Water Purification & Public Health

Dr. S.P. Singh

Prof. & Head Department of Veterinary Public Health College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences G.B. Pant University of Agric. Tech Pantnagar-263 145

Water
A clear transparent liquid, perfectly neutral in reaction and devoid of taste or smell
In the pure state it is composed of oxygen and hydrogen in proportion of 1:2 by volume

Concept of pure water

Pure water
Water that is free from objectionable color, odor, taste & turbidity is called pure water Wholesome water Pure water which contains adequate amount of dissolved oxygen but no microorganisms and other organic pollutants and is free of microbial and chemical toxins is called wholesome water

Importance of Water in body

> 90% of the weight of the newly born creature is water. Loss of water (20%) causes instant death. It is necessary part of a protoplasm. The blood, lymph, gastric juice, spinal fluid are mostly composed of water. Removal of waste matter from the body -Urine, perspiration & tears. Needed for maintenance of normal body temperature. Essential for the enzymatic activity.

Functions of Water

It is a universal solvent. It is an efficient transport medium (nutrients) Facilitates thermoregulation in body. Helps in maintenance of blood and plasma volume
cellular osmotic pressure. constituent of enzyme & hormonal secretions.

Assist in secretary and excretory functions of body Valuable medium for administration of therapeutics. Helps in propagating useful aquatic flora and fauna. Essential for irrigation, power generation & domestic
purpose.

Water & Health

Approx. ~1.1 billion people lack access to improved

sources (WHO, 2002)

water

That accounts 17 % of global population Two third of which live in Asia.

Worlds population increases by 74.8 million every United Nations declares 2005-2015 as Water for Life

year.

International Decade for Action and sets the world agenda on a greater focus on water- related issues.

Great consequence,
~1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases Mostly from developing countries where 88% of diarrhoeal disease is attributed to unsafe water supply, inadequate sanitation and hygiene.

Significance of Water Hygiene

The world human population would reach
8 billion by 2025. Would require water to maintain hygiene. Water resources are limited. Would lead to increase in disease burden on local communities.

Emergence & re-emergence of waterborne diseases

(i) Changing patterns of water use
(ii) Population growth/migration (iii) Increased access to the water due to the changed lifestyle & recreational activities. (iv) Water scarcity, climate changes, disasters, & the emergencies, (v) War and Bioterrorism (vi) Increased population in the urban and peri-urban areas (vii) Increased use of agro-chemicals, antibiotics, growth promoters, & other veterinary drugs for the production & protection of plants, animals and human.

Need for water purification

Industrial growth & development has increased
the sewage production. Increased flow of sewage and organic matter has increased the BOD from 1 mg/liter (for neutral waters) to 300- 500 mg/liter (polluted water). Micro-organisms present in farm and domestic effluents are added to fresh water sources (rivers & lakes). Dissolved salts can make water hard and unpalatable Industrial wastes rich in intermediate products & heavy metals, etc are added to river streams.

Objectives of Water Purification

To To To To To remove color, objectionable odor and taste. remove dissolved gases and suspended solids. remove suspended and dissolved organic solids. remove pathogenic bacteria. make water safe for drinking and domestic purpose.

Water purification steps

Clarification
Coagulation Flocculation Sterilization

Softening (if required)

Raw Water Screening Grit Chamber Pre-chlorination Aeration Coagulation Flocculation Sedimentation Filtration Post chlorination Ozonization

PH control/Stabilization Pure water

Pre-treatment
Roughing filters Micro-strainers Off-stream storage Bank infiltration Removes,
Algae, turbidity, viruses & protozoan cysts.

Variety of treatments are undertaken

Vary in their complexity, from disinfection to membrane filtration.

Roughing
Filters derived from rock or gravel Used prior to filtration
Reduce Turbidity - 60-90% Coliform count -93-99.5% Algal cell -37% Total chlorophyll -53%

Color, organic carbon & turbidity can still be reduced by

the use of coagulants (alum).

Micro-strainers
Made of fabric meshes woven of stainless steel
or polyester wires Many large sized protozoa such as Balantidium coli can be removed Smaller pathogens such as bacteria or viruses can not be removed Reduce turbidity (520%) which can be enhanced by the use of coagulants (alum).

 The quality of water in the off-stream storage reservoirs that feed

the potable water source is determined by the physical, biological and chemical processes taking place in it.

Off-stream storage

The algal growth, influx of nitrogen, phosphorous and other Attempts should be made to reduce birds. No tree.

contaminants and the faecal contamination at or near surroundings should be limited

If properly stored at off-storage reservoirs there can be significant

reduction in the counts of Cryptosporidium, E.coli, Giardia, and enteroviruses. large reservoir.

Storage of water in divided reservoirs is better compared to single

Bank infiltration
A process of surface water seeping from the bank or bed
of a river or lake to the reduction wells of a water treatment plant is known as Bank infiltration

Used in some of the European countries This process reduces

Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Clostridia,

Bacteriophase Certain viruses - Entero and Reoviruses.

Clarification
Various clarification methods
Sedimentation Filtration Coagulation Sterilization.

Simplest of all is sedimentation.,

Removes suspended and colloidal impurities in sedimentation

tank by gravitation. Reduce heavy sediment load before treatment.

Coagulation, flocculation & sedimentation

Used in conjunction with subsequent filtration. Coagulation promotes the interaction of small particles to form
larger particles.

In practice, the term refers to coagulant addition (i.e. addition of a

substance that will form the hydrolysis products that cause coagulation), particle destabilization and inter-particle collisions.

Flocculation is the physical process of producing inter-particle

contacts that lead to the formation of large particles.

Sedimentation is a solidliquid separation process, in which particles

settle under the force of gravity.

Most bacteria and protozoa can be considered as particles, and most

viruses as colloidal organic particles that are eliminated.

Coagulation
Coagulation means treatment of water with reagents so as to
remove colloidal and coarse dispersed impurities (Particle that do not settle during sedimentation i.e. clay, silica or organic matter) hence did not collapse due to repulsion. particles.

Most of them exist in colloidal form and develop negative charge Coagulant are added which neutralises the charge on colloidal
Aluminium sulphate Ferric chloride Ferric sulphate Ferrous sulphate

Types of coagulation

Contact coagulation Electrochemical coagulation

Flocculation
Process of coagulation can be hastened by using certain chemicals called as flocculent.
Starch Sodium polyaginate Polyacrylamide Copolymer of vinyl acetate Activated silica PAA

*PAA is most widely used flocculent and it increases coagulation rate of

aluminum sulphate by 10-20 times and reduces consumption of coagulant by 2-3 times

 Conventionally, clarification refers to chemical addition,

rapid mixing, flocculation and sedimentation.

When properly performed, coagulation, flocculation and

sedimentation can result inconsiderable removals of bacteria, viruses and protozoa.

However, Cryptosporidium and Giardia are found at very Can be achieved by the use of iron-based coagulants
Aluminum hydroxide Poly-aluminum chloride (PACl)

low levels, and methods for their detection have limitations use of coagulants further helps in the reduction of turbidity.

Coagulation conditions (i.e. dose, pH, temperature,

alkalinity, turbidity and the level and type of natural organic matter) affect the efficiency.

Type of filter

Single flow closed pressure filter. Open type mechanical filter. Horizontal closed pressure filter. Multiple mechanism filter. Chamber type filter.
*Open type mechanical filter is commonly used in large scale purification of drinking water.

Filtration
Removes sand, clay and other matter as well as organisms by Effectively remove bacteria and parasites but not viruses. Good filters are effective against Cryptosporidia and Giardia. Due to the inability to remove viruses, filtered water must also be
chemically treated or boiled and hence many a times filtration is combined with other chemical sterililants such as iodine (or chlorine) hence, modern filters incorporate chemical disinfection, which is usually achieved by passing water through iodine exchange resins. means of small pore size membranes, adsorption, exchange resins and osmosis.

Filtration processes
Diatomaceous earth Micro-filtration- pore size 0.1 m or more Nano-filtration; Reverse osmosis; Ultra-filtration- pore size 0.01 m or more

Filtration can act as a consistent and effective barrier for microbial

pathogens.

Granular high rate media filtration is the most widely used filtration
process in drinking water treatment.

Under optimal conditions, a combination of coagulation, flocculation, Bag, cartridge and fibrous filters are widely used in the recent past.

sedimentation and granular media filtration can result better removal of protozoan pathogens with chlorine-resistant cysts.

Dissolved air flotation (DAF)

Bubbles are produced by reducing pressure in a water
stream saturated with air.

Rising bubbles attach to floc-particles, causing the

agglomerate to float to the surface, where the material is skimmed off. cells and Cryptosporidium oocysts.

DAF can be particularly effective for removal of algal

Precipitate lime softening

Process in which the pH of the water is increased
(usually through the addition of lime or soda ash) to precipitate high concentrations of calcium and magnesium.

Reduction in the viability of of Giardia, viruses and

coliform bacteria is achieved.

Sterilization
Chemical method
Precipitation : Alum, soda ash and lime Aeration Ozonization Chlorination

Physical method
Boiling Exposure to sunlight and ultraviolet light

Disinfection of water and public health

Various disinfectants used for treatment of water to inactivate pathogenic microbes. The disinfection processes have strong bearing on the final quality of the water used for the drinking purpose viz.,

(i) Pretreatment oxidation where in oxidants are added to water early

in the treatment process; (ii) Primary disinfection is important as granular filter media do not remove all microbial pathogens from water (iii) Secondary disinfection employed to maintain the water quality achieved at the treatment plant throughout the distribution system up to the tap.

Factors
Disinfectant concentration, Contact time, Temperature pH

Primary disinfection
A disinfection barrier is a common component of primary
treatment of water and is typically a chemical oxidation process, although ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and membrane treatment are gaining increased attention.

Different types of disinfectant such as chlorine,

monochlorine, chlorine dioxide, ozone, UV light and mixed oxidants can be used for various pathogenic microorganisms.

Chlorination

Plain chlorination Pre chlorination Post chlorination Double chlorination Super chlorination Break point chlorination Bleaching powder method

 Chlorine and silver based preparations destroy

most the bacteria (e.g. V.cholerae), but are less effective against viruses (hepatitis A) and cysts (Giardia, amoebic cysts, and Cryptosporidia).

Chlorine alone is readily inactivated by organic

matter and its action varies with pH.

However, if used in combination with Phosphoric

acid it is more effective and this combination will destroy both Giardia and Cryptosporidia.

 For nearly 100 years of chlorination for of drinking-water has

demonstrated the effectiveness of this process for inactivation of microbial pathogens, with the notable exception of Cryptosporidium. Certain bacteria show a high level of resistance to free chlorine.

Spore forming bacteria such as Bacillus or Clostridium are highly

resistant when disseminated as spores.

Acid-fast and partially acid-fast bacteria such as Mycobacterium and

Nocardia can also be highly resistant to chlorine disinfection.

Since Gram-positive bacteria have thicker walls than Gram-negative

ones the pathogenic group that survives chlorination are gram positive as well as acid fast pathogens.

Enteric viruses are generally more resistant to free chlorine than

enteric bacteria due to the protective nature of the particle surface (Coxsackie A2).

Secondary Disinfection
The purpose of a secondary disinfectant is to maintain
the water quality achieved at the treatment plant throughout the distribution system up to the tap.

Provides a final partial barrier against microbial

contamination and serves to control bacterial growth. controversial, with some opponents arguing that if biological stability is achieved and the system is well maintained, the disinfectant is unnecessary.

The practice of residual disinfection has become

Conclusions
The drinking water should not only be visibly clean but is should
also be wholesome and free from microbial as well as non-microbial contaminants. The water purification is never an accident, stringent exercises need to be undertaken so as to keep it away from the contaminants. Various processes used for the purification of water suffer from one or the other lacunae; so we need to use a composite system that can enhanced safety. In the industries where water is used directly or indirectly for the preparation of food, HACCP need to be implemented so as to reduce contamination of water at any step. The source of water should be kept clean and suitable primary purification system should be employed as per the recommendations of the competent authority. In case there is a need for the secondary disinfection, strategy needs to be defined and then implemented so as to keep the pathogens away from the water distribution system. Assurance of safe water to the consumers.

Thanks