03 - Quality Aspect Slides

CTB3365x – Introduction to Water Treatment
D3 – Water quality aspects

Doris van Halem
Wherever you get your drinking water from, the tap, a bottle
or a source.
Your water will not just contain pure H2O.
But what is in your water?
And, more importantly, what should definitely not be in there?
Welcome to the Water Treatment lecture about Water Quality

Aspects.
My name is Doris van Halem and I’m an Assistant Professor in
Drinking Water.
Today I’m your lecturer and I will introduce you to the major
water contaminants, water quality requirements and basic
water quality compositions of rainwater, surface water and
groundwater.
First, I will provide an overview of the key compounds in the

water and why they are important for safe drinking water
supply.
This overview consists of the following groups:
undissolved matter;
micro-organisms;
dissolved compounds.
1
The distinction between parameters cannot always be made
very clearly, a good example are the odour and taste of water.
Odour and taste are subjective parameters which cannot be
detected by any device.
The acceptable taste and odour of water are determined using
consumer panels, which determine whether they detect any
unpleasant flavor or smell to the water.
Well, let’s get back to the parameters that we can measure.

Undissolved matter consists of large or small particles, which
have not been dissolved in the water.
A distinction based on size is made between suspended and

colloidal matter.
The diameter and specific gravity of particles are important for
removing them from the water.
Colloidal particles have a size between 10-9 and 10-10m and
have a specific gravity similar to water.
Colloidal particles generally have a negative electric charge
and their electrostatic repulsion makes them difficult to
remove.
Colloidal particles give color and turbidity to the water.
Suspended particles are of mineral or organic origin, mineral
suspended particles originate from sand, clay and other
inorganic soil sources and enter the water as a result of
erosion.
Organic suspended particles originate from the decay of
vegetation and from the discharge of untreated domestic and
industrial wastewater.
The rivers in Europe have a suspended solids concentration of
approximately 30 mg/L, while in tropical rivers
concentrations can rise as high as 10,000 mg/L.
The amount of suspended and colloidal matter can be
expressed in multiple parameters, including turbidity,
suspended solids concentration and particle size distribution.
2
The second group of key compounds in water consists of living
creatures, which you most often cannot see with the naked
eye.
In nature, water contains all kinds of organisms and they are
present in large numbers.
Also in drinking water many different organisms are found.
Higher organisms, of which a list is depicted on the slide, have

a size between 0.05 and 10mm.
And just to give you an idea, a cubic meter of water may
contain over 50,000 of these organisms, which gives the
impression of a large zoo and seems unsuitable for drinking
and to be avoided by vegetarians.
However, fortunately a characteristic of most higher organisms
is that they are harmless to human health.
Their presence in drinking water is only aggravating if they are
detectable by the naked eye.
Also smaller microorganisms, such as bacteria, can be found
abundantly in water and the majority of them does not effect
your health.
However, there are also microorganisms that are harmful to
human health, so called pathogenic micro-organisms.
Pathogenic microorganisms, or pathogens in short, are not

present in water by nature, but they enter the water through
feces and urine from humans and animals.
Pathogens have difficulty to survive in natural water, because
the temperature of water is lower than body temperature. An
important source of pathogens in surface water is the
continuous supply of un-treated or not fully treated
wastewater from domestic and bio-industry.
Pathogenic microorganisms can cause different diseases,
which may become epidemic rather quickly in water. They
can be divided into three main groups, each with their own
individual characteristics:
protozoa, which are single cell animals and can cause diarrhea
and stomach complaints;
bacteria, responsible for typhoid fever and cholera;
viruses, the smallest organism of the three groups, and
responsible for hepatitis and polio.
There are analytical techniques to determine what pathogens
are in your water, but for safety reasons, it is preferred to
measure indicator organisms and not the real disease-causing
organisms.
3
For bacteria, coliforms or E.coli are used as indicator
organisms, they can also be found in human and animal feaces,
but can be more safely cultured and counted as colony forming
units per volume.
For virus indicators, mostly bacteriophages are used which
form plaque forming units per volume.
In the guidelines of the World Health Organisation it is stated
that when testing a 100mL sample no E.coli may be found.
Dissolved compounds in water can be divided into inorganic
and organic compounds.
A subdivision can also be made based on the concentrations
present macro-pollutants for concentrations over 1 mg/L and
micropollutants for concentrations below 1 mg/L.
This was a quick overview of the main water parameters.

We will now take a closer look at the water composition of
different sources, based on the hydrological cycle :
rainwater
surface water
groundwater
Let’s start with rainwater.
When rain is falling from the air it is initially very pure and does
not contain contaminants.
However, we can still list quiet some ingredients in rain water
drops,
namely gases, including, Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen,

but also dissolved minerals, such as sodium chloride.
Rainwater has, because of excessive carbon dioxide, a
relatively low pH, between 5.5 and 6.5.
And an interesting fact is that near coastlines, sodium chloride
(or salt) concentrations can rise from 5 mg/L to values as high
as 25 mg/L.
Pollution of rainwater can happen in the air, for example when

dust from industry is caught by the raindrops.
But rainwater can also be polluted on roofs, before it is stored
in rainwater harvesting tanks.
4
A more widely known form of pollution is acid rain, caused by
the exhaust of gasses by cars or industry.
Also, in areas with extensive agriculture and use of fertilizers,
the rainwater can be polluted with ammonium.
To summarize, rainwater contains gasses and some salts, but

can generally be considered a safe source for drinking water.
However, its purity can be threatened by contamination in the
air or on the ground.
Of course, surface water will also contain rainwater, as

rainwater within a catchment area will partially end up in
rivers or lakes.
However, the main source for river water is mostly snow from
mountains, such as the Alpes for the Rhine River, or the
Himalayas for the River Ganges.
Initially, high in the mountains, the surface water is very clean,
but because surface water mostly consists of open water
bodies, it is very prone to all kinds of contaminations, including
erosion, algae blooms and wastewater discharges.
Let’s take a look at the River Rhine in the Netherlands during
the previous century.
Surface waters were highly polluted at many locations in the
Netherlands and the Rhine River was even called Europe’s
sewer.
All kinds of industries and cities used the major rivers as

sewage systems.
Wastewater entered the Rhine untreated, causing a steep
decrease in animal and plant populations.
Fortunately, more and more people became convinced that
things should change, and treaties were signed between the
different Rhine shore states.
The Surface Water Contamination Act was adopted in the

Netherlands in 1970.
The quality of surface water has improved since, but there still
is a long road ahead before the natural equilibrium is restored.
5
In dealing with pollution, a difference is made between point
and diffuse discharges.
Point discharges have a high concentration of pollution issuing
from one point.
Examples include, effluent of wastewater treatment plants,
overflows from sewers, and incidents.
Diffuse discharges are located throughout the catchment area
of a river.
Examples are runoff from fertilizers, and the use of pesticides.
Therefore, diffuse discharges are generally more difficult to
cope with than point discharges.
To summarize, the composition of surface water typically
consists of: suspended and colloidal solids, such as clay, sand
and organic material;
gasses, like rainwater, such as Nitrogen, Oxygen and Carbon
Dioxide;
dissolved compounds, such as chloride, nitrate, bicarbonate,
phosphate, calcium, dissolved organic carbon and even heavy
metals;
contaminants such as protozoa, bacteria, viruses, but also
pesticides, fertilizers and medicines.
The last source in today’s lecture is groundwater, which can
roughly be divided into phreatic, aerobic groundwater and
confined, anaerobic groundwater.
Depending on location and depth of abstraction, the water
quality composition will vary.
Because of long retention times of water underground, the
water is able to dissolve several salts or minerals from the soil.
Also, chemical or biological reactions may dissolve some
compounds into the water.
The consequence is that the concentration of inorganic salts in
groundwater is significantly higher than in rainwater. In
aerobic groundwater, oxygen is present, and in
calciumcontaining aquifers, the abstracted water may be
supersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate. On the
other hand sandy aquifers, without limestone sediments, the
water can be very aggressive, due to carbon dioxide
concentrations above the equilibrium concentration.
In coastal areas it is also important to determine the salinity of
the water,
as salt water intrusion may result in brackish groundwater.
Anaerobic groundwater may contain elevated levels of iron
and manganese, because of reductive dissolution in the
presence of organic matter.
In this process, also arsenic may be released, which is a serious
threat to human health.
Other compounds found in anaerobic groundwater are
6
ammonium, methane, and hydrogen sulfide.
To summarize, parameters to take into account for the
composition of groundwater are: dissolved salts, such
as sodium chloride and calcium carbonate;
inorganic transformation products, such as iron and
manganese; organic transformation products, such as
methane and hydrogen sulfide.
Now you know the main parameters in our planet’s drinking
water sources.
We have come to the end of this lecture, so I want to thank
you for watching.

03 - Quality Aspect Slides

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

03 - Quality Aspect Slides

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

03 - Quality Aspect Slides

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CTB3365x – Introduction to Water Treatment

D3 – Water quality aspects

Welcome to the Water Treatment lecture about Water Quality

First, I will provide an overview of the key compounds in the

Well, let’s get back to the parameters that we can measure.

A distinction based on size is made between suspended and

Higher organisms, of which a list is depicted on the slide, have

Pathogenic microorganisms, or pathogens in short, are not

This was a quick overview of the main water parameters.

Let’s start with rainwater.

namely gases, including, Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen,

Pollution of rainwater can happen in the air, for example when

To summarize, rainwater contains gasses and some salts, but

Of course, surface water will also contain rainwater, as

All kinds of industries and cities used the major rivers as

The Surface Water Contamination Act was adopted in the

You might also like