PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Module 1
Importance and necessity for planned water supplies:

Water is a chemical compound and may occur in a liquid form or in a solid form or in a gaseous
form. No life exist without water, since water is as essential for life as air is. It has been
estimated that two – third of human body is constituted of water. Water is absolutely essential
not only for survival of human beings, but also for animals, plants and all other living beings.
Further, it is necessary that the water required for their needs must be good, and it should not
contain unwanted impurities or harmful chemical compounds or bacteria in it. Therefore, in
order to ensure the availability of sufficient quantity of good quality water, it becomes almost
imperative in a modern society, to plan and build suitable water supply schemes, which may
provide potable water to the various sections of community in accordance with their demands
and requirements which help in supplying safe wholesome water to the people for drinking,
cooking, bathing, washing, etc. So as to keep the diseases away and thereby promoting better
health, but would also help in supplying water for fountains, gardens, etc. and thus helping in
maintaining better sanitation and beautification of surroundings, thereby reducing
environmental pollution.

Water supply scheme shall further help in attracting industries and thereby helping in
industrialization and modernization of the society, consequently reducing unemployment and
ensuring better living standards such scheme shall, therefore, help in promoting wealth and
welfare of the entire humanity as a whole.

Huge amounts of money is required for planning, designing and executing a city water
supply scheme. The first investment as well as the RMO (Running, maintenance and
Operation) charges, along with depreciation and interest charges, must be returned by the
beneficiaries in the form of revenue returns form the sale of water, which is generally measured
by meters. It is therefore, necessary to work out fair and reasonable charges for the sale of
treated water, in addition to designing the project. As a result of investments, India has been
able to cover about 84% of its urban population with safe drinking water supplies, although
such supplies are quite limited.

Planning and execution of modern water supply scheme:

In planning a water supply schemes, it is essential to first of all, search a source of water
in the vicinity of the town or the city for which the scheme is to be designed. Sometimes, the
water may be far away. Further it may be an underground well, or it may be a river stream or
a lake. It is therefore, necessary to seek out all the possible sources and evaluate each in terms
of quantity, quality and cost, and then to take a final decision regarding the utilization of a
particular source or sources depending upon the availability of water in those sources and the
water demand of the town or the city.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 1

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Suitable systems should then be designed for collecting, transporting and treating this
water. The treated water is finally distributed to the residents and industries depending upon
their requirements, through a network of distribution system.

Various types of water demand:

While planning a water supply scheme, it is necessary to find out not only the total
yearly water demand but also to assess the required average rates of flow and the variation in
these rates. The following quantities are:

 Total annual volume (V) in liters or million liters.

 Annual average rate of draft in liters per day i.e. V/365
 Annual average rate of draft in liters per day per person called per capita demand.
 Average rate of draft in liters per day per service.
x .
 Fluctuation in flows expressed in terms of percentage ratios of maximum or minimum
yearly, monthly, daily or hourly rates to their corresponding average values.

It is very difficult to precisely assess the quantity of water demanded by the public, since
there are many variable factors affecting water consumption.

The various types of water demands, which a city may have, may be broken down into the
following classes:

i. Domestic water demand: Includes the water required in private buildings for drinking,
cooking, bathing, lawn sprinkling, gardening, sanitary purposes, etc. The amount of
domestic water consumption per person shall vary according to the living conditions of
the consumers. The minimum domestic consumption for a town or a city with full
flushing system should be taken at 200 l/h/d; although it can be reduced to 135 l/h/d for
economically weaker sections and LIG colonies depending upon prevailing conditions.

Table : Domestic water consumption with full flushing system

Uses Consumption(l/h/d)

Drinking 5

Cooking 5

Bathing 75

Washing of clothes 25

Washing of utensils 15

Washing and cleaning of houses and 15

residences

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 2

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Lawn watering and gardening

Flushing of water closets, etc. 15

45

Total 200

Table: Domestic water consumption for weaker sections and LIG colonies

Uses Consumption(l/h/d)

Drinking 5

Cooking 5

Bathing 55

Washing of clothes 20

Washing of utensils 10

Washing and cleaning of houses and 10

residences

Flushing of water closets, etc.

30

Total 135

ii. Industrial water demand: It represents the water demand of industries, which are either
existing or are likely to be started in future, in the city for which water supply is being
planned. This quantity will thus vary with the number and types of industries present in
the city. The ordinary per capita consumption on account of industrial needs of a city
is generally taken as 50 l/p/d. Their requirement will have to be approximated on the
basis of the nature and magnitude of each industry, and the quantity of water required
per unit of production. The potential for industrial expansion should also be
investigated.

Table: Water demand of certain important industries

Name of the industries Unit of production or Raw Approximate quantity of

materials used water required in kilo liter

Automobiles Vehicle 40

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 3

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Distillery(Alcohol) Kilo liters 122 - 170

Fertilizer Tonne 80 – 200

Leather Tonne 40

Paper Tonne 200 – 400

Special quality paper Tonne 400 – 1000

Straw board Tonne 75 – 100

Petroleum refinery Tonne(crude) 1-2

Steel Tonne 200 -250

Sugar Tonne(crushed cane) 1 -2

Textile Tonne(goods) 80 – 140

iii. Institutional and commercial water demand: The water requirements of institutions,
such as hospitals, hotels, restaurants, schools and colleges, railway stations, offices,
factories, etc. should be assessed and provided for in addition to domestic and industrial
water demands. This quantity will certainly vary with the nature of the city and with
the number and type of commercial establishments and institutions present in it.

Table: Water requirements of institutions and commercial establishments

Type of institution or commercial Average water consumption in l/h/d

establishment

Offices 45 – 90

Factories

Bath room are provided 45 – 90

No bath rooms are provided 30 – 60

Schools

Day scholars 45 – 90

Residential 135 – 225

Hostels 135 – 180

Hotels 180

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 4

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Restaurants 70

Hospitals(Including laundry)

No. of beds not exceeding 100 340(per bed)

No. of beds exceeding 100 450(per bed)

Nurses homes and medical quarters 135 – 225

Railway stations

a) Junctions and intermediate stations 70 (with bathing facilities)

where mail and express trains stops
b) Intermediate stations where mail and 45 (without bathing facilities)
express trains do not stop
c) Terminal railway stations 45(with bathing facilities)
Airports – international and domestic
23(without bathing facilities)
Cinema halls and theatres
45

70

15(per seat)

iv. Demand for public uses: This includes the quantity of water required for public utility
purposes, such as watering of public parks, gardening, washing and sprinkling on roads,
use in public foundations, etc. for most of the water supply schemes in India. These
needs are not believed as essentials and a nominal amount not exceeding 5% of the total
consumption may be added to meet this demand on an arbitrary basis.

v. Fire demand: In thickly populated and industrial areas, fire generally break out and
may lead to serious damages, if not controlled effectively. Fire – fighting personnel
requires sufficient quantity of water, so as to throw it over the fire at high speed. A
provision should be made in modern public water supply scheme for fighting fires. The
quantity of water required for extinguishing fires should be easily available and kept
always stored in storage reservoirs. For cities having populations exceeding 50,000 the
water required in kilo liters may be computed by using the relation.

Kilo liter of water required = 100 √𝑃

Where, P = population in thousands.
The high rate of water consumption during a fire considerably affects the design of
distribution system, hence while designing public water supply scheme, the rate of fire
demand is sometimes treated as a function of population and is worked out on the basis
of certain empirical formulas.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 5

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

a) Kuichling’s formula:

Q = 3182√𝑃

Where, Q = Amount of water required (l/min.)

P = population in thousand
b) Freeman formula:

Q = 1136 [ + 10]
c) National board of fire under writers formulas:
1. For a central congested high valued city:
A. When population is less than or equal to 2,00,000
Q = 4,637 √𝑃 [1 – 0.01√𝑃 ]
B. When population is more than 2 lakhs, a provision for 54,000
l/min. may be made with an extra additional provision of 9,100
to 36,400 l/min. for a second fire.
2. For a residential city:
A. Small or low building = 2,200 l/min.
B. Larger or higher building = 4,500 l/min.
C. High value residences, apartments, tenements = 7,650 to 13,500
l/min.
D. Three storied buildings in densely built up sections = up to 27,000
l/min.
d) Buston’s formula:

Q = 5,663√𝑃

vi. Water required to compensate losses in thefts and wastes: This includes the
water lost in leakage due to bad plumbing or damaged meters, stolen water due
to unauthorized water connections and other losses and wastes. These losses
should be taken into account while estimating the total requirements. These
losses can be reduced by careful maintenance and universal metering. Even in
the best managed water works, this amount may, however, work to be as high
as 15% of the total consumption.

Per capita demand:

It is the annual average amount of daily water required by one person and includes the
domestic use, industrial and commercial use, public use, wastes thefts, etc. It is expressed as
per capita demand(l/h/d) =
( )
=

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 6

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Total yearly water requirement of the city can be worked out using the above equation.
The per capita demand depends upon various factors.

Factors affecting per capita demand:

The annual average demand for water considerably varies for different towns or cities.
These variations in total water consumption of different cities or towns depend upon various
factors, which must be thoroughly studied and analysed before fixing the per capita demand
for design purposes.

i. Size of the city:

The per capita demand for big cities is generally large as compared to that for smaller
towns. This is because of the fact that in big cities, huge quantities of water are required for
maintaining clean and healthy environments. Similarly, in a big city, commercial and industrial
activities are generally more, thus requiring more water. Effluent rich living in air cooled
homes may also increased the water consumption in cities. The effect of population on the size
of the city is an indirect one, because even a smaller town may have high water consumption,
if it is fully industrialized or is having some industry requiring tremendous quantities of water
or if rich effluent people are living in it.

Population Per capita demand(l/d/p)

< 20,000 110

20,000 – 50,000 110 – 150

50,000 – 2 lakhs 150 – 240

2 lakhs – 5 lakhs 240 – 275

5 lakhs – 10 lakhs 275 – 335

Over 10 lakhs 335** - 360

ii. Climatic condition:

At hotter and dry places, the consumption of water is generally more, because more of
bathing, cleaning, air coolers, air conditioning, sprinkling in lawns, gardens, roofs, etc are
involved. Similarly in extremely cold countries, more water may be consumed, because the
people may keep their taps open to avoid freezing of pipes, and there may be more leakage
from pipe joints, since metals contract with cold.

iii. Types of gentry and habits of people:

Rich and upper class communities generally consume more water due to their effluent
living standards. Middle class communities consume average amounts, while the poor slum

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 7

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

dwellers consume very low amounts. The amount of water consumption is thus directly
dependent upon the economic status of the consumers.

iv. Industrial and commercial activities:

The pressure of industrial and commercial activities at a particular place increases the water
consumption by large amounts. Many industries require really huge amount of water and as
such, increases the water demand considerably. As pointed out earlier, the industrial water
demand is having no direct connection with the population or the size of the city, but more
industries are generally situated in big cities, thereby increasing the per capita demand for big
cities.

v. Quality of water supply:

If the quality and taste of the supplied water is good, it will be consumed more, because in
that case people will not use other source such as private wells, hand pumps etc.

vi. Pressure in the distribution system:

If the pressure in the distribution pipesis high nd sufficient to make the water reach at 3rd
or even 4th storey, water consumption shall definitely be more. Two reasons for the increase in
water consumption are:

 People living in upper storey will use water freely as compared to the case when water
is available scarcely to them.
 The losses and wastes due to leakage are considerably increased if this pressure is high.

vii. Development of sewerage facilities:

As pointed out earlier, the water consumption will be more, if the city is provided with
flush system and shall be less if the old ‘conservation system’ of latrines or closets are adopted.

viii. System of supply:

The water may be supplied either continuously for all the 24 hours of the day or may be
supplied only for peak periods during the morning or evening. The intermittent supplies, may
lead to same saving in water consumption due to losses occurring for lesser time and a more
usage of water by the consumer. But sometimes intermittent supplies may not give much saving
over the continuous supplies, because of the following reasons.

 Water is generally stored by consumers for non – supply periods. This water is
thrown away by them even if unutilized as soon as the fresh supply is restored. This
increases the wastage and losses considerably.
 People have a generally tendency to keep the taps open during non – supply hours,
so that they may come to know of it as soon as the supply is restored. Many a times,
water goes on flowing unattended even after the supply is restored, thus resulting
in wastage of water.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 8

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

ix. Cost of water:

If the water rates are high, lesser quantity may be consumed by the people. This may not
lead to large savings as the effluent and rich people are little affected by such policies.

x. Policy of metering and method of charging:

Water tax is generally charged in two different ways:

 On the basis of meter reading

 On the basis of certain fixed monthly flat rate

In the 2nd case, the supplies are unmetered and the charges are fixed, people generally do
not practice economy in the use of water, because they think that they have to pay only a fixed
amount irrespectively of the quantity of water used by them. When the supplies are metered,
people use only that much of water as much is required by them, which leads to lesser water
consumption.

Factoring affecting losses and wastes:

Enormous amount good water is lost in leakage, wastes, thefts, etc. in every water
supply scheme. The various factors on which losses depend and the measures to control them
are:

i. Water tight joint: the joins in the water mains and pipes generally leak due to bad
plumbing, leading to high wastage of water. The leakage of water can be reduced by
careful and better plumbing with constant maintenance and thereby keeping the joints
water tight.
ii. Pressure in the distribution system: High pressure in the distribution pipes leads to
higher leakage losses in order to keep the leakage less, it is desirable to keep the
pressure in the pipes to a minimum possible value.
iii. System of supply: in intermittent system of supplies, the leakage losses are reduced
since they do not occur for all the 24 hours but occur only for a few hours during the
period the supply is restored. It cannot be said with certainly that intermittent supply
reduces losses, because people generally waste more water by throwing the old stored
water and also by leaving their taps open.
iv. Metering: when the supplies are metered, wastage is considerably reduced, because
people become more careful in using water, as they have to pay for the volume of water
consumed by them.
v. Unauthorized connection: water is sometimes stolen through unauthorized
connections, which must be detected and checked by heavily punishing the defaulters,
so as to keep the losses to minimum.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 9

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Variation in demand:

There are wide variation in the use of water in different seasons, in different months of
the years, in different days of the month, in different hours of the day and even in different
minutes of the hour.

Seasonal variations occur due to larger use of water in summer season, lesser use in
winter, and much less in rainy season. These variations may also be caused by seasonal use of
water in industries such as processing of cash crops at the time of harvesting, etc. Day to day
variations reflect household and industrial activity. Again these are variations in hour to hour
demand, the consumption in the early hours of morning is generally small, increases sharply
as the day advances, reaching a peak value between about 8 to 11 am, then decreases sharply
upto about 1 pm, remaining constant upto about 4 pm, again increases in the evening reaching
a peak between 7 to 9 pm, finally falling to a low value in the late hours of night. The night
flow generally represents the magnitude of losses and wastes, since there is no appreciable
domestic consumption during this time.

Assessment of normal variations:

The smaller the town, the more variable is the demand. The shorter the period of draft,
the greater is the departure from the mean. The maximum demands are generally expressed as
ratios of their means. These rarios of their means. These ratios may vary considerably for
different communities.

a) Maximum daily consumption is generally taken as 180 percent of the average.

∴ Maximum daily demand = 1.8 x Average daily demand

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 10

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

= 1.8 q
b) Maximum hourly consumption is generally taken as 150 percent of its average.

∴ Maximum hourly consumption of the maximum day i.e. Peak demand.

Peak demand = 1.5 x Average hourly consumption of the maximum day

= 1.5 x
.
= 1.5 x

= 2.7 ( )

= 2.7 x Annual average hourly demand

Design period:

A water supply scheme includes huge and costly structures which cannot be replaced
or increased in their capacities, easily and conveniently. In order to avoid future complication
of expansions, the various components of a water supply schemes are purposely made larger,
so as to satisfy the community needs for a reasonable number of years to come. This future
period or the number of years for which a provision is made in designing the capacities of the
various components of the water supply scheme is known as design period. The design period
should neither be too long nor should it be too short.

Factors governing the design period:

 Useful life of component structures and the chances of their becoming old and obsolete.
Design period should not exceed those respective values.
 Ease and difficult that is likely to be faced in expansions, if undertaken at future dates
 Amount and availability of additional investment likely to be incurred for additional
provisions
 The rate of interest on the borrowing and the additional money invested
 Anticipated rate of population growth, including possible shifts in communities,
industries and commercial establishments.

Design period values:

Water supply projects, under normal circumstances, may be designed for a design
period of 30 years. This 30 years period is to be counted after the completion of the project,
hence, a completion time of about 2 years may also be added to this design period. The 30 year
period may, however, be modified in regard to certain components of the project, depending
upon:

i. Useful life of the component facility

ii. Ease in carrying out extensions when required
iii. Rate of interest so that expenditure far ahead of utility is avoided.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 11

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Problems:

1. If the annual average hourly demand of the city is 2000 m3/h, what is the maximum
hourly consumption? Assume daily peak factor as 1.8 and hourly peak factor as 1.5.

Solution:
Given data: Average hourly demand = 2000m3/h

Maximum hourly demand = 2.7 x Annual Average hourly demand

= 2.7 x 2000
= 5400 m3/h

2. A state with present population of 20 million, has per person water availability as 2400
3
m /person /year. If the population is predicted to increase by 2.5% next year, what would be
the per person water availability next year in m3/person /year, assuming water sources remains
at constant level.

Solution:

Given data: Present population = 20 x 106

Water availability = 2400 m3/person /year
Predicted population = 2.5 % of present population
= 20 x 106 x 1.025

Total water availability = 20 x 106 x 2400

= 48000 x 106 m3/year

Water availability for next year = .

= 2341.5 m3/person/year

3. For a population of 1lakh having per capita demand of 150 LPCD. Determine the
average daily water demand of the city, in m3/d.

Solution:
Given data: Population = 1,00,000
Per capita demand = 150 LPCD

Average daily demand of the city = population x per capita demand

= 1,00,000 x 150
= 15 x 106 L/d
= 15 MLD
= = 15,000 m3/d

4. A city is having population of 2.5 lakhs and per capita water demand as 160 LPCD.
Assuming daily peak factor as 1.8 and hourly peak factor as 1.5. Determine average daily
demand, maximum daily demand and peak hourly water demand of the city.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 12

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Solution:

Given data: Population = 2,50,000

Per capita demand = 160LPCD

Average daily demand of the city = population x per capita demand

= 250000 x 160
= 40 x 106 L/d = 40 MLD

Maximum daily demand = 1.8 x 40

= 72 MLD
=
= 72000 m3/d

Peak hourly demand = 1.5 x

= 4500 m3/h

Population forecasting:

It is necessary to estimate this future population as accurately as possible. Depending

upon the possibilities of future development of the town, the possible future population of the
region just by the end of the design period is generally estimated using different methods, such
as:

a) Arithmetical increase method

b) Geometrical increase method
c) Incremental increase method
d) Decreasing rate method
e) Simple graphical method
f) Comparative graphical method
g) Master plan method
h) The apportionment method
i) The logistic curve method

The design period chosen should neither be so long as to throw unnecessary extra financial
burden on the present generation nor it should be so short as to make the design insufficient for
future needs.

Arithmetical increase method:

This method is based upon the assumption that the population increases at a constant
rate; i.e. the rate of change of population with time is constant.

Thus,

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 13

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

= constant = K

dp = K. dt

∫ 𝑑𝑝 =K. ∫ 𝑑𝑡

P2 – P1 = K.(t2 –t1)

Where,

1 and 2 represents the last and first decade

t2 –t1 = number of decades

P1 = population after 1 decade from present

= Po + 1. 𝑥̅

P2 = Population after 2 decade from present

= P1 + 1. 𝑥̅

= Po + 2. 𝑥̅

P3 = P2 + 1. 𝑥̅

= Po + 3. 𝑥̅

Pn = [ Po + n. 𝑥̅ ]

Where,

Pn = Prospective or forecasting population after n decades from the present.

Po = Population at present

n = number of decades between now and future

𝑥̅ = Average of population increases in the known decade.

Problem:

1. The population of 5 decades from 1930 to 1970 are given below in the table. Find out
the population after one, two and three decades beyond the last known decade, by using
arithmetic increases method.
Year 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970

Population 25,000 28,000 34,000 42,000 47,000

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 14

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Solution: For the given data compute the increase in the population(x) for each decade
and average increase per decade (𝑥̅ ).

Year Population Increase in population(x)

1930 25,000
3,000
1940 28,000
6,000
1950 34,000
8,000
1960 42,000
5,000
1970 47,000
Total 22,000

Average increase per 𝑥̅ =

,
= 5,500
decade(𝑥̅ )

Future population are computed by using the equation,

Pn = [ Po + n. 𝑥̅ ]

a) Population after 1 decade i.e. in the year 1980

P1980 = P1 = [ P1970 + 1. 𝑥̅ ]

= 47,000 + 1 x 5,500

= 52,500

b) Population after 2 decade i.e. in the year 1990

P1990 = P2 = [ P1970 + 2. 𝑥̅ ]
= 47,000 + 2 x 5,500
= 58,000
c) Population after 3 decade i.e. in the year 2000
P2000 = P3 = [ P1970 + 3. 𝑥̅ ]
= 47,000 + 3 x 5,500
= 63,500

2. The following is the population data of a city, available from the past census records.
Determine the population of the city in 2011and 2021 by arithmetical increase method.
Year 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991

Population 12,000 16,500 26,800 41,500 57,500 68,000 74,100

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 15

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Solution:

Year Population Increase in population(x)

1931 12,000
4,500
1941 16,500
10,300
1951 26,800
14,700
1961 41,500
16,000
1971 57,500
10,500
1981 68,000
6,100
1991 74,100
Total 62,100

Average increase per 𝑥̅ =

,
= 10,350
decade(𝑥̅ )

Future population are computed by using the equation,

Pn = [ Po + n. 𝑥̅ ]

Population for the year 2011

Po = 74,100

Population of 2011 beyond 1991, number of decade is 2

P2011 = Pn = [ P1991 + 2. 𝑥̅ ]

= 74,100 + 2 x 10,350

= 94,800

Population of 2021 beyond 1991, number of decade is 3

P2021 = Pn = [ P1991 + 3. 𝑥̅ ]

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 16

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

= 74,100 + 3 x 10,350

= 1,05,150
Geometric increase method:

In this method, the per decade percentage increase or percentage growth rate is assumed
to be constant, and the increase is compounded over the existing population every decade. This
method is therefore, also known as uniform increase method.

The basic difference between arithmetic and geometric progression methods of

forecasting future population is that whereas, in arithmetic method, no compounding is done;
in geometric method compounding is done every decade.

The assumed constant value of percentage growth rate per decade (r) is analogous to
the rate of interest per annum.

Geometric increase can be expressed as,

P1 = Population after 1 decade

= Po + Po

P1 = Po [ 1 + ]
P2 = P1 + P1

= P1 [ 1 + ]

= Po [ 1 + ]2

Pn = Po [ 1 + ]n
Where,

Pn = Prospective or forecasting population after n decades from the present.

Po = Population at present

r = Assumed growth rate (%)

This assumed growth rate can be computed in several ways from the past known
population data one method is to compute r, as

r= -1

Where,

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 17

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

P1 = Initial known population

P2 = Final known population

t = number of decades between P1 and P2

The other method to determine r, is to compute the average of the percentage growth
rates of the several known decades of the past.

r= x 100

The average may again be either the arithmetic average,

i.e.

or

Geometric average, i.e. √𝑟1 𝑋 𝑟2 𝑋 𝑟3 − − − −𝑟𝑡

Problem:

1. The population of 5 decades from 1930 to 1970 are given below in the table. Find out
the population after one, two and three decades beyond the last known decade, by using
geometric increases method.
Year 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970

Population 25,000 28,000 34,000 42,000 47,000

Solution:
Year Population Increase in Percentage increase
population in each in population (r) =
decade (col.3 /col.2) X 100

1930 25,000
3000 X 100 = 12%
1940 28,000
6000 X 100 = 21.4%
1950 34,000
8000 X 100 = 23.5%
1960 42,000
5000 X 100 = 11.9%
1970 47,000

The geometric mean of the growth rate (r) = √12 𝑋 21.4 𝑋 23.5 𝑋 11.9
= 16.37 % per decade.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 18

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Assuming that the future population increase at this constant rate 16.37 %, we have

Pn = Po [ 1 + ]n

= Po [ 1 + 0.1637 ]n
= Po [ 1.1637 ]n
Using n = 1, 2, 3 decades, we have
The population after 1 decade i.e for the year 1980
P1980 = 47000 [ 1.1637 ]1
= 54,694
The population after 2 decade i.e for the year 1990
P1990 = 47000 [ 1.1637 ]2
= 63,647
The population after 3 decade i.e for the year 2000
P2000 = 47000 [ 1.1637 ]3
= 74,066

2. The following is the population data of a city, available from the past census records.
Determine the population of the city in 2011 by geometric increase method.
Year 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991

Population 12,000 16,500 26,800 41,500 57,500 68,000 74,100

Solution:
Year Population Increase in Percentage increase
population in each in population (r) =
decade (col.3 /col.2) X 100

1931 12,000
4,500 X 100 = 37.50%
1941 16,500
10,300 X 100 = 62.42%
1951 26,800
14,700 X 100 = 54.85%
1961 41,500
16,000 X 100 = 38.55%
1971 57,500
10,500 X 100 = 18.26%
1981 68,000

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 19

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

6,100 X 100 = 8.97%

1991 74,100

The geometric mean of the growth rate (r) =

√37.5 𝑋 62.42 𝑋 54.85 𝑋 38.55 𝑋 18.26 𝑋 8.97
= 36.76 % per decade.

P2011 = Po [ 1 + ]n

= 74100 [ 1 +
.
]2
= 1,38,590

3. Determine the future population of a satellite town by the geometric increase method
for the year 2011, given the following data:
Year 1951 1961 1971 1981 -------- 2011

Population 93000 111000 132000 161000 -------- ?

Solution:
Year Population Increase in Percentage increase
population in each in population (r) =
decade (col.3 /col.2) X 100

1951 93,000
18,000 X 100 = 19.35%
1961 1,11,000
21000 X 100 = 18.92%
1971 1,32,000
29,000 X 100 = 21.97%
1981 1,61,000

The geometric mean of the growth rate (r) =

√19.35 𝑋 18.92 𝑋 21.97
= 20.03 % per decade.
Population after n decade is

Pn = Po [ 1 + ]n
Population after 3 decade i.e for the year 2011

P2011 = 161000 [ 1 +
.
]3

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 20

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

= 2,78,417

4. Compute the population of the year 2000 and 2006 for a city whose population in the
year 1930 was 25,000 and in the year 1970 was 47,000. Make use of geometric increase
method.

Solution:

The intermediate census data between 1930 to 1970 is not given, and hence geometric
mean method of all known decades is not possible. The growth rate per decade (r) can
be computed by,

r= -1

= -1

= 0.17095 = 17.095%

Pn = Po [ 1 + ]n
P2000 = P3 (after 3 decade from 1970 onward)

= P1970 [ 1 + ]3

= 47000 [ 1 + 0.17095 ]3

= 75,459

Population for the year 2006, means that it is after 36 years (3.6 decades) from 1970
onward

P2006 = P3.6 = P1970 [ 1 + 0.17095 ]3.6

= 47000[ 1.17095] 3.6

= 82,954
Incremental increase method:

In this method, per decade growth rate is not assumed to be constant as in the arithmetic
or geometric progression methods; but is progressively increasing or decreasing, depending
upon whether the average of the incremental increase in the past data is positive or negative.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 21

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The population for a future decade is worked out by adding the mean arithmetic
increase to the last known population as in arithmetic increase method and to this is added the
average of the incremental increase 𝑦, once for the first decade, twice for the second decade,
thrice for the third decade and so on. Thus, assumes that the growth rate in the first decade is
(𝑥̅ + 𝑦 ) and second is (𝑥̅ +2 𝑦) and in nth decade (𝑥̅ +n 𝑦).

P1 = Population after 1 decade from the present

= Po + (𝑥̅ +1. 𝑦)

P2 = Population after 2 decade.

= P1 + (𝑥̅ +2. 𝑦)

= Po + 2𝑥̅ +3. 𝑦
( )
= Po + 2𝑥̅ + .𝑦

P3 = P2 + (𝑥̅ +3. 𝑦)

= Po + 3𝑥̅ +6. 𝑦
( )
= Po + 3𝑥̅ + .𝑦

( )
Pn = Po + n𝑥̅ + .𝑦

Where,

Pn = Population after n decades from present

𝑥̅ = Average increase of population of known decade

𝑦 = Average of incremental increase of the known decade

Problem:

1. The population of 5 decades from 1930 to 1970 are given below in the table. Find out
the population after one, two and three decades beyond the last known decade, by using
incremental increases method.
Year 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970

Population 25,000 28,000 34,000 42,000 47,000

Solution:

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 22

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Year Population Increase in Incremental increase

population

1930 25,000

3,000

1940 28,000 +3,000

6,000

1950 34,000 +2,000

8,000

1960 42,000 -3,000

5,000

1970 47,000

Total 22,000 +2000

Average per decade 𝑥̅ = = 5500 𝑦= = +667

The future population Pn is now given by,

( )
Pn = Po + n𝑥̅ + .𝑦

Hence,
( )
P1980 = P1970 + 1.𝑥̅ + .𝑦

= 47000 + 1 X 5500 + X667

= 53,167
( )
P1990 = P1970 + 2.𝑥̅ + .𝑦

= 47000 + 2 X 5500 + 3 X667

= 60,001
( )
P2000 = P1970 + 3.𝑥̅ + .𝑦

= 47000 + 3 X 5500 + 6 X667

= 67,502

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 23

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

2. The population of a locality, as obtained from a census report, is given below

Year 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980

Population 2,50,000 4,80,500 5,50,300 6,38,600 6,95,200

Estimate the population of the locality in 2000 and 2020 by the incremental method.

Solution:

Year Population Increase in Incremental increase

population

1940 2,50,000

230500

1950 4,80,500 - 160700

69800
+ 18500
1960 5,50,300

88,300
- 31700
1970 6,38,600

56,600

1980 6,95,200

Total 445200 - 173900

Average per decade 𝑥̅ = = 111300 𝑦= = - 57967

The future population Pn is now given by,

( )
Pn = Po + n𝑥̅ + .𝑦

( )
P2 = 695200 + 2 X 111300 + . X(- 57967)

= 695200 +222600 – 173901

= 743899
( )
P4 = 695200 + 4 X 111300 + . X(- 57967)

= 5,60,730

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 24

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Decreasing rate of growth method:

Since the rate of increase in population goes on reducing, as the cities reach towards
saturations, a method which makes use of the decrease in the percentage increase, is many a
times used, and gives quite rational results. The average decrease in the percentage increase is
worked out, and is then subtracted from the latest percentage increase for each successive
decade.

Simple graphical method:

A graph is plotted from the available data, between time and population. The curve is
then smoothly extended up to the desired year. The method, however gives very approximate
results, as the extension of the curve is done by the intelligence of the designer.

Comparative graphical method:

In this method, the cities having conditions and characteristics similar to the city whose
future population is to be estimated are, first of all, selected. It is then assumed that the city
under consideration will develop, as the selected similar cities have developed in the past. This
method has a logical background and if statistics of development of similar cities are available,
quite precise and reliable results can obtained.

Master plan method:

Big and metropolitan cities are generally not allowed to develop in haphazard and
natural ways but are allowed to develop only in planned ways. The expansions of such cities
are regulated by various by – laws of corporations and other local bodies.

The master plan prepared for a city is generally such, as to divide the city in various
zones, and thus to separate the residence, commerce and industry from each other. The master
plan will give us as to when and where the given number of houses, industries and commercial
establishments would be developed.

Ratio method or the apportionment method:

In this method of forecasting future population of a city or a town, the cities census
population record is expressed as the percentage of the population of the whole country. The
local population and the country’s population for the last four to five decades is obtained from
the census records. The ratios of the local population to national population are worked out for
these decades. A graph is then plotted between time and these ratios and extended up to the
design period so as to extrapolate the ratio corresponding to the future design year. The last
census ratio or the average of the past few years may be used. This ratio is then multiplied by
the expected national population at the design period. So as to obtain the required city’s future
population.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 25

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Physio Chemical Characteristics of Water:

After estimating the water requirement for the proposed water supply scheme, the
planners of the scheme must go in for search of nearby water sources, which may be able to
supply the required amount of water.

The various sources available on the earth can be classified into the following two
categories:

Surface sources: ponds and lakes; streams and rivers; storage reservoirs; oceans (generally not
used for water supplies at present).

Sub-surface sources: springs; infiltration galleries; infiltration wells; wells and tube wells.

Hydrologic cycle

The various earth’s water sources get their supplies from precipitation, while the
precipitation in itself is the evaporation from these sources. Water is lost to the atmosphere as
vapor from the earth, which is then precipitated back in the form of rain, snow, hail, dew or
frost. This precipitation and evaporation continues forever and thereby a balance is maintained
between the two. This process is known as hydrologic cycle.

Precipitation:

Water evaporates from water surfaces like streams, rivers, oceans, ponds etc., and also
from the land and plants in the form of water vapor. The water vapors get collected in the
atmosphere.

The vapor may get condensed in different forms such as, mist, rain, hail etc., the
evaporated water, thus, returns to the earth surface through any of these forms. This water
which comes back to the surface of the earth in its various forms like rain, snow, hail etc., is
known as precipitation. A major part of the precipitation occurs in the form of rain and a minor
part occurs in the form of snow.

Types of Precipitation

 Cyclonic Precipitation: It is caused by the lifting of an air mass due to the pressure
difference.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 26

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

 Convective Precipitation: It is due to the upward movement of the air that is warmer
than its surroundings.
 Orographic precipitation: It is the most important precipitation and is responsible for
most of the heavy rains in India. It is caused by air masses which strike some natural
topographic barriers like mountains, and cannot move forward and hence rise up,
causing condensation and precipitation.

Factors governing the selection of a particular source of water:

The following important factors are generally considered in selecting a particular source for
supplying water to a city or a town.

 The Quantity of Available Water: The quantity of water, available at the source must be
sufficient to meet the various demands during the entire design period of the scheme.
Sometimes the water sources may be mobilized for the present day demand, and extra units
added with the passage of time. If sufficient quantity, water is not available in the vicinity
of the area, we may have to think of bringing water from distant sources.
 The Quality of Available Water: The water available at the source must not be toxic,
poisonous or in any other way injurious to health. The impurities present in the water should
be as less as possible, and should be such as to be removed easily and economically by
normal treatment methods.
 Distance of the Source of Supply:. The source of water must be situated as near the city as
possible. Because when the distance between the source and the city is less, lesser length
of pipe conduits and fewer numbers of associated appurtenances are required, thereby
reducing the cost.
 General Topography of the Intervening Area: The area or land between the source and the
city should not be highly uneven. In other words it should not contain deep valleys or high
mountains and ridges. In such uneven topographies, the cost of trestles for carrying water
pipes in valleys and that of constructing tunnels in mountains shall be enormous.
 Elevation of the Source of Supply: The source of water must be on a high contour, lying
sufficiently higher than the city of town to be supplied with water, so as to make the gravity
flow possible. When the water is available at lower levels than the average city level,
pumping has to be resorted to, which involves huge operational cost and frequent possible
breakdowns.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 27

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Surface sources of water supply

Surfaces sources are those sources of water in which the water flows over the surface
of the earth, and is thus directly available for water supplies. The importance of these
sources are:
(i) Natural ponds and lakes
(ii) Streams and rivers
(iii) Impounding reservoirs

Natural Ponds and Lakes:

A natural large sized depression formed within the surface of the earth, when gets filled
up with water is known as a pond or a lake. The difference between a pond and a lake is only
that of size. If the size of the depression is comparatively small, it may be termed as a pond and
when the size is larger it may be termed as a lake. The flow of water in a lake is just like the
flow in a stream channel. The surface run-off from the catchment area contributing to the
particular lake, enters the lake through small drains or streams.

Quality: the quality of water in a lake is generally good and does not need much purification.
Larger and older lakes provide comparatively purer water than smaller and newer lakes.

Quantity: the quantity of water available from lake is generally small. It depends upon the
catchment area of the Lake Basin, annual rainfall and geological formations. Due to the smaller
quantity of water available from them, lakes are not considered as principle sources of water
supply. They are, therefore, useful for only small towns and hilly areas. When no other sources
are available, larger lakes may become the principle sources of supply.

Streams and Rivers:

Small stream channels feed their water to the lakes or rivers. Small streams are,
generally not suitable for water supply schemes, because the quantity of water available in
them is generally very small and they may even sometimes go dry. They are, therefore useful
as sources of water only for small villages, especially in hilly regions. Larger and perennial
streams may be use as sources of water by providing storage reservoirs, barrages, etc., across
them.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 28

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Rivers are the most important source of water for public water supply schemes. And
rivers may be perennial or non-perennial. Perennial rivers are those in which the water is
available throughout the year. Such rivers are generally fed by rains during the rainy seasons
and by snow during the summer season. Perennial rivers can be used as source of water supplies
directly, whereas the non-perennial rivers can be used as sources of water supplies by providing
storage on the up-streams of the intake works.

Quality: the quality of water obtained from rivers is generally not reliable, as it contains large
amounts of silt, sand and a lot of suspended matter. The disposal of untreated or treated sewage
into the rivers is further liable to contaminate their waters. The river water must, therefore, be
properly analyzed and well treated before supplying to the public.

Storage Reservoirs:

A water supply scheme drawing water directly from a river or a stream may fail to
satisfy the consumer’s demands during extremely low flows, while during high flows; it may
again become difficult to carry out its operations due to devastating floods. A barrier in the
form of a am may, therefore, sometimes be constructed across the river, so as to form a pool of
water on the upstream side of the barrier. This pool are artificial lake formed on the upstream
side of the dam is known as the storage reservoir.

Quality: the quality of the reservoir water is not much different from that of a natural lake.
The water stored in the reservoir can be used easily not only for water supplies but also for
other purposes.

Sub-surface/ underground sources of water supply

The water which gets stored in the groundwater reservoir through infiltration, etc., is
known as underground water. This water is generally pure, because it undergoes natural
filtration during the percolation through the soil pores. Moreover, these waters are less likely
to be contaminated by bacteria. However, they are generally rich in dissolved salts, minerals,
gases etc., the ground water is brought to the surfaces by some natural process like springs ,
and sometimes these waters are trapped by artificial means by constructing wells, tube wells,
infiltration galleries etc.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 29

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Infiltration Galleries:

Infiltration galleries are the horizontal or nearly horizontal tunnels constructed at

shallow depths of 3 to 5, along the banks of rivers through the water bearing strata, as shown
in the fig. they are sometimes called horizontal wells.

The galleries are generally constructed of masonry walls with roof slabs, and abstract
water from the aquifer by various porous lateral drain pipes located at suitable intervals in the
gallery.

These pipes are generally covered with gravel, so as to prevent the entry of the fine
sand particles into the pipes.

These tunnels or galleries are generally laid at a slope, and water collected in dam is
taken into sump well, from where it is pumped, treated and distributed to the consumers.

These infiltration galleries are quiet useful when water is available in sufficient quantity
just below the ground level or so.

Infiltration wells:

Infiltration wells are the shallow wells constructed in series along the banks of a river,
in order to collect the river water seeping through their bottoms.

These wells are generally constructed of brick masonry with open joints. They are
generally covered at the top and kept open at the bottom. For inspection purposes, manholes
are provided in the top cover.

The various infiltration wells are connected by porous pipes to a sump well, called jack
well. The water reaching the jack well from the different infiltration wells is lifted, treated and
distributed to the consumers.

Springs:

The natural outflow of groundwater at the earth’s surface is said to form a spring. A
pervious layer sandwiched between two impervious layers, give rise to a natural spring. A
spring indicates the outcropping of the water table.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 30

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The springs are generally capable of supplying very small amounts of waters, and are,
therefore, generally not regarded as sources of water supplies. However, good developed
springs may sometimes be used as water supply sources for small towns especially in hilly
areas.

Formation and types of springs:

Springs are usually formed under three general conditions of geological formations as
follows:

(a) Gravity springs: when the ground water table raises high and water flows through the sides
of a natural valley or a depression as shown in fig. the spring found is known as a gravity
spring.
(b) Surface springs: an impervious obstruction or stratum supporting the underground storages
becomes inclined as shown in fig. causing the water table to go up and get exposed to the
ground surface; this type of spring is known as surface springs.
(c) Artesian springs: when the above storage is under pressure (i.e., the water is flowing
through some confined aquifer), such spring formed is known as artesian spring. This type
of springs is able to provide almost uniform quantity of water.

Open wells or Dug wells:

Open wells are generally open masonry wells having comparatively bigger diameters
and are suitable for low discharges of the order of 18cum/hour. The diameters of the open wells
generally vary from 2 to 9m, and they are generally less than 20m in depth. The walls of an
open well may be built of precast concrete rings or in brick or stone masonry, the thickness
generally varies from 0.5 to 0.75m, according to the depth of the well.

The yield of an open well is limited because such wells can be excavated only to a
limited depth, where the ground water storage is also limited.

Tube wells:

The discharge from an open well is generally limited to 3 to 6 ltr/sec. Mechanical

pumping of small discharges available in open wells is therefore, not economical. To obtain
large discharge mechanically, tube well, which is a long pipe or a tube, is bored or drilled deep

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 31

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

into the ground, intercepting one or more water bearings strata. The discharge of an open well
is smaller, because;

 Open wells can tap only the topmost or at the most then next lower water bearing
stratum.
 Water from open wells can be withdrawn only at velocity equal to or smaller than the
critical velocity for the soil, so as to avoid the danger of the well subsidence. But in the
tube wells, larger discharge can be obtained by getting a larger velocity as well as a
larger cross-sectional area of the water bearing strata.

Tube well are of two types: Cavity type tube wells; Screen type tube wells.

Water quality characteristics

Pure water is a chemical compound with each of its molecule containing two hydrogen
atoms and one oxygen atom. However, pure water can never be available in nature.

The precipitation, in the same manner, at the instant of its formation, contains no
impurities, but during the process of formation and fall through the earth’s atmosphere, it may
dissolve certain gases, traces of minerals, and other substances. When once the precipitation
reaches the earth’s surface, many more opportunities are presented for the introduction of
various physical, chemical, or bacterial impurities in it.

As the rain water flows over the surface of the earth, it picks up or dissolves particles of
soil, garbage, sewage, pesticides and other human, animal or chemical wastes. It may also pick
up and dissolve certain decayed organic materials, such as plants or dead animals.

The impurities which water dissolves or picks up as suspended matter may sometimes
make it more useful and potable for public uses and especially for drinking, and sometimes it
may render harmful and unfit. For example, certain minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium,
fluorine etc., in small quantities may be useful and good for the health of the people, because
human beings need a certain amount of these elements in their bodies. But when these materials
and others are dissolved in large amounts or in certain combinations, the water may become
unfit or less useful for municipal, industrial and other uses. The raw or treated waters can be
checked and analyzed by studying and testing physical, chemical and microscopical or
biological characteristics, as explained below.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 32

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Physical characteristics

Physical analysis of water is carried out in order to determine the physical characteristics of
water. This includes tests for determining turbidity, color, taste or odour, temperature, specific
conductivity, etc. These tests are described below:

Turbidity

If a large amount of suspended matter such as clay, silt or some other finely divided organic
materials is present in water, it will appear to be muddy of cloudy or turbid in appearance. The
turbidity depends upon the fineness and concentration of particles present in water. The
turbidity of raw water must be measured, and then reduced by treatment to permissible values,
so as to make it almost invisible under naked eye.

The turbidity is measured by a turbidity rod or by a turbidity meter with optical observations,
and is expressed as the amount of suspended matter in mg/l or ppm. The standard unit is that
which is produced by 1 mg of finely divided silica in 1ltr of distilled water. A turbidity in
excess of 5units is easily detectable in a glass of water, and is thus, usually objectionable.

The turbidity can be easily measured in the field with the help of a turbidity rod. It consists of
an aluminum rod which is graduated, as to give the turbidity directly in silica units (mg/l). To
the upper end of this rod is attached a graduated non-stretchable tape, so as to help in lowering
of the rod. A screw containing a platinum needle and a nickel ring is inserted at the lower end
of the rod. The standard platinum needle is 1mm in diameter and 25mm long. A vertical rod or
a stick is inserted in the nickel ring, so as to support and keep the rod in a vertical position.
There is a mark for eye position on the graduated tape.

Turbidity meter
The turbidity can be measured in the laboratory with the help of instruments called turbidity
meters. A turbidity meter works on the principle of measuring the interference caused by the
water sample to the passage of light rays. Since the lowest turbidity value can be measured on
this instrument is 25 JTU, such a turbidity meter is limited in application to turbid raw waters
of natural sources only, and it cannot be used to measure the turbidities of treated supplies, for
which Bayle’s turbidity meters or modern Nephelometric turbidity meter are used.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 33

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Modern commercial turbidity meters, called Nephelometric turbidity meter have since been
designed, and are being used these days on a large scale, particularly for measuring very low
turbidities of drinking waters. The basic difference between the old and the new turbidity meter
is, in the old instruments, the light was seen or measured after the same passed straight through
the turbid water: where as in a modern turbidity meter, the light intensity is measured at right
angles to the incident light. Such an instrument therefore uses a photometer to measure the
intensity of light passing through the turbid water, after the same is scattered at right angles to
the incident light.
Since no direct relationship exists between the intensity of light scattered at 900 and Jackson
candle turbidity, calibration of a Nephelometric turbidity meter in terms of candle or silica units
is not valid. To distinguish between the turbidities measured from the instrumental and visual
methods, Nephelometric turbidity meter units are abbreviated as NTU

Colour

Dissolved organic matter from decaying vegetation or some inorganic materials, such as
colored soils, etc. may impart color to the water. The excessive growth of algae and aquatic
micro-organisms may also sometimes impart color to the water. The presence of color in water
is not objectionable from health point of view but may spoil the color of the clothes being
washed in such waters, and is also objectionable from aesthetic and psychological point of
view, as people may not like to drink colored waters.

The color in water can be easily detected by the naked eye. It can be measured by comparing
the color of water sample with other standard glass tubes, called nessler’s tube containing
solutions of different standard color intensities. The standard unit of color is that which is
produced by 1mg platinum cobalt dissolved is 1ltr of distilled water. Different standard color
intensities, representing as 1ppm, 2ppm, 3ppm….. can thus be easily prepared by dissolving
1mg, 2mg, 3mg…. respectively of platinum cobalt in 1ltr of water. The maximum permissible
color for domestic supplies is 20ppm.

Taste and odours

The dissolved organic materials or the inorganic salts, or the dissolved gases may impart taste
and odours to the water, which generally occur together. The taste and odour may be caused
by the presence of: dissolved gases such as H2S, CH4, CO2, O2 etc., combined with organic

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 34

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

matter; miner substances like NaCl, iron compounds, carbonates and sulphates of other
elements and phenols and other tarry or oily matter, especially after chlorination. For drinking
purposes, the water must not contain any undesirable or objectionable taste and odour. In order
to remove the taste and odour from the raw water, the chemical composition of water must 1st
be ascertained, so as to determine as to what treatment, if any, is required to make its taste and
odour acceptable for domestic use.

The extent of taste or odour present in a particular sample of water is measured by a term called
odour intensity, which is related with the threshold odour, represent the dilution ratio at which
the odour is hardly detectable.

Temperature

Testing the temperature of water has usually no practical significance in the sense that it is not
usually possible to give any treatment to control the temperature of water. For potable waters,
temperatures of about 100 C are highly desirable, while temperatures above 250 C are
considered objectionable.

Specific conductivity

The total amount of dissolved salts present in water can be easily estimated by measuring the
specific conductivity of water. The specific conductivity of water is determined by means of a
potable dionic water tester and is expressed in micro-mhos/cm at 250C. [Mho is the unit of
conductivity]. The specific conductivity of water in micro-mhos/cm at 250 is multiplied by a
coefficient so as to directly obtain the dissolved salt content in mg/l or ppm. The exact value
of this coefficient depends upon the types of salts present in water.

Chemical characteristics

Chemical analysis of water is carried out in order to determine the chemical characteristics of
water. This involves tests for determining the total solids and suspended solids, pH value,
hardness, chloride content, nitrogen content, manganese and other metal contents, dissolved
gases etc.,

Total solids and suspended solids

The total amount of solids present in water can be determined by evaporating a sample of water
and weighing the dry residue left. The suspended solids can be found by filtering the water

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 35

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

sample and weighing the residue left on the filter paper. The difference between the total solids
and the suspended solids will then represent nothing but the dissolved solids.

pH value

The pH value of water indicates the logarithm of reciprocal of hydrogen ion concentration
present in water. It is thus an indicator of the acidity or the alkalinity of water.

Since the pH is the log of reciprocal of H+, the higher values of pH means lower hydrogen ion
concentrations, and thus represent alkaline solutions; whereas, the lower values of pH means
higher hydrogen ion concentration representing acidic solutions.

Pure water is balanced combination of positively charged hydrogen ions and negatively
charged hydroxyl ions, in pure or neutral waters their number is equal. Further, it has been
found that the product of concentration of hydrogen ions and hydroxyl ions in a water solution
is constant. This constant has been found to be equal to 10-14 moles/ltr. Therefore, if H ion and
OH ion concentrations are equal, virtually each will have a concentration equal to 10-14 =
10-7moles/l. Neutral water will, therefore, have a

pH = log10 [1/ H+]

= log10 [1/ 10-7]

= log10 107 = 7.

If an acid is added to the neutral or pure water, the number of hydrogen ions will increase
because of the hydrogen content the acid. Then the net concentration of hydrogen ions will
exceed that of hydroxyl ions, and will be more than the hydrogen ion concentration of neutral
water (10-7) and thus decreasing the pH value of less than 7, and thereby making the water
acidic. Similarly, if an alkali is dissolved in pure water, the concentration of hydroxyl ions will
exceed the hydroxyl ion concentration of neutral water, and thus, reducing the concentration
of hydrogen ions to less than 10-7. Hence, if the pH of water is more than 7, it will be alkaline,
and if it is less than 7, it will be acidic. The maximum acidity will be at 0 value of pH and the
maximum alkalinity will be at a value of pH equal to 14.

Measurement of pH: The pH value of water can be measured quickly and automatically with a
help of a potentiometer, which measures the electrical potential exerted by hydrogen ions and
thus indicating their concentration. It can also be measured with the help of a colour indicator

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 36

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

which are added to water, and the colour produced is compared with the standard colour of
known pH values.

Hardness

Hardness in water is that characteristic which prevents the formation of sufficient leather or
foam, when such hard waters are mixed with soap. It is usually caused by the presence of
calcium and magnesium salts present in water, which form scum by reaction with soap.

If bi-carbonates and carbonates of calcium and magnesium are present in water, the water is
rendered hard temporarily, as this hardness can be removed to some extent by simple boiling
or to full extent by adding lime to the water. Such hardness is known as temporary hardness or
carbonate hardness. When such waters are boiled, CO2 gas escapes out and the insoluble
calcium carbonate gets precipitated. Magnesium carbonate, being fairly soluble in water won’t
get removed by boiling. The temporary hard waters, therefore, do cause deposition of calcium
scales in boilers.

On the other hand, if sulphates, chlorides and nitrates of calcium or magnesium are present in
water, they cannot be removed at all by simple boiling, and, therefore, such waters require
special treatment for softening. Such hardness is known as permanent hardness or non
carbonate hardness.

Measurement of Hardness: Hardness is generally defined as the calcium carbonate equivalent

of calcium and magnesium ions present in water, and is expressed in mg/l. After determining
the amounts of calcium and magnesium ions present in water by titration with versnate solution
(EDTA method), the hardness in mg/l can be easily determined as follows:

Total hardness in mg/l as CaCO3

= Ca++ in mg/l X combining wt. of CaCO3 + Mg++ in mg/l X combining wt. of CaCO3

Combining wt. of Ca++ Combining wt. of Mg++

The combining wt. of Ca++ and Mg++ and CaCO3 respectively is 20, 12 and 50. Knowing the
quantities of calcium and magnesium ions present in water, the hardness in mg/l is easily
computed as: Total hardness = Ca++ mg/l (50/20) + Mg++ mg/l (50/12).

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 37

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Chloride content

Chlorides are generally present in water in the form of sodium chloride and may be due to
leaching of marine sedimentary deposits, pollution from sea water, brine or industrial and
domestic wastes, etc. Their concentrations above 250mg/l produce a noticeable salty taste in
drinking water and are thus objectionable. The chloride concentrations of raw waters, being
used for public supplies, should, therefore, regularly be tested, so as to immediately detect any
sudden increase in its chloride content and the possibility of any organic pollution of water.

The chloride content of water can be measured by titrating the water with standard silver nitrate
solution using potassium chromate as indicator.

Nitrogen content

The presence of nitrogen in water is an indication of the presence of the organic matter, and
may occur in one or more of the following forms: Free ammonia, albuminoid or organic
nitrogen, nitrites and nitrates.

The free ammonia indicates the very 1st stage of decomposition of organic matter albuminoid
nitrogen indicates the quantity of nitrogen present in water before the decomposition of organic
matter has started; the nitrites indicate the presence of partly decomposed organic matter; and
nitrates indicate the presence of fully oxidized organic matter in water.

The presence of free ammonia in water indicates the presence of un-decomposed organic matter
and for potable waters; its value should not exceed 0.15mg/l. It can be measured by simply
boiling the water and measuring the liberated ammonia gas, by distillation process.

The very presence of organic nitrogen in water indicates pollution, and for potable waters, it
should not exceed a value of about 0.3mg/l. It can be easily measured by adding strong alkaline
solution of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) to already boiled water sample and again boiling
the same, when ammonia gas is liberated, which is measured, so as to indicate the amount of
organic nitrogen present in water. The sum total of ammonia nitrogen and the organic nitrogen
is called kjedahl nitrogen.

The partly oxidized organic matter present in water in the form of nitrites is highly dangerous
and, therefore, the permissible amount of nitrites present in potable water should be nil.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 38

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The nitrates represent the fully oxidized organic matter, and such waters may not be harmful.
However, the presence of too much of nitrate in water may adversely affect the health of infants
causing a disease called “mathemoglobinemia” (blue baby disease). Children suffering from
this disease may vomit; their skin color may become dark and may die in extreme cases.

Metal and other chemical substances

Tests are carried out in order to determine the amounts of various metals and other substances,
such as iron, manganese, copper, lead, barium, cadmium, arsenic, selenium, fluorine, etc.,
present in water. The amounts of these minerals or metals in potable waters are then limited to
their permissible standard values, so as to avoid their harmful effects on human life.

Iron and manganese in concentrations greater then 0.3ppm and 0.05ppm, respectively, are
undesirable, as they may cause discoloration of clothes washed in such waters. Moreover, they
may cause incrustation in water mains due to deposition of ferric hydroxide and manganese
oxide. Lead and barium salts are toxic and only very low concentrations are, therefore,
permitted. Similarly, arsenic, selenium, etc. are poisonous and very very low concentrations of
these salts can be tolerated by human system.

High quantities of copper are likely to affect human lungs and other respiratory organs. If
sulphate concentration is more than 250ppm, laxative affect is produced on human system.

A fluoride concentration of less than 0.8 to 1.0ppm may be harmful and may cause dental caries
due to the formation of excessive cavities in the teeth of young children during calcination of
their permanent teeth. Higher fluoride concentrations, greater than 1.5ppm or so, may again be
harmful causing spotting and discoloration of teeth, which with continued excessive
consumption of fluorides, may even cause deformation of bones.

Dissolved gases

The various gases which may get dissolved in water due to its contact with the atmosphere or
the ground surface may be nitrogen, methane, hydrogen sulphide, carbon-dioxide, and oxygen.
The contents of these dissolved gases in water may be worked out, so as to get the idea of the
extent of contamination of the water and the treatment required for purifying the same.

The nitrogen gas is not very important. The concentration of methane gas is studied for its
explosive tendency. The H2S gas, if present even in small amounts, may give bad taste and

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 39

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

odour to the water, and should, therefore, be removed. Presence of CO2 gas indicates biological
activity. It may impart bad taste and odour to the water and may also cause corrosion. O2 gas
is generally absorbed by water from the atmosphere, but is being consumed by unstable organic
matter for their oxidation. Hence, if the oxygen present in water is found to be less than its
saturation level, it indicates presence of organic matter and consequently making the waters
suspicious.

Biological oxygen demand:

If sufficient oxygen is present in water, the useful aerobic bacteria production will flourish and
cause the biological decomposition of waste and organic matter thereby reducing the
carbonaceous material from the water. The amount of oxygen required in the process until
oxidation gets completed is known as BOD. Polluted waters will continue to absorb oxygen
for many months, till the oxidation gets completed, and it is not practically possible to
determine this ultimate oxygen demand. Hence, the BOD of water during the first five days at
20 C is generally taken as the standard demand. This is determined by mixing or diluting a
known volume of a sample of raw water with a known-volume of pure water saturated with a
known quantity of dissolved oxygen (in mg/l) and incubating it for a period of 5 days at 20°C.
The dissolved oxygen is measured after the period of incubation. The difference between the
original oxygen content and the residual oxygen content will indicate the oxygen consumed by
the water sample in 5days.

The BOD5 in ppm is then worked out by using equation:

BOD5 = BOD of 5 days

= Loss of oxygen in mg/l X Dilution factor or dilution ratio

This test is known as the dilution method.

If BOD of water is zero, it means that no oxygen is required and thus no organic matter is
present. Hence the BOD of safe drinking water must be nil. The extent of pollution of sewage
and other industrial waste waters is also measured by determining the values of their BOD.

Biological characteristics:

Bacteria are the minute single cell organisms possessing no defined nucleous and having no
green material (chlorophyll) to help them manufacture their own food. They are reproduced by

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 40

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

binary fission and may be of various shapes. They are generally present in raw or contaminated
waters, and are so small in length that they cannot be seen with a naked eye and have to be
examined under a microscope.

Most bacteria are harmless, and under certain conditions beneficial to human beings, animals
and crops. Such bacteria or micro organisms are called non-pathogenic bacteria or non-
pathogens. However, certain other bacteria are the deadly foes of man and animals and may
enter their tissues, causing serious water borne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, infectious
hepatitis, etc. Such harmful bacteria or organisms are known as pathogenic bacteria or
pathogens.

Depending upon the oxygen necessities of the bacteria, they may be classified as follows:

i. Aerobic bacteria – those which require oxygen for their survival.

ii. Anaerobic bacteria – those which flourish and thrive in the absence of free oxygen.
iii. Facultative bacteria – those which can survive with or without free oxygen.

Algae

Algae is a type of plant that grows in water and flourishes in the presence of sunlight. Seven
types of algae have been distinguished by color and shape. All of them contain green substance
chlorophyll, which permits them to utilize sunlight for their growth by conversion of carbon-
di-oxide, water and other simple substances into organic carbon compounds. Due to this, algae
flourishes in sunlight, and hence can be best controlled by covering the reservoir, so as to
exclude the sunlight from reaching the water body found infected by algae.

Different types of algae can be broadly divided into three groups:

(i) Diatomaceae group

(ii) Chlorophylceae group
(iii) Cyanophyceae group

Fungi:

Fungi are those plants which grow without sunlight and live on other plants or animals, dead
or alive. They may sometimes fest in water-mains and may have to be removed with chlorine
treatment.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 41

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Water borne diseases and their control

Water borne diseases are those diseases which spread primarily through contaminated waters;
and the important of these water borne diseases are:

Diseases caused by bacterial infections:

(i) Typhoid fever and Paratyphoid fever - caused by salmonella typhi bacteria

(ii) Cholera - caused by vibrio-cholerae bacteria

(iii) Bacillary dysentery - caused by shiga bacillus or flexner bacillus, or sonne bacilus

Diseases caused by viral infections:

(i) Infectious hepatitis or infectious jaundice - caused by hepatitis virus.

(ii) Poliomyelitis - caused by polio virus.

Diseases caused by protozoal infection:

(i) Amoebic dysentery - caused by entamoeba hystolytic germ

All these water borne diseases are infectious diseases in the sense that although they may also
spread through direct contact, or through flies or filth, etc.; yet since water is the main and
prime media responsible for the start and spread of these diseases, they are termed as water
borne diseases.

In order to prevent the spread of water borne diseases and especially in the form of epidemics,
the following preventive or precautionary measures are recommended:

1. The water supplies of the town or the city must be thoroughly checked and disinfected
before supplying to the public. The supplies of the existing hand pumps or wells in the city
should also be checked and remedial measures taken, where necessary, so as to make them
safe and wholesome.
2. The water pipe lines should be frequently tested, checked and inspected, so as to detect any
leakage and possible source of contamination from nearby surroundings. The leaking joints
must be properly sealed.
3. While laying or designing the water distribution system, attempts should be made as to
keep the sewer lines and water lines as far away as possible.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 42

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

4. In case of slightest doubts about the supplies, especially times of rains or floods or in times
of low weather flows when surface sources are likely to be most contaminated, people must
be forewarned and advised to use boiled water. In such circumstances, an extra chlorine
dose must also be added, (to serve as disinfectant) to the supplies. The addition of such
doses may, no doubt, create bad taste or odour in the supplies, yet it will be better than to
infect serious water borne disease.
5. The people should also be advised and encouraged to eat hot and fresh foods and to avoid
raw foods. They should also try to use their own utensils while travelling.
6. The general habit of cleanliness must be inculcated among the people. People should not
be allowed to urinate or defecate as and where desired. Sufficient number of public urinals
and latrines should, therefore, be developed, so as to check such tendencies effectively.
7. The fly nuisance in the city should be checked and reduced to minimum by general
cleanliness and by using insecticides.
8. As soon as some case or cases of such a disease are reported, the people must on a large
scale be quickly inoculated and immunized against that disease. They should also be
educated to follow the following precautions while handling their relative patients:
 Least or no direct touch with the patient.
 Cleaning and washing of hands with soap after every touch with the patient or his
belongings, and also before and after taking any food or drink.
 Making available proper medical care and nutrient to the patient.
 Maintaining proper sanitation around the patient.

Collection of water samples for bacteriological testing

The samples of water to be tested for bacteriological microscopical examination must be

collected with great care, so otherwise, the presence of even slight traces of unnoticed
pathogens, may spread serious water borne diseases and their epidemics. Special precautions
are, therefore, necessary for the collection of water samples, and proper training and experience
is essential for testing and evaluating these samples. The testing and examining body may also
be consulted for their own specific recommendations before collecting the water samples. In
general, the following cautions and procedure must be observed while collecting samples:

 Use a sterile bottle that will be provided by the laboratory going to examine and test the
sample.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 43

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

 Be very careful so that nothing except the water to be analysed comes in contact with the
inside of the bottle or the cap.
 The outside of the tap or faucet at the sample point should be inspected, and if found leaking
around the handle, a different sampling point must be chosen.
 Clean and dry the outside of the tap or faucet with sterile papers before taking sample.
 Allow the water to run for at least one half of a minute before collecting the sample.
 While filling the bottle, the bottle must be held properly so that no water which contacts
the hands enters into the bottle.
 The sample must be handed over immediately to the laboratory, as otherwise, extra bacteria
may develop (if the delay between collection and examination exceeds 24 hours) by fission,
thus giving wrong results.
 Sufficient number of samples must be collected from different points of the distribution
system, so as to represent a sufficient average value.

Sampling

Sampling may be defined as the representative collection of small portion of samples from the
source to obtain analytical results in the laboratory.

Types of sampling

 Grab sampling: the samples are collected at a specific spot in a site over a short period of
time. It is taken at a selected depth. It represents the water condition at the time of
collection. The sample volume depends on the types and number of analysis to be
performed.
 Composite sampling: the samples collected provide a more representative sampling of
heterogeneous material. It is done at different locations in a site and at different time
interval.
 Integrated sampling: the samples are collected at different locations simultaneously.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 44

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Module 2
Water Treatment
Introduction

After estimating the water requirement for the proposed water supply scheme, the
planners of the scheme must go in for search of nearby water sources, which may be able to
supply the required amount of water.

The various sources available on the earth can be classified into the following two
categories:

Surface sources: ponds and lakes; streams and rivers; storage reservoirs; oceans (generally
not used for water supplies at present).

Sub-surface sources: springs; infiltration galleries; infiltration wells; wells and tube wells.

Water treatment objectives, treatment flowchart- significance of each unit

Raw water may contain suspended, colloidal and dissolved impurities; the purpose of water
treatment is to remove all those Impurities which are objectionable either from taste and odour
point of view or from public health point of view. Following are the Purposes of water
treatment:

 To remove color, dissolved gas and murkiness of water.

 To remove objectionable tastes and odour.
 To remove the disease producing micro-organisms so that water is safe for drinking
purposes.
 To remove hardness of water.
 To make it suitable for a wide variety of industrial purposes such as steam generation,
brewing, dyeing etc.

For surface waters, following are the treatment processes that are generally adopted.

1. Screening: This is adopted to remove all the floating matter from surface waters. It is
generally provided at the intake point.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 45

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

2. Aeration: This is adopted to remove objectionable tastes and odour and also to remove the
dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide etc. The iron and manganese
present in water are also oxidized to some extent. This process is optional and is not adopted
in cases where water does not contain objectionable taste and odour.
3. Sedimentation with or without coagulants: The purpose of sedimentation is to remove
the suspended impurities. With the help of plain sedimentation, silt, sand etc. can be
removed. However, with the help of sedimentation with coagulants, very fine suspended
particles and some bacteria can be removed.
4. Filtration: The process of filtration forms the most important stage in the purification of
water. Filtration removes very fine suspended impurities and colloidal impurities that may
have escaped the sedimentation tanks. In addition to this, the micro-organisms present in
water are largely removed.
5. Disinfection: It is carried out to eliminate or reduce to a safe minimum limit, the remaining
micro-organisms, and to prevent the contamination of water during its transit from the
treatment plant to the place of its consumption.
6. Miscellaneous processes: these include fluoridation, water softening, desalination,
removal of iron, manganese and other harmful constituents.

Schematic Layout of Water Treatment Plant

SCREENING

Coarse and Fine screens:

Screens are generally provided in front of the pumps or the intake works so as to exclude
the large sized particles, such as the debris, animals, trees, branches, bushes ice, etc. Coarse
screens are sometime placed in front of the fine screens. Coarse screens consists of parallel

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 46

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

iron rods placed vertically or at a slight slope at about 2 to 10 cm centre to centre. The fine
screens are made up of fine wires or a perforated metals with opening less than 1 cm wide. The
coarse screens first remove the bigger floating bodies and the organic solids and the fine screen
then remove the fine suspended solids. The fine screens normally get clogged, and are to be
cleaned frequently, Hence, fine screens are therefore avoided these days and finer particles are
separated in a sedimentation tank rather than in screening. The coarse screens are also now
normally kept inclined at about 45o to 60o to the horizontal so has to increase the opening area
to reduce the flow velocity, and thus, making them screaming more effective.

Fig: Fixed Bar Type Screens

PLAIN SEDIMENTATION:

Most of the suspended impurities in water do have a specific gravity greater than that
of water. Impurities will, therefore tend to settle down under gravity, although in normal raw
supplies, they remain in suspension, because of the turbulence in water. Hence, as soon as the
turbulence is retarded by offering storage to the water. these impurities tend to settle down at
the bottom of the tank, offering such storages. This is the principle behind sedimentation. The
basin in which the flow of water is retarded is called the settling time or sedimentation tank or
sedimentation basin and the theoretical average time for which the water is detained in the tank
is called detention period

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 47

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Theory of sedimentation

The settlement of a particle in water brought to rest, is opposed by the following factors

i. The velocity of flow, which carries the particle horizontally. The greater the flow area,
the lesser is the velocity, and hence more easily the particle will settle down.
ii. The viscosity of water in which the particle is traveling. The viscosity varies inversely
with temperature. Warm water is less viscous and therefore, offer less resistance to
settlement. However, the temperature of water cannot be controlled to any appreciable
extent in water purification processes hence this factor is generally ignored.
iii. The size, shape and the specific gravity of the particles. The greater is a specific gravity,
more readily the particle will settle. The size and shape of the particle also affect settling
rate.

Very small size particle will settle with very slowly, therefore clearly follows that the shape
and size of the particles to affect the of settling velocity the settling velocity of the spherical
particle is expressed by the Stoke’s law which takes about three factors into account the final
stocks the is expressed as below:

vs = (SS – 1)

Where,

VS - Velocity of settlement of particles in m/s

g – Acceleration due to gravity
SS – Specific gravity of the particle
d – Diameter of the particle in m
𝜈 – Kinematic viscosity of water in m2/s

Derivation of Stoke’s Law:

When a solid particle settles down in water, its downward settlement is opposed by the
drag force offered by the water. The effective weight of the particle causes the particle to
accelerate in the beginning, till it attains a sufficient velocity at which the drag force becomes
equal to the effective weight of the particle. After attaining that velocity, the particle falls down
with that constant velocity. Now, the drag force offered by the fluid is given by Newton’s law
as,

Drag force = C D A. 𝜌 . --------------------------------------------------------(1)

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 48

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Where,
CD – Coefficient of drag
A – Area of particle

𝜌 – Density of water
v – Velocity of fall

The effective weight of the particle = Total weight – Buoyancy

= π r3 ϒ - π r3ϒ

= π r3 [ϒ − ϒ ] ------------------------------------------------------(2)
Where,
r – Radius of particle
ϒ – Unit weight of particle
ϒ - Unit weight of water

Equation (1) and (2) will become equal when v becomes equal to vS in equation (1)

⸫ C D A. 𝜌 . = π r3 [ϒ − ϒ ]

( )
𝑣 =

= (SS – 1)d .

vS = (SS – 1).

The above Stoke’s equation are valid for particles of size less than 0.1 mm, in which
case, the viscous force predominates over the inertial force. This is called streamline settling.
If however, the settling particles are larger than 1.0 mm, the nature of settling becomes
turbulent settling, and is governed by Newton’s equation, given by:

vS = 1.8 𝑔𝑑(𝑆 − 1) for d>1.0 mm

Grit particles however, general lie between 0.1 mm and 1 mm, in the transition zone,
where settling velocity is given by Hazen as:

vS = 418 (SS – 1)d [ ] when d lies between 0.1 mm and 1 mm

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 49

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The above formulas represent the theoretical settling velocities of discrete spherical
particles. The actual settling velocities in the sedimentation basins will be much less than those
calculated by these formulas, because of :
i. The non – sphericity of the particles
ii. The upward displacement of the fluid caused by the settling of other particles,
and
iii. Convection currents.

Sedimentation tank:
The clarification of water by the process of ‘sedimentation’ can be affected by
providing conditions under which the suspended materials present in water can settle out. But
of the three forces which control the settling tendencies of the particles the two forces, the
velocity of the flow, and the shape and size of the particles are tried to be controlled in these
setting tanks. The third force the viscosity of water or the temperature of water is left
uncontrolled, as the same is not partially possible. The velocity of flow can be reduced by
increasing the length of travel and by detaining the particles for a longer time in the
sedimentation basin. The size and shape of the particles can be altered by the addition of certain
chemicals in water. These chemicals are called coagulants, and they make the sedimentation
quite effective by leading to the settlement of even very fine anchored colloidal particles.
However, their use is not made in plain sedimentation and is made under the process titled
‘sedimentation with coagulation’.

Sedimentation basins are generally made of reinforced concrete and maybe rectangular
or circular in plan. Long narrow rectangular tank with horizontal flow are generally preferred
to the circular tanks with horizontal radial or spiral flow. The capital and other dimensions of
the tank should be properly designed, so has to effect the fairly high percentage of removal the
suspended materials. A plain sedimentation tank under normal conditions may remove as much
as 70% of the suspended impurities present in water.

Types of Sedimentation tanks:

The sedimentation tanks are basically be divided into two types

1. Horizontal flow tanks and
2. Vertical or upflow tanks

Horizontal flow tanks: In the design of horizontal flow tanks, the aim is to achieve, as nearly
as possible, the ideal conditions of equal velocity at all points lying on each vertical line in the
settling zone. The direction of flow in the tank is substantially horizontal. Among the horizontal
flow tanks, we may have different types of designs such as

i. Rectangular tanks with longitudinal flow, they may be provided with mechanical
scrapping device, to scrap the sludge to the sludge pit located usually towards the
influent end, from where it is continuously or periodically removed, without stopping
the working of the tank. Such tanks are known as continuous flow type of sedimentation

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 50

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

tanks. In such a tank, the flow velocity is only reduced and water is not brought to
complete list. In intermediate type of tanks, raw water is simply stored and kept at rest
for a certain period, say about 24 hours. During this rest period, suspended particles
settle down to the bottom of the tank. The clear water from the tank is finally taken out,
and the tank is cleaned off the settle silt. The tank is again filled with raw water to
continue the next operation. This type of tank, thus, functions intermediately, as a
period of about 30 to 36 hours is usually required to put the tank again in working order.
This necessitates the commissioning of atleast two tanks. Such intermittent tanks are
usually not preferred in modern treatment plants.

ii. Circular tanks with radial flow, with central feed: In such a tank, the water enters at the
center of the tank into a circular well provided with multiple ports, from which it
emanates out to flow radially outwards in all directions equally. The water, thus, flows
horizontally, and radially from the center towards the periphery of the circular tank.
The aim here is to provide uniform radial flow with decreasing horizontal velocity
towards the periphery, from where the water is withdrawn from the tank through the
effluent structure. The sludge is scrapped to the central sump mechanically and
continuously, from where it is withdrawn during operation. The sludge removal
mechanism consists of scrapers blades mounted on two or four arms revolving slowly.
The second type of circular tanks are provided with peripheral feed.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 51

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

iii. Vertical or upflow settling tanks: Vertical flow tanks usually combines sedimentation
with flocculation, although they may be used for plain sedimentation. They may be
square or circular in plan, and may have hooper bottoms. The influence enters at the
bottom of the unit. The upflow velocity decreases with the increased cross sectional
area of the tank. When used with coagulants, the flocculation takes place in the bottom
of the tank leading to formation of blanket of floc through which there is rising floc
must pass. Because of this phenomenon, these tanks are also called as the upflow sludge
blanket clarifiers.

Design concept in plain sedimentation thanks:

In sedimentation tanks, we use term, called overflow velocity or overflow rate, or

surface overflow rate, or surface loading which may be represented by the symbol. It is that
flow velocity at which the tank is designed to operate. The other terms related to sedimentation
has already been defined and it is called the settling velocity(vS) of the particle. In this design
the particles fall downward and the water rises vertically upward. The rate at which the particle
is settling is vS and the velocity of the liquid rising is vo. Evidently, if the particle is to be
removed from the bottom of the tank and not go out in the clarified water, then the particle
settling velocity(vS) must be greater than the liquid rising velocity(vo). Hence, in the successful
design of a sedimentation tank, the aim would be to determine the particle settling velocity and
fix the overflow rate at some lower value. Often vo is kept at about 80% of vS for an upflow
clarifier.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 52

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The liquid rise velocity (vo) is called the overflow rate, because the water is flowing
over the top of the tank into the weir system. This term is also referred to as surface over loading
rate, because its units are discharge per unit of plan area, i.e. m3/d. m2, the unit m3/d
representing discharge or flow of water in the tank, and m2 is the surface area of the tank. This
term vo can be thought of as amount of water that goes through each m2 of the tank surface area
per day, which is similarly to the loading rate.

/
𝑣 = =

( )/
=
= = Liquid velocity

The particle removal being independent of the depth of the sedimentation tank.
sedimentation zone vary from a depth of a few cm to 6 m or greater. In the case of a horizontal
sedimentation tank, we can similarly show that particle removal is likewise dependent only
upon the overflow rate. Such a horizontal sedimentation tank is designed based on the
following three assumptions.
i. Particles and their velocity vectors are evenly distributed across the tank cross section.
This is a function of inlet zone.
ii. The liquid moves as an idle slug, down the length of the tank.
iii. Any particle hitting the bottom of the tank is removed.

Let us now consider such a horizontally flowing rectangular tank where the water
containing uniformly distributed is a sediment and this tank with a uniform velocity v. If Q is
the discharge entering the base in the flow velocity v is given as:

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 53

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

v=

Where,
B – Width of the tank
H – Depth of the water in the tank

Now let us consider a discrete particle which enters the tank at the top of a basin at point
A at full height H from the bottom. Such a particle will have a horizontal flow velocity v and
a downward vertical velocity vS. Its resultant path is given by the vector sum of its flow velocity
(v) and the settling velocity (vS).

Considering the extreme case of slope vector from A to C, and the geometry of the basin,
we can write

vS = v.

vS = .

vS = =
Where,
𝐴 – Surface area of the tank

Thus, the surface overflow rate can be said to be representing the settling velocity of a
slowest setting particles, which are 100% removed.

Decreasing the overflow rate will lead to a settlement of even those particles which are
having a lower values of their settling velocities. Smaller particle will also settle down, if the
overflow rate is reduced. Moreover, with a given Q, the overflow rate can be reduced by
increasing the plan area of the basin. Therefore, follows that an increase in the plan area will
increase efficiency of a sedimentation tank and theoretically, depth of the tank does not have
any effect on the efficiency of a sediment removal. It is important for a practical consideration
and also for making the allowance for deposition of sludge and silt. Usually values of depth
range between 3 to 4.5 m, with 1.8 as a minimum and 6 m as maximum.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 54

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Another important terms which is used in connection with the design of the sedimentation
basin is its attention time or detention period or retention period the retention period.

⸫ Detention time t for a rectangular tank =

=
Similarly, detention time for a circular tank
( . . )
=

Where,
d – Diameter of the tank
H – vertical depth at wall or side water depth.

This formula is based on the fact that the volume of the type of the circular tank used for
sedimentation. i.e. the one having cone shaped bottom with 1 : 1 slope, is found to have of
volume equal to 𝑑 (0.011𝑑 + 0.785𝐻).

The retention time usually ranges between 4 to 8 hours for plain sedimentation and from
2 to 4 hours when coagulants are used. The width of the tank is normally kept equal to 10 m
and not allowed to exceed 12 m or so. The length of the tank is not generally allowed to exceed
4 times the width, though it may vary from one to six time its width. The cross-sectional area
of the sedimentation tank is such as to provide a horizontal flow velocity ranging between 0.15
to 0.9 m/minute, normally kept at about 0.3 m/minute. The total amount of flow from the tank
within 24 hours, generally equals the maximum daily demand of water.

For the efficient removal of sediment in the sedimentation tanks it is necessary that the
flow is uniformly distributed throughout the cross section of the tank.

In actual practice, certain amount of short circuiting always exist and, therefore, the actual
average time which batch of water takes in passing through a sitting tank called the flow
through period, is always less than the detention period. The ratio of the flowing through period
to the retention period is called displacement efficiency therefore,

Displacement efficiency =

It generally varies between 0.25 to 0.50 in normal sedimentation tank.

Sedimentation with Coagulation:

Very fine suspended mud particles and the colloidal matter present in water cannot
settle down in plain sedimentation tank of ordinary detention period. Such particles can be

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 55

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

removed easily by increasing their size by changing them into flocculated particles. The
chemical compound used are called coagulants. The coagulants are added to the water, which
on thorough mixing, form a gelatinous precipitate called floc. The very fine colloidal particles
present in water, get attracted and adsorbed in these flocs, forming the bigger sized flocculated
particles.
The colloidal particles possess surface charges resulting from preferential adsorption or
from ionization of chemical groups on the surface. The colloidal particles in water and
wastewater are negatively charged, the stationary charged layer on the surface is surrounded
by a bound layer of water called the stern layer. Ions of opposite charge drawn from the bulk
solution, produces a rapid drop potential called the stern potential. A more gradual drop, called
the zeta potential occurs between the shear surface of the bound water layer and the point of
electro neutrality in the solution. The surface charge on colloidal particles gives them long term
stability, hence the particle which might settle or coalesce are mutually repelled by their like
charges.
Coagulation is a chemical technique which is directed towards the destabilization of the
charged colloidal particles. Flocculation is the slow mixing technique which promotes the
agglomeration of the destabilized particles. The process of addition of chemicals and mixing
is called as coagulation. The coagulated water is finally made to pass through the sedimentation
tank, where the flocculated particles settle down, and removed. The use of coagulants is
generally necessary for clarifying raw water containing turbidity greater than 30 to 50 mg/l.

Flocculent particles from coagulation will agglomerate while settling, which results in
increasing in the particle size. The density of the composite particle may decrease due to the
inclusion of water, density can be determined by

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 56

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

ρf = ρu + Kd-0.7
Where,
ρf = Density of the floc
ρu = Density of water
d = Diameter of particle, or diameter of sphere with equivalent surface area
K = A coefficient depending upon the characteristics of the water and the
chemicals used

Chemicals used for coagulation:

Chemicals used for coagulation various chemical such as alum, iron salts like ferrous
sulphate, ferric chloride, ferric sulphate etc., are generally used as coagulants.

Use of alum as coagulant: Alum is the name given to the aluminium Sulphate with the
chemical formula as Al2(SO4)3.18.H2O. The alum when added to raw water, reacts with the
bicarbonates alkalinities, which are generally present in raw supplies, so as to form a gelatinous
precipitate of aluminium hydroxide. This floc attracts other fine particles and suspended
matters and thus grows in size and finally settles down to the bottom of the tank. The chemical
equation is

Al2(SO4)3.18H2O + 3Ca(HCO3)2 → 3CaSO4 +2Al(OH)3 ↓ +6CO2↑

From the above equation, it becomes evident that the addition of alum to water imparts
permanent hardness to it, in the form of calcium sulphate. The carbon dioxide gas, which is
evolved causes corrosiveness. The amount of alum required for coagulation depends on the
turbidity and colour of the raw water. The use of the optimum amount of a coagulant is
indicated by the formulation of large feathery flakes. The average normal dose is about 17
mg/litre. If raw surprise are not sufficient alkaline then the external alkalies like lime or soda
ash are generally added and the following equation takes places

Al2(SO4)3.18H2O + 3Ca(OH)2 → 3CaSO4 +2Al(OH)3 ↓ + 18H2O↑

Al2(SO4)3.18H2O + 3Na2CO3 → 3Na2CO3 +2Al(OH)3 ↓ + 3CO2↑ + 15H2O↑

Alum has proved to be a very effective coagulant and is now extensively used
throughout the world. It is quite cheap, forms and excellent stable floc, and does not require
any skilled supervision for handling. The water obtained is also quite clear, as it helps in
reducing taste and colour of raw water in addition to removing its turbidity.

Uses of Copperas as coagulant: Copperas is the name given to ferrous sulphate with its
chemical formula as a FeSO4.7H2O. Copperas is generally added to raw water in conjunction

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 57

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

with lime. Lime may be added either to Copper as or vise – versa. When lime is added first,
the following reaction takes places,

FeSO4.7H2O + Ca(OH)2 → CaSO4 + Fe(OH)2 + 7H2O

Similarly, when copperas is added earlier to lime, the reaction takes places is,

FeSO4.7H2O + Ca(HCO3)2 → Fe(HCO3)2 + CaSO4 + 7H2O

&
Fe(HCO3)2 + 2Ca(OH)2 → Fe(OH)2 + 2CaCO3 + 2H2O

The ferrous hydroxide formed in either case, further get oxidized forming ferric
hydroxide as given below

Fe(OH)2 + O2 + 2H2O → 4Fe(OH)3↓

The ferric hydroxide forms the floc, helps in sedimentation. Copperas is extensively
used as a coagulant for raw waters that are not coloured. It is generally cheaper than alum, and
functions effectively at the pH of 8.5 and above.

Uses of Chlorinated Copperas as coagulant: when chlorine is added to a solution of copperas,

the two react chemically, so as to form ferric sulphate and ferric chloride. The chemical
equation is as follows

6(FeSO4.7H2O) + 3Cl2 → 2Fe2(SO4)3 + 2FeCl3 + 42H2O

The resultant combination of ferric sulphate and ferric chloride is known as chlorinated
copperas and is a valuable coagulant for removing colours, especially where the raw water has
a low pH value. Both the constituents of the chlorinated copperas along with lime are effective
coagulants and their combinations is often quite effective. The chemical reactions that takes
places are given below:

Fe2(SO4)3 + 3Ca(OH)2 → 3CaSO4 + 2Fe(OH)3↓

2FeCl3 + 3Ca(OH)2 → 3CaCl2 + 2Fe(OH)3↓

The resulting ferric Hydroxide forms the flocs and helps in sedimentation.

Uses of sodium aluminate at a coagulant: Besides alum and irons salts, sodium aluminate
(Na2Al2O4) is also sometimes used as a coagulant. This chemical when dissolved and mixed
with water, reacts with the salts of calcium and magnesium present in raw water, resulting in
the formation of precipitates of calcium or magnesium aluminate.

Na2Al2O4 + Ca(HCO3)2 → CaAl2O4 ↓ + Na2CO3 + CO2 ↑ + H2O

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 58

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Na2Al2O4 + CaCl2 → CaAl2O4 ↓ + 2NaCl

Na2Al2O4 + CaSO4 → CaAl2O4 ↓ + Na2SO4

This coagulant is about 1.5 times costlier than alum, and is therefore, generally avoided
for treating ordinary public supplies.

Comparison of alum and Iron salts:

The alum and iron salts are having their own advantages and disadvantages, as below:
 Iron salts produces heavy floc and can, therefore remove much more suspended matter
than alum.
 Iron salts, being good oxidizing agents can remove hydrogen sulphide and its
corresponding tastes and odour from water.
 Iron salts can be used over a wide range of pH values.
 Iron salts causes staining and promotes growth of iron bacteria in the distribution
system
 Iron salts impart more corrosiveness to water than that which is imparted by alum.
 The handling and storing of iron salts require more skill and control, as they are
corrosive and deliquescent. Whereas, no such skilled supervision is required for
handling alum.

The constituents of a coagulation sedimentation plant:

The coagulation sedimentation plant is sometimes called a coagulation plant or a
clariflocculator, contains a following four units:
a. Feeding device
b. Mixing device or mixing basin
c. Flocculation tank or flocculator
d. Settling or sedimentation tank

The chemical coagulant is, first of all, fed into the raw water through the feeding device.
This mixture is than thoroughly mixed and agitated in a mixing basin. The floc, which is formed
as a result of the chemical reaction taking place in the mixing basin, is then allowed to
consolidate in the flocculation tank. The flocculated water is finally passed into the
sedimentation tank where these flocculated particles settle down and be removed.

Feeding device:
The chemical coagulant may be fed into the raw water either in a powdered form or in
a solution form. The former is known as dry feeding and the latter is known as wet feeding.
The larger plants uses wet feeding and the smaller plants utilizes dry feeding unless objected
to by the characteristics of the coagulant.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 59

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Mixing device:
After the addition of the coagulant to the raw water, the mixture is thoroughly and
vigorously done, so that the coagulant gets fully dispersed into the entire mass of water. This
violent agitation of water can be achieved by means of mixing devices, such as centrifugal
pumps, compressed air, mixing basins, etc. Out of these devices, mixing basins are most
important and normally adopted.
There are two types of mixing basins
a. Mixing bases with baffle walls
b. Mixing basins equipped with mechanical devices

Mixing basins with baffle walls: The baffle type mixing basins are rectangular tanks which are
divided by baffle walls. The baffles may either be provided in such a way as the water flows
horizontally around their ends or they may be provided as to make the water move vertically
over and under the baffles. The hindrance and the disturbances created by the provision of
waffles in the path of flow, give its sufficient agitation to cause necessary mixing to develop
the floc. the basin of design for both types of baffled basins remain the same.

Horizontal flow type mixing basin

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 60

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Vertical flow type mixing basin

Design criteria of baffle walls: The velocity of flow in the channels between the baffles is
controlled to a value of 0.15 to 0.45 m/s. The detention period is normally kept between 20 to
50 minutes. By knowing the detention period and velocity of flow, the length of flow can be
determined. The capacity of the tank for the required detention period is also known from the
water demand.

Mixing basins equipped with mechanical devices: The mechanically agitated mixing basins
provide the best type of mixing as also the flocculating devices. The chemical added to raw
water is vigorously mixed and agitated by a flash mixer for its rapid dispersion in raw water,
the water is then transferred to a flocculation tank provided with a slow mixer. Mixing therefore
involves high degree of turbulence and power dissipations.

Mixing basin with flask mixer

Flocculation tank or a flocculator:

From the mixing basins the water is there taken to a flocculation tank called a
flocculator, where it is given a slow stirring motion. Rectangular tank fitted with a paddles

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 61

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

operated by electric motor can serve this purpose, although even a plain flocculation chambers
with controlled flow velocities are also possible.

Flocculator with paddles

Sedimentation tank:
This tank is design on a same assumption as the plain sedimentation tank, except that a
lower value of detention period is sufficient. Higher value of surface loading wearing between
1000 to 1250 liters/hr/m2 of plan area is generally permitted

Combined coagulation come sedimentation tanks:

It has been possible to combine the flocculation tank along with the sedimentation tank,
such a tank is known as coagulation sedimentation tank. In plain floc chambers without any
mechanical device is provided before the water enters the sedimentation chamber. The
detention period for the floc chamber is kept about 15 to 40 minutes and that for the settling
tank at about 2 to 4 hours. The depth in the floc chamber may be kept about half that of in the
settling chamber.

Coagulation – sedimentation tank

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 62

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Determination of optimum coagulant dosage:

The coagulant dose is determined first in the laboratory and then adjusted by actual
observations if the treatment plant. The common test which is performed to determine the
approximate optimum quantity of coagulant is known as jar test.
The raw water sample to be tested is placed in a number of jars each having a capacity
of about one liter, normally six jars are used in the laboratories. Different amount of coagulants
are added to each jars, the pedals are placed inside the jars are connected with the driving shaft
through a vertical stirring rods, are thus made to rotate. The formation of the floc in each jar is
noted, the amount of coagulant in the jar which produces a good floc with the least amount of
coagulant indicates the optimum dosage.

Jar Test Apparatus to Determine Optimum Dosage

Filtration:
The percentage of removal of fine colloidal matter increases when coagulants are also
used before sedimentation. However, the resultant water will not be free of impurities and may
contain some very fine suspended particles and bacteria in it. To remove or to reduce the
remaining impurities and to produce portable and palatable water, the water is filtered through
the beds of fine granular materials, such as sand etc. The process of passing the water through
the beds of such granular materials is known as filtration.

Two types of filters are commonly used for treating municipal water supplies, they are:
i. The slow sand gravity filters, and
ii. The rapid sand gravity filters

A third type of gravity sand filter works under pressure and is known as pressure filters
this type of filters are generally used for small plants.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 63

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The slow sand gravity filters often called slow sand filters are usually in the sense that
they can remove much larger percentage of impurities and bacteria from the water, as compared
to what can be removed by rapid sand gravity filters which is often called as rapid sand filters
or rapid gravity filters. However, slow sand filter yield a very slow rate of filtration and requires
large area and costly.

Theory of Filtration:
The filters purify the water under four different processes these processes are actions
are as below,

Mechanical training:
The suspended particles present in water, and which are of bigger size than the size of
the voids in the sand layers of the filter, cannot pass through these voids and get arrested in
them. The resultant water will, therefore, be free from them. Most of the particles are removed
in the upper sand layers and these arrested particles including the coagulated flocs forms a mat
on the top of the bed, which further helps in straining out the impurities.

Flocculation and sedimentation:

It has been found that the filters are able to remove even particles of size smaller than
the size of the voids present in the filter. This may be explained by assuming that the voids
spaces act like tiny coagulation sedimentation tanks. The colloidal matters arrested in these
voids is a gelatinous mass and therefore, attracts other finer particles. These finer particles thus
settle down in the voids and gets removed.

Biological metabolism:
Certain micro-organisms and bacteria are generally present in the voids of the filters.
They may either reside initially as coatings over sand grains, or they may be caught during the
initial process of filtration. Nevertheless, these organisms require organic impurities as their
food for the survival. These organisms, utilize such organic impurities and convert them into
harmless compounds by the process of biological metabolism. The harmless compounds are so
formed generally form a layer on the top which is called as dirty skin or schmutzdecke. This
layer further helps in absorbing and straining out the impurities.

Electrolytics changes:
The purifying action of filter can also be explained by the theory of ionization.
According to this theory, a filter helps in purifying the water by changing the chemical
characteristics of water. By the fact that the sand grains of the filter media and the impurities
in water, carry electrical charges of opposite nature. When these oppositely charged particles
and the impurities come in contact with each other they neutralizes each other, thereby
changing the character of the water and making it pure.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 64

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Filter Media:
Sand, either fine or course is generally used as a filter media. The layers of sand may
be supported on gravel, which permits the filtered water to move freely to the under drains, and
allows the wash water to move uniformly upwards.

Sand: The filter sand should generally be obtained from rocks like quartzites and should
contain the following properties.
 Free from dirt and other impurities
 Should be uniform in nature and size
 Should be hard and resistant
 Should not loose more than 5% of its weight after being placed in hydrochloric acid for
24 hours.

The size of the sand is measured and expressed by the terms called effective size (D10).
Effective size is defined as the size of the sieve in mm through which 10% of the sample of
sand will pass through. Too smaller seizes will lead to very frequent clogging of filters and will
give very less filtration rate, similarly, too large size will permit the suspended particles and
bacteria to pass through it, without being removed. The value of effective size (D10) for sand
to be used in low sand filters varying from 0.2 to 0 .4 mm, while for rapid gravity filters, values
varies from 0.35 to 0.55 mm.

The Uniformity in size or degree of variation in sizes of particles is measured and

expressed by the term called uniformity coefficient ( ) the uniformity coefficient ( ) may
be defined as the ratio of the sieve size in mm through which 60% of the sample of the sand
will pass to the effective size of the sand the value of uniformity coefficient for sand to be used
in slow sand filters varies from 1.8 to 2.5 and for rapids and filters this varies from 1.3 to 1.7.

Gravel: The gravel which may be used below the sand should be hard, durable, free from
impurities, properly rounded, and should have a density of about 1600 kg/m3. Gravel of
different sizes are usually placed in 3 to 4 layers, each of 15 to 20 cm depth, with the coarsest
size placed in the bottom most layer and the finest on the top most layer.

Other materials: Inspite of using sand, sometimes, anthrafilt is used as filter media. Anthrafilt
is made from anthracite, which is a type of coal – stone that burns without smoke or flames. It
is cheaper and has been able to give a high rate of filtration.

Types of Filters and their classifications:

There are mainly three types of filters, classified based on the rate of filtration
i. Slow sand filters
ii. Rapid gravity filters
iii. Pressure filters

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 65

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Slow sand filters:

Slow sand filters were first devised by James Simpson in the year 1829. Snow science
filters normally utilizes affluent from the plain sedimentation tanks and are used for relatively
clear waters.

Construction of slow sand filters:

Fig: Slow Sand Filter

The various parts of this filters are as follows:

Enclosure tank: It consists of an open water tight rectangular tank, made of masonry or
concrete. The bed slope is kept at about 1 in 100 towards the central drain. The depth of the
tank may vary from 2.5 to 3.5 m. The plan area of the tank may vary from 100 to 2000 sq. m
or more, depending upon the quantity of water to be treated

Filter media: The filtering media consists of sand layers about 90 to 110 cm in depth, and
placed over a gravel support. The effective size(D10) of the sand where is from 0.2 to 0.4 mm
and the uniformity coefficient ( ) varies from 1.8 to 2.5 or 3.0. The top 15 cm layer of this
sand is generally kept of variety then that of the rest, which is generally kept uniform in grain
size.

Base material: The base material is gravel and it supports the sand. It consist of 30 to 75 cm
thick gravels of different sizes, placed in layers. Generally, 3 to 4 layers each of 15 to 20 cm
depth are used. The size of gravels in the bottom most layer is generally kept 40 to 65 mm, in
the intermediate layer it is between 20 to 40 mm and 60 to 20 mm and in the topmost layer it
varies from 3 to 6 mm.

Under-drainage system: The gravel supports is laid on the top of an under-drainage system.
The under-drainage system consists of a central drain and a lateral drain. The laterals collects
the filtered water and discharges it into the main drain, which leads the water to the filtered
water well.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 66

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Inlet and Outlet arrangements: An inlet chamber, is constructed for admitting the effluent from
the plain sedimentation tank without disturbing the sand layers of the filter and to distribute it
uniformly over the filter bed. A filtered water well is also constructed on the outlet side in order
to collect the filter water coming out from the main under drain.

Other appurtenances: Besides these arrangements, certain other appurtenances are also
provided for the efficient functioning of these filters, such as vertical air pipe passing through
the layer of sand maybe provided, which helps in proper functioning of the filtering layers.
Arrangements are also made in order to control the depth of water above the sand layer. A
metre to measure the flow and a gauges to measure the loss of head. The loss of head caused
by the resistance offered by the sand grains to the flow of water through it, is usually called
filter head or filtering head. The filter head is usually small about 10 to 15 cm, but goes on
increasing as a filter layers get clogged.

Operation and cleaning of slow sand filters:

The treated water from the sedimentation tank is allowed to enter the inlet chamber and
get distributed uniformly over the filter bed. The water percolates through the filter media and
gets purified during the process of filtration. The water now enters the gravel layers and comes
out as the filtered water. It gets collected in the laterals through open joints, which finally
discharges into the filter water well, from where it can be taken to the storage tank for supplies.
The depth of water in filter should neither be too large nor it should be too small, it is generally
kept equal to the depth of filter sand.

The loss of head called filter head or filtering head is about 0.7 to 1.2 m. The cleaning
of slow sand filter he is done by scraping the and remain the 1.5 to 3 cm of top sand layer. The
top surface is finally raked, roughened, cleaned and washed with good water. The amount of
wash water required is generally small which is about 0.2 to 0.6% of the total water filtered.
The interval between the two successive cleanings depends mainly on the nature of impurities
present in water and also on the size of the filtering sand used in the filters.

Rate of filtration:

The rate of filtration that can be obtained from the normal slow sand filters is small and
usually ranges between 100 to 200 l/hour/metre square of filter area.

Efficiency of Slow sand filters:

Slow sand filters are highly efficient in removing bacteria and other suspended solids
from raw waters. The extent of bacteria removal is up to 98 to 99% or more. These will also
remove the odour, and taste, particularly those caused by the presence of organic impurities,
however these filters are less efficient in removing colour of raw water.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 67

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Uses of slow sand filters: These are best suited for the smaller plants and for purifying water
with low colour, low turbidity and low bacterial content.

Rapid sand filters:

Rapid sand filters are of two types:

 Which utilises comparatively larger sized sand particles, which allow greater
rate of filtration as compared to that of slow sand filters called as rapid gravity
filters
 Which utilise the development of pressure over the filtering water and thereby
increasing the rate of filtration, which is called as pressure filters.

Rapid gravity filters: These filters employes coarser sand, with effective size as 0.5 mm or
so, and these filters may yield as high as 30 times the yield given by the slow sand filters.

Construction of rapid sand filters:

Fig: Rapid Gravity Filter

The various parts of this filters are:

Enclosure tanks: It consist of an open water tight rectangular tank made of masonry or concrete.
The depth of the tank may vary from 2.5 to 3.5 m. In order to achieve uniform distribution of
water, the area of the filter units should not be kept larger, and is generally limited to about 10
to 80 m2 for each unit. There should be at least two filters units in any plant. The number of
units at a filter plant may be estimated by the equation given below

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 68

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

N = 1.22 𝑄
Where,
N = Number of filter units
Q = Plant capacity in million liters per day

Filter media: The filtering media consists of sand layers, about 60 to 90 cm in depth, and placed
over a gravel support. The effective size (D10) of the sand varies from 0.35 to 0.55 mm and the
uniformity coefficient ( ) ranges between 1.2 to 1.8. The sand must be laid in layers. The
finer sand should be used towards the top and the coarser variety towards the bottom.

Base material: In slow as well as rapid sand gravity filters, the base material is gravel, and it
supports the sand. In a rapid gravity filters along with supporting the sand it also distributes the
wash water. the gravel sizes varies from 60 to 90 cm thickness and placed in 5 to 6 layers each
layer of 10 to 15 cm in depth.

Under drainage system: The under drainage system serve the two purposes
i. To receive and collect the filtered water
ii. To allow the backwashing for cleaning the filters.
The under drainage system should therefore, be designed in such a way that in addition
to collecting the filtered water during its downward direction, it should be capable of passing
the wash water in a upward direction at the high rate of about 300 to 900 l/min/m2 of filter area.
Various forms of Under drainage systems, such as
i. Manifold and lateral systems
ii. The wheelee bottoms
iii. The porous place bottom etc can be design for rapid gravity filters.

The following points should be considered while designing the size of the pipes:
 The total cross-sectional area of the perforation should be about 0.2% of the total filter
area
 The cross sectional area of each lateral should be about 2 to 4 times the total
processional area of perforation in it, for diameter of perforation 13 mm and 6 mm
respectively
 The cross sectional area of the manifold should be about twice the cross sectional area
of the lateral drains
 > 60
 Maximum permissible velocity in the manifold to provide the required amount of wash
water, is about 1.8 to 2.4 m/sec.

Other appurtenances: The other appurtenances used are

i. Wash water troughs
ii. Air compressor

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 69

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

iii. Rate controller

iv. Miscellaneous accessories

Wash water troughs: The dirty wash water which comes out of the filter of the cleaning it, is
collected in wash water troughs or gutters and are carried to main gutters. The troughs are
generally spaced at about 1.5 to 2.0 m apart and the spacing limits the horizontal distance
travelled by the wash water before entering the trough, to 0.75 to 1m.

Air compressor: During backwashing the filter, the sand grains are agitated either by water jet,
or by compressed air or by mechanical rakes. The compressor should be able to supply
compressed air for about 4 minutes or so, at the rate of 600 to 800 l/minute/m2 of the filter area.
The pressure of the compressed air should be sufficient to overcome the frictional resistance
offered by the air pipes and the column of water lying above the air distribution system.

Rate controller: In order to obtain automatically, a uniform rate of filtration irrespective of the
head loss through the filter rate controllers are required to be fitted at the outlet end of each
filters unit. The most commonly used types of controller is a venturi rate controller, which
works on the principle of venturimetre.

Miscellaneous accessories: The other miscellaneous devices such as head loss indicators,
meters for measuring rate of flow etc. are also used.

Working and cleaning of rapid sand filters:

1. Backwashing: When sand becomes dirty, as is indicated by the excessive loss of head, the filter
must be cleaned and washed. For cleaning, the raw surprise as well as the filtered supplies have
to be cut off, bed drained down, and wash water sent back upwards through the filter beds.
The valve 1 and 4 are closed and valve 5 and 6 are opened. The wash water and compressed
air are thus forced upward from the under drainage through the gravel and sand beds. Valve 5
is closed after supplying the required amount of air. The dirty water resulting from washings,
overflows into the wash water troughs, and is removed by opening valve 2, through the inlet
chamber into the wash water gutter. The process of washing the filters and removing the dirty
water is generally continued for a period of 3 to 5 minutes.

After completing the washing of the filter, valve 2 and 6 will be closed, valve 1 and 3
are opened. This restores the inlet supplies through valve 1, but the filtered water in the
beginning is not to be collected, and washed for a few minutes through valve 3 to the gutter.
Finally valve 3 is closed and valve 4 is opened to get a filtered supply again. The entire process
of backwashing the filters and re – maintaining filter supplies takes about 15 minutes and the
filter units remains out of operation for this much of time. The amount of water required for
washing a rapid gravity filter maybe from 2 to 5% of the total amount of water filtered. The
rapid gravity filters get clogged very frequently and how to be washed every 24 to 48 hours.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 70

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The rate of washing may very between 15 to 90 cm rise per minute the 45 cm per minute
is quite acceptable. The pressure, at which wash water is supplied is about kN/m2. The filter
sludge will have to be suitably disposed of after thickening, to ensure the safe disposal.

The water percolating through the filter moves downward under the force of gravity.
This motion is opposed by the resistance offered by the sand grains and the impurities arrested
in them. The percolating water, therefore losses some of its head. The loss of head can be easily
computed by knowing the water level in the filter and the pressure of water in the outlet pipe.
The difference between the two heads will give the loss of head, called filter head or filtration
head. When the filter is newly commissioned, the loss of head is generally very small and is of
order of 15 to 30 cm. However, the loss of head goes on increasing as the time passes.
The filters of frequently cleaned particularly as soon as the loss of head exceeds the optimum
allowable values. On an average, the loss of head is limited to 2.5 to 3.5 m and negative head
of about 1.2 m

Operational problems in rapid gravity filters: The major to common operational troubles
are:
 Formation of mud balls
 Cracking of filters

Formation of mud balls: The mud from the atmosphere usually accumulates on the sand
surface, so as to form the dense mat. During inadequate washing of filter, this mud may sink
down into the sand bed. This mud then sticks to the sand drains and other arrested impurities,
forming mud balls. These mud balls slowly and steadily go on increasing in size and weight
and sink down into the gravels does interfering with the upward movement of wash water
during the cleaning of filters. They cause turbulence around them, and thus hinder with the
uniform application of wash water. The high velocity created around the edges of these balls
displaces the gravels and thereby forming mounds, while above the balls, the sand is
improperly washed and mud accumulates.

The various measures which will be helping to control mud balls are

 Mud balls may be broken with some mechanical rakes and the broken mud particles are
washed off.
 Mud balls can also be broken by water stream by using a 10 mm diameter pipe having
a pointed closed end and two perforations a bit above the point. The pipe is connected
to a rubber hose furnishing water under pressure.
 Compressed air scour during backwashing for about 4 minutes supported with manual
surface raking may help in effective removal of mud balls.
 The bed of the filter is first washed, then water is drawn off to 10 cm depth above the
bed, and caustic soda is applied.
 When the filter gets badly clogged and damaged, then it may have to be totally replaced.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 71

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Cracking of filters: The fine sand contain in the top layers of the filter bed, shrinks and causes
the development of shrinkage cracks in the sand bed. These cracks are more prominent near
the wall junctions. The floc, mud and other impurities arrested in the filter, penetrate deep into
the filter through these cracks, and thus impairing both the washing of filter and the efficiency
of filtration.

Rate of filtration:
The rate of filtration that can be obtained from the rapid gravity filters is very high
compared to slow sand filters it is generally of about 3000 to 6000 l/m2 of filter area.

Efficiency of rapid gravity filters:

Rapid gravity filters are less efficient in removing the bacteria and turbidities will
comparing to slow sand filters they can remove only about 80 to 90% of bacterial load present
in the water. Uses of rapid gravity filters are the best and most economical and therefore can
be used in treating public water supplies generally at larger towns and cities.

Pressure Filters:
Pressure filters are just like small rapid gravity filters placed in closed vessels, and
through which water to be treated is passed under pressure. Since water is forced through such
filters at a pressure greater than the atmospheric pressure, it is necessary that these filters are
located in air tight vessels.

Construction of Pressure Filters:

The filter vessel may be installed either in a horizontal or in a vertical position,

depending upon which, they may be classified as horizontal pressure filters or vertical pressure
filters. Steel cylinders are used as pressure vessel and may be rivetted or welded. Their
diameters generally vary between 1.5 to 3 m, and their lengths or heights may vary from 3.5 to
8 m. Inspection windows are provided at top for inspection purposes.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 72

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Fig: Vertical Pressure Filter

Working and Operation of Pressure Filters: A Pressure filter is operated like an ordinary
rapid gravity filter except that the raw coagulated water is neither flocculated nor sedimented
before it enters the filter. The flocculation takes place inside the pressure filter itself.

Rate of Filtration of Pressure Filters: The pressure filters can yield filtered water at rates
much higher, i.e. 2 to 5 times than what can be obtained from rapid gravity filters. Their rate
of filtration normally ranges between 6,000 to 15,000 litres per hour per sq. m of filter area.

Efficiency and Suitability of Pressure Filters: The pressure filters are less efficient than the
rapid gravity filters, in removing bacteria and turbidities.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Pressure Filters:

Advantages:

 A pressure filter is a compact machine and can be handled easily. Even completely
automatic units have been designed.
 It requires lesser space and filtering material for treating the same quantity of water.
 Sedimentation and coagulation tanks are avoided.
 They are more flexible, as the rate of filtration can be changed by changing the pumping
pressure.
 When installed on a large scale for treating turbid waters, pressure filters, though prove
costlier, yet may prove economical for treating smaller quantities of comparatively
clearer waters. Hence, they can be best adopted for supplying waters to co-operative
housing societies, individual industrial plants, private estates, swimming pools, etc.
 Since the water coming out of the filter possesses sufficient residual

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 73

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Disadvantages:

 Although the rate of filtration is high, the filter unit being smaller, the overall capacity
of the plant is small.
 Less efficient in removing bacteria and turbidities.
 Costlier, particularly for treating large scale municipal supplies.
 Since the process of filtration, as well as that of back washing, takes place in a closed
tank, proper inspection and quality control is not possible.
 Inspection, cleaning and replacement of sand, gravel and under-drainage system is
difficult.
 Because of their inherent curved shapes, properly designed wash water gutters which
can trap the washed impurities without flushing them back to other portions of the sand
bed, cannot be provided easily.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 74

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Module 3
Disinfection
Disinfection:
The filtered water which is obtained either from the slow sand filters or rapid gravity
filters, may, normally contain some harmful disease producing bacteria in it. These bacteria
must be killed in order to make the water safe for drinking. The chemicals used for killing these
bacteria are known as disinfectants, and the process is known as disinfection or sterilisation".

This process of purification is the most important, because the bacterially contaminated
waters may lead to the spread of various diseases and their epidemics, thus causing disasters to
public life. The presence of turbidities, colour, or minerals, etc., may not be dangerous, but the
presence of even a single harmful organism will definitely prove dangerous: thereby making
'disinfection' as the most important process. Disinfection not only removes the existing bacteria
from the water at the plant, but also ensures their immediate killing even in the distribution
system. The chemical which is used as a disinfectant must, therefore, be able to give this
residual sterilising effect for a long period, thus affording some protection against
recontamination. Chlorine has been found to be the best and the most ideal disinfectant and is
now invariably used through out the world.

Minor Methods of Disinfection

The following are the minor methods of disinfection:

Boiling of Water: The bacteria present in water can be destroyed by boiling it for a long time.
It is an effective method of disinfection, but it is not practically possible to boil huge amounts
of public water supplies. Moreover, it can only kill the existing germs but cannot take care of
the future possible contaminations. This method is not used for disinfecting public supplies.
Treatment with Excess Lime: Lime in generally used at a water purification plant for softening
the supplies. But it has been found that if excess lime is added to the water, it can in addition,
kill the bacteria also. Addition of 14 to 43 ppm of excess lime has been found to remove the
bacterial load by about 99.3 to 100% from highly polluted waters. The excess lime when added
to water, it raises the pH value of water, making it extremely alkaline. This method is practical
for complete removal of bacteria, but removal of excess lime from the water is necessary before
it can be supplied to the general public. Treatment like recarbonation for lime removal should
be used after disinfection, when this method is used for disinfection. It cannot protect the water
from the possible dangers of recontamination, and hence not used these days.
Treatment with ozone: Ozone gas is a faintly blue gas of pungent odour, and is an excellent
disinfectant. Ozone gas is nothing but an unstable allotropic form of oxygen, with each of its
molecule containing three oxygen atoms. It can be produced by passing a high tension electric
current through a stream of air in a closed chamber, under the following chemical reaction:

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 75

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐

3𝑂 2𝑂3
𝑎𝑟𝑐 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒
Oxygen Ozone
Molecule molecule

Because of its instability, ozone readily breaks down into normal oxygen, and releases
nascent oxygen as below:

The nascent oxygen, is a powerful oxidising agent and removes the organic matter as
well as the bacteria from the water. During the treatment, ozone gas is manufactured and
bubbled through water contained in a sterilising chamber having inlets and outlets for water
as well as an inlet for ozone. The ozonised water comes out through the outlet at the top

Advantages and disadvantages of ozone as disinfectant:

Advantages:
 Ozone being unstable, nothing remains in water, by the time it reaches the distribution
system.
 Ozone removes the colour, taste and odour from water, in addition to removing the bacteria
from it.
 The ozonised water becomes tasty and pleasant unlike the chlorinated water which becomes
bitter to tongue.

Disadvantages:
 It is much costlier than chlorination.
 Ozone needs electricity for its manufacture, and hence it can be used only when electricity
is available easily and cheaply.
 No residuals can be maintained because it is highly unstable, and thus its use does not ensure
safety against possible future contaminations.
 Complicated ozone manufacturing apparatus called ozoniser is required to be installed at
the treatment plant, because it cannot be supplied in cylinders as chlorine.
 It is less efficient than chlorine in killing bacteria.

Treatment with Iodine and Bromine: The addition of iodine or bromine to water can help in
killing the pathogenic bacteria, and thereby disinfecting the same. The quantity of these
disinfectants may be limited to about 8 ppm and a contact period of 5 minutes is generally
enough. These disinfectants are now-a-days also available in the form of pills and are thus very
handy.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 76

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Treatment with Ultra-Violet Rays: Ultra-violet rays are the invisible light rays having wave
lengths of 1000 to 4000 mμ. They are basically found in sun light, but can also be produced by
passing electric current through mercury enclosed in quartz bulbs. These rays are highly
effective in killing all types of bacteria, thus yielding a truly sterilised water. The water to be
treated with ultra-violet rays should, however, be less turbid and low in colour. Normally, it
should be colourless and turbidity should not exceed 15 mg/l. Sterilisation with ultra-violet
rays does not impart any additional taste or odour to the water, as no chemicals are added. But
it is very costly, needs technical know-how, and possesses possibilities interruption due to
failure of electricity. This method is, hence unsuitable for treating large scale public supplies.

Treatment with Potassium Permanganate: This is used a popular disinfectant for disinfecting
well water supplies in villages which are generally contaminated with lesser amounts of
bacteria. Besides killing bacteria, it also helps in oxidising the taste producing organic matter.
For treating well water supplies, small amount of potassium permanganate is dissolved in a
bucket of water and is mixed with the well water, thoroughly. The addition of potassium
permanganate to water, produces pink colour. However, if the pink colour disappears, it shows
that organic matter is present in water, and more quantity of potassium permanganate should
be added, until the pink colour stands. The well should not be used for atleast 48 hours after
the addition of potassium permanganate. The normal doses of this disinfectant varies between
1 to 2 mg/1 with a contact period of 4 to 6 hours.
Potassium permanganate, though cheap, handy and quite useful, It cannot guarantee
100% removal of bacteria.

Treatment with Silver or Electro-Katadyn Process: In this method of disinfection, metallic

silver ions are introduced into the water by passing it through a tube containing solid silver
electrodes which are connected to a D.C. supply of about 1.5 volts. Silver ions have a strong
germicidal action, and thus act disinfectant. The silver treatment neither imparts any taste and
odour to the water nor it produces any harmful effect on human body. But the use of silver is
very costly, and hence not adopted for treating public supplies.

Chlorination: Chlorine in its various forms is used for disinfecting public water supplies. It is
cheap, reliable, easy to handle, easily measurable, and also capable of providing residual
disinfecting effects for long periods, thus affording complete protection against future
recontamination of water in the distribution system. Its only disadvantage is that when used in
greater amounts, it imparts bitter and bad taste to the water.

Disinfecting Action of Chlorine:

When chlorine is added to water, it forms hypochlorous acid or hypochlorite ions,
which have an immediate and disastrous effect on most forms of microscopie organisms. The
reactions that take place are:

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 77

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The hypochlorous acid is unstable and may break into hydrogen ions and hypochlorite
ions

The above reaction is reversible and depends upon the pH value of water. The
dissociation of hypochlorous acid into ions is more effective at high pH values and vice versa.
Thus, at pH value greater than 10, only OCl ions are found, while in pH values of less than 7,
HOCl will generally exist without dissociating into OCl ions, and in the pH range of below 5,
chlorine does not react and remains as elemental chlorine. Out of these forms of free available
chlorine, the hypochlorous acid is the most destructive, being about 80 times more effective
than hypochlorite ions. Hence, the pH value of water should be maintained slightly less than 7.
Moreover, the chlorine will immediately react with ammonia present in water to form various
chloramines, as below:

The mono-chloramine predominates at pH value of over 7.5; di-chloramine at pH range

of 5 to 6.5; and nitrogen trichloramine at pH below 4.4. Thus, in the chlorine treatment, at pH
slightly less than 7, dichloramine formation is the most predominant.

The chloramines so formed are stable and are found to possess disinfecting properties.
They can also remove odour, but only to a certain extent. The amount of chlorine required for
water depends upon the inorganic and organic impurities present in it, because when chlorine
is added to a water, it reacts with the inorganic impurities that convert the chlorine into chloride,
which has no residual oxidising power. Excess chlorine after this point is consumed by
ammonia to form chloramines. Simultaneously, chlorine will also react with organic impurities
present in water. The chlorine consumed in all the above reactions represent the chlorine
demand of water.

The free chlorine as well as the combined chlorine (chloramines) will cause germicidal
action on bacteria and pathogens. The free chlorine will instantaneously kill the pathogens,
while the combined chlorine will provide long term germicidal effect. In general, most of the
waters are satisfactorily disinfected if the free chlorine residual is about 0.2 mg/l, 10 minutes
after the chlorine. is applied. The optimum dose of chlorine for a given water is, therefore
generally determined experimentally by adding varying amounts of chlorine to a given sample

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 78

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

and observing the residual left after a contact period of about 10 minutes. The dose which
leaves residual of about 0.2 mg/l is then selected. This total dose minus the free residual will
automatically represent the chlorine demand of water.

Various Forms in which Chlorine:

Chlorine is generally applied in the following forms as free chlorine

a. Liquid chlorine or as chlorine gas: The molecular chlorine can be carried and applied to the
water to be treated either in a liquid form or in a gaseous form. The liquid form is generally
preferred and almost exclusively used these days. Chlorine in its gaseous form is a greenish
yellow gas, about 2.5 times heavier than air, and gets dissolved in water. Chlorine gas neither
burns nor explodes, hence, can be safely stored in steel cylinders either in a gaseous form
or in a liquid form. Chlorine gas causes irritation to the lungs and to the membranes of the
nose and throat. So, that a chlorine content of about 10 ppm in air can be easily noticed and
felt; 20 ppm causes inconvenience, and 1000 ppm may cause death just within 5 minutes of
exposure. Moreover, chlorine forms a very explosive mixture when mixed with carbon
monoxide gas. Hence, chlorine must be stored properly and carefully in independent well
ventilated rooms, and should be carefully handled so as to avoid any undue leakage.
Chlorine is applied to the water to be treated, through an instrument called chlorinator or
chloronome.

Advantages of Using Free Molecular Chlorine as a Disinfectant:

 It can be easily stored for a long period without any risks of its getting deteriorated.
 It is quite cheap and easily available.
 It occupies less space for storage.
 It can be easily and cheaply transported.
 The chlorine dose to be added can be easily measured, and hence the chances of
overdosing or under-dosing are minimum.
 The initial cost of installing the chlorination plant is quite low
 It is a very powerful disinfectant, and may remain in water as residual for good
enough time.
 It can be uniformly applied to the entire water body.
 The operation of the plant does not require much skilled supervision.
 No sludge is formed in its application, as may be formed by using hypochlorites or
chloramines.

b. Use of Hypochlorites and Bleaching Powder: Calcium and sodium hypochlorites may
be used for chlorinating small public supplies. When such a hypochlorite is dissolved
in water, it dissociates, as to form hypochlorite ions,

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 79

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The hypochlorite ions may further combine with the hydrogen ions present in water, so
as to form hypochlorous acid.

This process is known as hypochlorination. The hypochlorite jons as well as

hypochlorous acid both causing disinfection of water. chlorine compound, which is sometimes
used for disinfecting water is bleaching powder or chlorinated lime or calcium oxychlorite,
having molecular formula as CaOCl2. When freshly made, it contains about 30% of available
chlorine. It is, however, an unstable compound, and on exposure to air, light and moisture, it
rapidly looses its chlorine content.

c. Use of Chlorine Tablets: Chlorine tablets may also be used to disinfect small quantities of
water. They are available in the market under various names, such as halazone tablets. A single
tablet of 0.5 g is sufficient to disinfect about 20 litres of water. These tablets can be used for
treating overhead water storage tanks, or for treating ground water supplies, and even for
retreating the public supplies at consumer's end during water borne epidemics, floods when
public supplies are liable to be contaminated.

d. Use of Chloramines or Use of Chlorine with Ammonia: Chloramines are the disinfectant
compounds, which are formed by the reactions between ammonia and chlorine, as given earlier.
These compounds are quite stable and can remain in water as residuals for a sufficient time,
contrary to the unstable chlorine which evaporates after some time. Hence, they can provide a
greater safeguard against future pollution, although they are comparatively much weaker
disinfectants compared to free chlorine. The other advantages of using chloramines as
disinfectants are:
 They do not cause bad tastes and odours when left as residuals, as is caused by chlorine
alone.
 They are very useful when phenols are present in water, because the reactions of
phenols with chlorine alone will result in the creation of disagreeable tastes, but no such
tastes develop with chloramines.

The ammonia should be properly applied and mixed with water, about 20 minutes to 1-
2 hours earlier than applying chlorine. This contact period of ammonia being kept higher when
phenols are present in water. The ammonia is applied by a separate called ammoniator.

e. Use of Chlorine-Dioxide Gas: Chlorine dioxide gas is a very effective and powerful
disinfectant, about 2.5 times stronger than chlorine. It is produced by passing chlorine gas
through sodium chlorite,

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 80

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

This chlorine dioxide gas is costly, and very unstable and has to be used immediately after
its production. Hence, it is generally not used for treating ordinary public supplies. However,
because of its stronger disinfecting powers, it may be used for treating waters containing larger
amounts of organic impurities. It may also be used for treating waters containing phenolic
compounds which may develop unwanted tastes and odours with the use of chlorine alone.
Since the action of chlorine dioxide remains unaffected by the high pH values, it can be
advantageously used for treating highly alkaline waters with pH between 8 to 10. The normal
dose of chlorine dioxide usually ranges between 0.5 to 1.5 mg/1

Types of Chlorination:
Depending upon the quantity of chlorine added, or the stage at which it is added, or
upon the results of chlorination, various technical terms in relation to the chlorination are used.
They are:
i. Plain chlorination
ii. Pre-chlorination
iii. Post-chlorination
iv. Double chlorination
v. Break point chlorination
vi. Super chlorination
vii. Dechlorination

Plain chlorination: This term is used to indicate that only the chlorine treatment and no other
treatment has been given to the raw water. Under plain chlorination, raw water is fed into the
distribution system after giving chlorine treatment only. This helps in removing bacteria,
organic matter, and colour from the raw water. This technique may be used for treating
relatively clearer water obtained from lakes, reservoirs, etc

Pre-chlorination: Pre-chlorination is the process of applying chlorine to the water before

filtration or rather before sedimentation coagulation. It helps in improving coagulation, and
reduces the loads on the filters. It also reduces the taste, odour, algae and other organisms. The
chlorine dose should be such that about 0.1 to 0.5 mg/l of residual chlorine comes to the filter
plant. The normal doses required are as high as 5 to 10 mg/l.

Post chlorination: Post chlorination is the normal standard process of applying chlorine in the
end, when all other treatments have been completed. While treating normal public supplies, the
post chlorination is adopted after filtration and before the water enters the distribution system.
The dosage of chlorine should be such as to leave a residual chlorine of about 0.1 to 0.2 mg/l,
after a contact period of about 20 minutes. This residual will ensure the disinfection of water,
if at all any future recontamination occurs in the distribution system.

Double chlorination: The term double chlorination is used to indicate that the water has been
chlorinated twice. The pre- chlorination and post chlorination are generally used in double
chlorination.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 81

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

Break-point chlorination: Break point chlorination is a term which gives us an idea of the
extent of chlorine added to water, it represents, that much dose of chlorination, beyond which
any further addition of chlorine will appear as free residual chlorine.

When chlorine is added to the water, it reacts with the ammonia present in the water,
so as to form chloramines These chloramines respond to the D.P.D. test in the same manner as
does free chlorine. If chlorine is slowly added to the water, and the residual is tested, it will be
found that the residual will go on increasing with the addition of chlorine. However, some
chlorine is consumed for killing bacteria, and thus the amount of residual chlorine shall be
slightly less than that added.

If the addition of chlorine is continued beyond the point B, the organic matter present
in water gets oxidised, and, therefore, the residual chlorine content suddenly falls down, as
shown by the curve BC. The point C is the point beyond which any further addition of chlorine
will appear equally as free chlorine, since nothing of it shall be utilised. This point "C" is called
the break point, as any chlorine that is added to water beyond this point, breaks through the
water, and appears as residual chlorine. The addition of chlorine beyond break point is called
break point chlorination.

Super chlorination: Supper chlorination is a term which indicates the addition of excessive
amount of chlorine to the water. This may be required in some special cases of highly polluted
waters, or during epidemics of water borne diseases. The huge quantity of chlorine which is
added in superchlorination is such as to give about 1 to 2 mg/l of residue beyond the break
point, in the treated water.

Dechlorination: Dechlorination means removing the chlorine from water. This is generally
required when superchlorination has been practised. The dechlorination process may either be

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 82

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

carried out to such an extent that sufficient residual chlorine do remains in water after
dechlorination, if full chlorine has been removed, additional chlorine will generally be added
to maintain such residues. The dechlorination may be carried out be adding certain chemicals
to water or by simply aerating the water. These chemicals are called dechlorinating agents. The
common dechlorinating agents are: Sulphur dioxide gas, Activated carbon, Sodium
thiosulphate, Sodium metabisulphite, Sodium sulphite, Sodium bisulphite, and Ammonia as
NH4OH.

Testing of Chlorine Residuals: The amount of residual chlorine left in the chlorinated
water after the required contact period, can be experimentally determined by using any of the
following tests:
 Orthotolidine test
 D.P.D. test;
 Chlorotex test; and
 Starch-iodide test.

These tests are briefly discussed below:

Orthotolidine test:

In this test, 10 ml of chlorinated sample of water is taken after the required contact
period, in a glass tube. To this is added 0.1 ml of orthotolidine solution. The colour formed is
noted after 5 minutes. The formation of a yellow colour normally indicates the presence of
chlorine in the water. The orthotolidine test, however, is not fool-proof, because the impurities
such as iron, manganese, nitrites, etc. are likely to cause false yellow colour, and thereby
indicating wrong and increased chlorine residuals.

DPD (Diethly-p-Phenylene-Diamine) test:

This test is widely used in modern days, and makes use of Palin's DPD reagent, which
is available as DPD chlorine tablets. The testing is generally carried out in a British Drug House
(BDH) comparator, so as to easily compare the developed colours with the standard given
colours. The comparator is provided with a special dulling screen provided with a disc which
must be fitted to the right hand viewing window of the comparator. The BDH comparator discs
will be available in two alternatives, for two different chlorine-con- centration-ranges.

(a) 3/40/A - 0.1 to 10 mg/l of chlorine

(b) 3/40/B - 0.2 to 4.0 mg/l of chlorine.

In order to carry out this test, 10 ml of water sample is taken in a tube, and it is placed
in the left compartment of the comparator. A reagent tablet is placed in another tube, to which
is added about 1 cm depth of water, and the tablet is allowed to dissolve. More water is now
added to this, until the tube contains 10 ml, and it is placed in the right hand compartment.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 83

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

After 2 minutes, the colours are viewed and compared through the viewing windows and the
disc is rotated till the colours match. The residual chlorine amount can then be directly read in
the window in the lower right hand corner of the instrument.

Chlorotex test:

This is a very simple test and uses BDH chlorotex reagent, which is provided with
standard colour matching card. No comparator is used in this method.

Starch Iodide test:

In this test, one litre of water sample is collected in a heat-proof earthen ware vessel, to
which 10 ml of potassium iodide solution is added. The contents are thoroughly mixed, and 5
ml of starch solution is added, which produces blue colour. This blue colour is removed by
titrating this water sample against sodium thiosulphate solution of normality N/100.

Water softening:
The reduction or removal of hardness from water is known as water softening.
Softening is more important, because the hard waters are likely to cause scaling troubles in
boilers and interfere in the working of dyeing systems.

Methods of Removing Temporary Hardness:

The temporary hardness can be removed either by boiling or by adding lime to the
water.
Boiling: Calcium carbonate, being slightly soluble, will usually exist in water as calcium
bicarbonate, because it easily dissolves in natural water containing carbon dioxide. When such
water is boiled, the carbon dioxide gas will be released, leading to the precipitation of CaCO3,
which can be sedimented out in settling tank.

The magnesium bicarbonate and magnesium carbonate, however, cannot be

satisfactorily removed under the above type of reaction, since MgCO3, is fairly soluble in water.
Boiling cannot therefore satisfactorily remove the temporary hardness caused by magnesium.

Addition of lime: Lime or hydrated lime is added to the water. The following reactions take
place:

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 84

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

The calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide are precipitated, can be removed in
the sedimentation tank.

Methods of Removing Permanent Hardness:

The permanent hardness is more permanent and difficult to remove. It can be removed
by certain special methods, commonly adopted for softening waters containing permanent
hardness, the special methods are:
 Lime-Soda process;
 Base-Exchange process, generally called Zeolite process; and
 Demineralisation process

Lime-Soda Process: In this process, lime and soda ash are added to the hard water, which react
with the calcium and magnesium salts, so as to form insoluble precipitates of calcium carbonate
and magnesium hydroxide. These precipitates can be sedimented out in a sedimentation tank.
The chemical reactions which may be involved are:

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 85

 PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING – 21CV43

From the above reactions, it can be easily seen that lime helps in removing the entire
carbonate hardness, and it reacts with non-carbonate hardness of Mg to convert the same into
non-carbonate hardness of Ca. The non-carbonate hardness of Ca is finally removed by soda.

In the recarbonation process, the insoluble carbonates combine with the carbon dioxide
to again form the soluble bicarbonates as given below:

Advantages of Lime-Soda process:

 The process is economical.
 It can be easily combined with the usual water treatment methods, without much extra
trouble or cost.
 When lime and soda are added in addition to the coagulant during the process of
softening-cum-coagulation, lesser quantity of coagulant is generally required.
 This treatment leads to an increase in the pH value of water thus reducing the corrosion
of the distribution pipes.
 The increased causticity may also sometimes help in killing pathogenic bacteria.
 This treatment helps in reducing the total mineral content of water.
 It helps in removing iron and manganese from the water although only to a certain
extent.

Disadvantages of lime soda process:

 A large quantity of sludge is formed in this process, which must be disposed of by some
suitable method.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, CIT, PONNAMPET 86