|
Learning
Center Categories:
Water
And Health
Learn
About Water Quality
Water
Can Heal!
Contaminants
Fact Sheets
Top
Water News
Did
you know?
Reverse osmosis is the finest water filtration method known. This process will
allow the removal of particles as small as ions from a solution. It is used
to purify water and remove salts and other impurities in order to improve the
color, taste or properties of the fluid. R.O. uses a membrane that is semi-permeable,
allowing the fluid that is being purified to pass through it, while rejecting
other ions and contaminants from passing.
This technology uses a process
known as crossflow to allow the r.o. membrane to continually clean itself. This
is the reason of why an r.o. element can last many years before clogging or
need replacement. This
water purification process requires a driving force to push the fluid through
the membrane, and the most common force is household water pressure or pressure
from a booster pump. The higher the pressure, the larger the driving force and
efficiency.
|
32. How Tap Water is Treated and Delivered
When most turn on the faucet and cold, clear water flows out, they
probably seldom think where that water came from. But if you get your
water from a municipal water system, the process is pretty neat and involves
processing, purification, storing and transporting through a network of
pipes intricately designed and plotted beneath the city.
Ever play an early version of Sim City? It was so hard to connect
the water lines. Imagine doing it for real, with no cheat codes. Most
engineered water supply networks are combined of many pieces. There is
a water supply, which is usually called a watershed- a geographic area
that collects the water. Then, there is a raw and untreated water reservoir
which can be above or below ground. This could be a water tower, a lake,
a river or an underground aquifer. Then, there must be a means of delivery
from the reservoir to a treatment facility, which could be underground
piping, tunnels or aqueducts. Then, of course, there is the treatment
plant or facility. Once treated, the water is transmitted to treated
water storage, which again could be above or below ground. And the final
component of the system is the distribution method to individual homes,
businesses and public use such as hydrants. Water pressure is something
crucial to pumping water throughout all the many pipes through the system. Those are the components, which specifics will vary from town to town.
The water treatment facilities will vary from town to town and
state to state as well, as there are different regulations. Of course,
everything is also regulated by the EPA- meaning there are federal standards
for safe drinking water. In 1974, congress passed the Safe Drinking Water
Act, which was amended twice since its signing. This law laid the groundwork
for standards that must be adhered to by municipalities and private water
companies serving the public. The EPA website has a full disclosure of
every rule implemented, with rules that are currently being decided on.
As health research is constantly being done, there are always new regulations. The EPA monitors for hundreds of organisms, metals, compounds, chemicals
and the like. For each contaminant, the EPA allows for a maximum number.
When water is tested at the plants, it must meet or be lower than this
specified number. If there is a spike, the customers must be notified. This is why you sometimes may see a "boil alert" on television. This means that a contaminant at a potentially unsafe level has entered the
water supply.
Also, there are secondary contaminant guidelines, which are not
enforced. These may cause cosmetic damage, such as skin and tooth discoloration
or aesthetic effects such as taste or odor. These include aluminum, chloride,
copper and many others. However, many of these are also linked to health
effects and for this reason, even water treated at a plant may need to
be filtered at home also.
Most water systems use the a multiple barrier method, much like
water bottlers do, to remove these contaminants and to meet EPA guidelines. But also, things are sometimes added to the water. Not all, but some
follow a process like this: At the treatment plant, chlorine is added
to the water to kill bacteria; aluminum sulfate is added to coagulate
organic particles; then the water is put into a settling basin to let
the precipitate settle; the water it is filtered through sand filters;
the water is treated with lime to adjust the pH, and finally is put into
those storage reservoirs for home delivery.
Along with the Safe Drinking Water Act, everyone is allowed to
know what is found in the water. In fact, annual reports by these companies
are usually provided to customers along with their account statement.
Healthy and Convenient!
Our Featured Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System
|
=
Products of Superior Performance and Dependability 
