Water treatment: Introduction

Professor Philip Davies

Room 118, Building Y8
[email protected]

Attendance code: XXXXXXXX 1

 Session Plan

9.00 – 9.30 Lecture: Why water treatment?

9.30 – 9.45 Brainstorming
9.45 – 10.00 Outline of course and assessment
10.00 – 10.20 Tutorial 0: Basic concepts
10.20– 10.50 Lecture 1: Coagulation and flocculation

This session is being recorded

Attendance code: XXXXXXXX

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Why water treatment? SDG6

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Ensuring availability:
The water triangle

Quantity

Quality Access

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 Ensuring availability:
The water triangle

Quantity

Galati, Romania Mumbai, India

Quality Access

IWA 5
Quantity: how much water do we use at home?
Average residential water consumption (2021)

Denmark
Portugal
Germany
Spain
Netherlands
Greece
UK 142
Austria
France
Sweden
0 50 100 150 200
Litres per person per day
Sources: Statista 6
Howard et al., Domestic water quantity, service level and health,
WHO, 2nd Edt, 2020
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 SDG 6: The gap

Key facts (2022):

 2.2 billion people lack access
to safely managed drinking
water, including 703 million
without basic water service
 1.5 billion without basic
sanitation services
 2 billion without basic
handwashing facility

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/ 8
Sources of water
Source Pros Cons
Surface water Inexpensive Prone to depletion and
(lakes and rivers) Easy to treat pollution
Water transfer Economies of scale Political conflicts
Large investments
Groundwater Good quality Depletion and
management
Seawater Desalination Unlimited supply Expense, energy
consumption
Water reuse Sustainability Social acceptance

Most these sources are contaminated to some extent, requiring treatment to upgrade them to
potable quality 9
Quality: what contaminants can make water unfit
to drink?

Physical

Chemical

Biological

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Quality: what contaminants can make water unfit
to drink?

https://bham.padlet.org
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Inorganic chemical: nitrate

 Typically comes from fertiliser

leaching to aquifers and surface
water
 Reduced to nitrite, interferes with
oxygen transfer in the blood
 Methemoglobinemia: Causes babies
to turn blue (adults are much more
Blue baby syndrome
tolerant to nitrate)
 Symptoms: shortness of breath,
headache, fatigue, dizziness
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Inorganic chemical: fluoride

 Groundwater may contain fluoride

because of naturally occurring
minerals
 While some fluoride is good for
teeth, >4 mg/l may cause mottling

Mottled teeth

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Bacterial disease: cholera
1mm

 Transmitted via human faeces

 Symptoms: diarrhoea, vomiting,
dehydration
 Lasts a few days
 Can be fatal if untreated

Vibrio cholerae bacteria

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 Protozoa disease: cryptosporidium
5 mm
 Causes severe diarrhoea
 Lifecycle develops inside human
intestine – transmitted via faeces
 Releases thick-walled oocytes:
resistant to disinfectants, can remain in
cool surface water for months
 Outbreaks have occurred in modern
water systems in developed countries
as oocysts are difficult to remove

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Viral disease: hepatitis A

 Transmitted via human faeces

 Causes acute inflammation of liver
 Symptoms: fatigue, joint and muscle
pain, fever, loss of appetite,
abdominal pains, jaundice
 Duration: 2 months

Jaundice

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 Water Quality Standards
 In the UK, the Drinking Water Inspectorate ensures that
quality standards are maintained
 Water Supply Quality Regulations (2016) – extracts
below and right ( https://www.dwi.gov.uk/drinking-water-
standards-and-regulations/ )
 Follows EU Drinking Water Directive
 Also informed by WHO guidance
 E.coli: coliform bacteria that live in the guts of warm-
blooded animals (e.g., humans - some strains are
pathogenic). Indicates faecal contamination which must
be avoided in drinking water because many diseases can
be transmitted in this way.

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Session Plan

9.00 – 9.30 Introduction: Why water treatment?

9.30 – 9.45 Brainstorming
9.45 – 10.00 Outline of course and assessment
10.00 – 10.30 Tutorial 0: Basic concepts
10.20– 10.50 Lecture 1: Coagulation and flocculation

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Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
1. Explain and apply the theory of flow in pipes.
2. Calculate the energy losses in pipes and their fittings.
3. Select appropriate pumps for pipe system, taking into
account efficiency and of operation and prevention of
cavitation.
4. Explain the differences between potable water sources and
the basic processes used to treat different waters; solve
associated numerical problems.
5. Describe the significance of influent wastewater flows and
loads on treatment process design and selection and solve
associated numerical problems.
6. Apply knowledge of the main unit processes involved in
water and waste water treatment to solve process and
design problems.

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Outline content
Week Topics
4 Introduction, Coagulation & Flocculation
5 Clarification, Filtration
Potable Water Treatment
6 No lectures
7 Disinfection, SD6
8 Pollution, flows and loads
9 Preliminary and primary Treatment Wastewater Treatment
10 Secondary treatment
11 Water reuse

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Approach to Learning

1. Lectures including worked examples, demonstrations, class

activities
2. Tutorials focussing on tutorial sheets. Please attempt tutorial
sheets in advance of session. Key lecture material may be
reviewed or enhanced
3. Short pre-recorded lectures to complement in-person lectures
4. Independent study and directed reading

 Lectures will normally be recorded. Tutorials will not normally be

recorded.
 Capturing all important material on Panopto is not guaranteed: you
need to attend all sessions.
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Water Treatment: Assessment
Exam (50% of overall module grade): 2 hour in-person invigilated written exam (closed
book but formula sheet provided).

Part A (75 marks): choose 3 out of 4 questions – each worth 25 marks (mostly
calculations but some concise written answers may also be needed)

Part B (25 marks): choose 1 out of 2 questions each on a specific topic – either:
• Sustainable Development Goal 6, or
• Water reuse
Longer written answers (no calculations). The specific questions will not be disclosed in
advance. The topics will build on material introduced in lectures – but further reading
and critical thinking is expected.
Further guidance will be provided during lectures.
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What do I need to know?

Engineering

Chemistry Biology

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What do I need to know?

Engineering

Chemistry Biology

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Basic concepts Tutorial sheet 0

Engineering
 Unit conversions
 Fluid mechanics
 Retention time 20 minutes
 Differential equations

Chemistry Biology
 Chemical formulae and equations  Types of organisms
 Oxidation-reduction  Pathogens
 pH  Biochemical reactions
 Chemical kinetics and equilibrium
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Key points
 SDG6 target 1: achieve universal and equitable access to safe and
affordable drinking water
 Gap: 2.2 billion people do not receive safe and affordable drinking
water
 Water triangle: quantity, quality, access
 Clean water and sanitation boosts health through cutting down
spread of waterborne and water-related diseases. At least 20
L/person/day recommended by WHO.
 Most sources of water are contaminated
 Physical, chemical, and biological contamination
 Drinking water must be free of microbial contamination like E.Coli
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Resources

Main textbooks (available from library):

 N. F. Gray: ‘Water Technology’, 3rd Edt, IWA, 2010
 S. A. Parsons and B. Jefferson: ‘Introduction to Potable Water
Treatment Processes’, Blackwell, 2006

Other resources will be introduced in individual lectures.

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