Water Treatment Plants and Processes

Essay by fidaulalamHigh School, 11th gradeA, January 2009

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Introduction:Water is generally classified into two groups: surface water and ground water. Water that is trapped beneath the ground is called ground water. Whereas, water that is found in rivers and lakes are called surface water. Surface water, is not very high in mineral content but is exposed to many different contaminates such as animal wastes, pesticides, insecticides, industrial wastes, algae, and other organic materials. Few of the sources that recharge the supply of underground water, are rain and snow that soaks or melts into the ground, and rivers that disappear beneath the surface. Hence, ground water contains contaminates from the surface water and the minerals it carries while it is underground. Underground water is sometimes considered hard water when there is a high concentration of dissolved minerals such as magnesium and calcium. Sometimes hard water is softened through ion exchange, by which magnesium and calcium salts are replaced with sodium salts.

Water is the most important nutrient for our bodies. It is widely involved in the processes and make up of our body. The human brain is about 75% water. Therefore, water is really a vital resource for the human body. People lose 2 to 3 quarts of water through breathing, sweating, and urination. So, to compensate for this loss of water people need to replace fluids regularly because the body depends greatly on water. Canada has less the 1% of the world's water, yet it is 22% of the freshest. This is due to the great concern of the country's quality of water. Since water is highly polar, it is an excellent solvent for other polar and charges molecules. For example, water is used as a solvent in the body by hemoglobin, carbonates, different proteins, and many other molecules. Moreover, water does not exist in nature as pure...