boiling water or using an activated-

carbon lter can remove some water contaminants. Although those
methods are popular because they can be used widely and inexpensively,
they often do not remove more dangerous contaminants. For example,
natural spring water from artesian wells was historically considered clean
for all practical purposes, but it came under scrutiny during the rst
decade of the 21st century because of worries over pesticides, fertilizers,
and other chemicals from the surface entering wells. As a result, artesian
wells were subjected to treatment and batteries of tests, including tests for
the parasite Cryptosporidium.

Not all people have access to safe drinking water. According to a 2017
report by the United Nations (UN) World Health Organization (WHO), 2.1
billion people lack access to a safe and reliable drinking water supply at
home. Eighty-eight percent of the four billion annual cases of diarrhea
reported worldwide have been attributed to a lack of sanitary drinking
water. Each year approximately 525,000 children under age ve die from
diarrhea, the second leading cause of death, and 1.7 million are sickened
by diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water, coupled with inadequate
sanitation and hygiene.

Process
Most water used in industrialized countries is treated at water treatment
plants. Although the methods those plants use in pretreatment depend
on their size and the severity of the contamination, those practices have
been standardized to ensure general compliance with national and
international regulations. The majority of water is puri ed after it has been
pumped from its natural source or directed via pipelines into holding
tanks. After the water has been transported to a central location, the
process of puri cation begins.

Advertisement

Pretreatment

In pretreatment, biological contaminants, chemicals, and other materials

are removed from water. The rst step in that process is screening, which
removes large debris such as sticks and trash from the water to be treated.
Screening is generally used when purifying surface water such as that
from lakes and rivers. Surface water presents a greater risk of having been
polluted with large amounts of contaminants. Pretreatment may include
the addition of chemicals to control the growth of bacteria in pipes and
tanks (prechlorination) and a stage that incorporates sand ltration, which
helps suspended solids settle to the bottom of a storage tank.

Preconditioning, in which water with high mineral content (hard water) is

treated with sodium carbonate (soda ash), is also part of the pretreatment
process. During that step, sodium carbonate is added to the water to force
out calcium carbonate, which is one of the main components in shells of
marine life and is an active ingredient in agricultural lime. Preconditioning
ensures that hard water, which leaves mineral deposits behind that can
clog pipes, is altered to achieve the same consistency as soft water.

Prechlorination, which is often the nal step of pretreatment and a

standard practice in many parts of the world, has been questioned by
scientists. During the prechlorination process, chlorine is applied to raw
water that may contain high concentrations of natural organic matter.
This organic matter reacts with chlorine during the disinfection process
and can result in the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), such as
trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, chlorite, and bromate. Exposure to
DBPs in drinking water can lead to health issues. Worries stem from the
practice’s possible association with stomach and bladder cancer and the
hazards of releasing chlorine into the environment.

LOAD NEXT PAGE

Inspire your inbox – Sign up for daily fun facts about this day in history, updates, and special offers.

Enter your email SUBSCRIBE

By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Click here to view our Privacy Notice. Easy unsubscribe links are provided in every email.

STAY CONNECTED      
About Us About Our Ads Partner Program Contact Us Privacy Notice Terms of Use

©2019 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.