How does drinking water and waste water treatment impact our water?

Some drinking water treatment steps are for hardness removal, filtration, disinfection, coagulation and flocculation. These operations are for reducing hardness of water (getting rid of calcium and magnesium), removing particulate matter that cannot be removed when you apply free sedimentation (gravity settling), killing bacteria that can cause waterborne diseases. Therefore some chemicals are added to the water throughout some steps in drinking water treatment.

For wastewater treatment contaminants in water are concentrated in sludge and water will become somewhat clean. Sedimentation, biological treatment (such as activated sludge or trickling filter) and disinfection are some steps used in wastewater treatment. The main aim to treat wastewater is that it is going to be not hazardous after treatment at the discharge point (for a river, a lake, an aquifer or ocean).

Drinking water treatment saves many lives today since waterborne diseases are controlled after water treatment plants.

Drinking water and wastewater treatment play crucial roles in preserving the quality of water resources. Drinking water treatment ensures that water is safe for consumption by removing contaminants and pathogens. Wastewater treatment helps to mitigate the environmental impact of human activities by removing pollutants and harmful substances from wastewater before it is released back into the environment. These processes help to protect aquatic ecosystems, safeguard public health, and ensure the availability of clean water for various purposes.