CHEMICAL WATER

TREATMENT

JACK G. EDERANGO BSCE-5

*Waste Water Treatment Process
- is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater
or sewage and convert it into an effluent that can be
returned to the water cycle with acceptable impact on the
environment, or reused for various purposes.

*Wastewater treatment involves a number of stages involving

processes that are mechanical (physical) – base, biological-
based, chemical based, as well as membrane (filtration)
processes.
* CHEMICAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROCESSES
- chemicals are use during wastewater treatment in an array of

processes to expedite disinfection. These chemical processes, which

induce chemical reactions, are called chemical unit processes and are

used alongside biological and physical cleaning processes to achieve

various water standards.

There are several distinct chemical unit processes, including chemical

coagulation, chemical precipitation, chemical oxidation and advanced

oxidation, ion exchange, and chemical neutralization and stabilization

which can be applied to waste water during cleaning.

CHEMICAL UNIT PROCESSES

* NEUTRALIZATION
- involves the addition of chemicals with the purpose of adjusting the ph
of the waste water. This involves the addition of acids (to lower ph) or
alkalis ( to raise ph) depending on the initial ph of the influent.

* CHEMICAL PRECIPITATION
- is the most common method for removing dissolved metals from
wastewater solution containing toxic metals. To convert the dissolve
metal into solid particle form, a precipitation reagent is added to the
mixture.
* CHEMICAL COAGULATION
- this chemical process involves destabilizing wastewater
particles so that they aggregate during chemical flocculation.
Fine solid particles dispersed and wastewater carry negative

electric surface charges (under normal stable state) which

prevent them from larger group and settling. It is also
destabilizes these particles by introducing positively charge
coagulants that then reduce the negative particles’ charge. Once
the charge is reduce, the particles freely form larger groups.
*CHEMICAL OXIDATION/REDUCTION AND ADVANCED OXIDATION
- with the introduction of an oxidizing agent during chemical
oxidation, electrons move from the oxidant to the pollutants in
wastewater. The pollutants then undergo structural
modification, becoming less destructive compounds. Alkaline
chlorination uses chlorine as an oxidant against cyanide.
However, alkaline chlorination as a chemical oxidation process
can lead to the creation of toxic chlorinated compounds and
additional steps may be required.
* ION EXCHANGE
-When water is too hard , it is difficult to use to clean and often
leaves a grey residue. (This is why clothing washed in hard
water often retains a dingy tint.) An ion exchange process,
similar to reverse osmosis process, can be used to soften the
water. Calcium and magnesium are common ions that lead to
water hardness. To soften the water, positively charge sodium
ions are introduced in the form of dissolve sodium chloride salt
or brine. Hard calcium and magnesium ions exchange places
with sodium ions, and free sodium ions are simply released in
the water.
However, after softening large amount of water, the
softening solution may fill with excess calcium and
magnesium ions, requiring the solution to be recharged with
sodium ions.
* ADSORPTION AND CHEMISORPTION
- is process whereby substances accumulate on the surfaces of
a solid body due to Van Der Waal force. This process is a
physical one – when the same thing happens as a result of a
chemical bond, the process is known as chemisorption. In
wastewater, activated carbons are often used to bind to soluble
elements in the water which were inable to be removed in
earlier stages of the treatment process such as mechanical or
biological. Colorants from textile dying, pharmaceutical
residues, arsenic, and heavy metals are examples of substances
that can be effectively removed through this process.
* FLOCCULATION
- Flocculation uses flocculants to help remove the very
fine particles from wastewater that would not normally
accumulate as larger agglomerates as a result of their
electrical repulsion from having an identical charge. By
adding specialty chemicals, larger formulations of
particles will occur which will then settle out in a
sedimentation process.
* CHEMICAL STABILIZATION
-This chemical wastewater treatment process works in a
similar fashion as chemical oxidation. Sludge is treated
with a large amount of a given oxidant, such as chlorine.
The introduction of the oxidant slows down the rate of
biological growth within the sludge and also helps
deodorize the mixture . The water is then removed from
the sludge . Hydrogen peroxide can also be used as an
oxidant and may be more cost-effective choice.
* It also to substantially reduce the number of
microorganism in the water to be discharged back into
the environment for the later used of drinking , bathing ,
irrigation, etc. The effectiveness depends on the quality
of the water being treated.