GROUND WATER TREATMENT
Water companies get their ground water mainly from boreholes.
South Staffordshire Water PLC has 26 spread around the Company's area.
Ground water is much cleaner than Surface Water and so generally has a much simpler process for cleaning it, so that it can become wholesome, potable, drinking water.
In many cases there are only two stages needed for the ground water treatment process.
1: DISINFECTION
In order to remove the risk of people who drink water getting a stomach upset, any GERMS in the water must be killed. This is known as DISINFECTION and involves the use of a chemical called CHLORINE. It is the same chemical which is put in the water in many swimming pools to kill the germs in the pool water.
When disinfecting the water using Chlorine there are two main things to think about:
a: How much Chlorine should be used?
b: How long does the Chlorine need to do its job?
Only a very small amount of Chlorine is actually needed, much less than in the swimming pool.
At the WATER TREATMENT WORKS the chlorine is added to the water in a CONTACT TANK and it takes least 30 minutes for the water and chlorine to pass through this tank. This is enough time for the chlorine to do its job of killing the germs.
After the water has been disinfected a small amount of chlorine is left in the water, known as the RESIDUAL CHLORINE level. This is actually very useful, as if any pipes get broken the Chlorine in the water will help to kill any germs that might find their way into the broken pipe.
After all the dirt has been removed and the germs have been killed this is the first point in the ground water treatment process where it would be safe to drink the water.
2: FLUORIDATION
One more chemical is added before the water is sent to your homes. This chemical is called FLUORIDE and is added at the request of local health authorities because it has been shown that it helps to reduce tooth decay, particularly in young people. Hence, in response to this request the water has a very small amount of fluoride added. The process of adding FLUORIDE is known as FLUORIDATION.
3: DISTRIBUTION
Once the water has been DISINFECTED AND FLUORIDATED it is ready to drink. Hence, all that remains is to use big pumps to pump the water along a very complex network made up of many kilometres of pipework, until it eventually arrives at the homes of customers. And so the GROUND WATER TREATMENT PROCESS enables water from a borehole to be turned into clean, wholesome, potable, drinking water which is safe and enjoyable to drink.
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© South Staffordshire Water 2006