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Welcome to Water Purification Basics!

Water purification has been around for millions of years. In fact, the first form of purification was to boil water on an open fire in order to kill all harmful bacteria. Today’s methods are a little bit more sophisticated and you may not even realize the process has taken place, since water that is delivered to consumers at home has already been treated.

Understanding Water Purification

There are many different methods of purification for water. Even ground water, which is delivered to your tap at home, has gone through a purification process to ensure it is safe to drink. While the taste may not be appealing to some since the minerals are left in, this water is nonetheless purified to some extent. Most cities around the United States use the chlorine disinfection route to make sure the cities’ water is drinkable, but drinkable and palatable are two separate things.

The purification process begins with a pH treatment that will either raise or lower the pH of the water to be as close to 7 as possible. Distilled water has a neutral pH of 7, which is what many purifiers aim to reach. Sea water’s pH sits around 8.2, while most ground water sits at around 6.5. Certain compounds like ash and soda must be added to the water in order to even the pH.

The Process of Flocculation

Flocculation is a process by which water is clarified. Certain minerals such as iron and copper in water can give it a certain color. In order to remove this color, the water is treated with certain agents that will bind with these metals and effectively remove them from the water molecules. This is why water that is delivered to us at home has no color when going outside and digging deep enough to hit water may net a deep red color.

Water Filtration

Once the water’s pH has been leveled and all of the color has been removed, the process of filtration can begin. There are many different forms of filtration in existence, but the most commonly used system is a rapid sand filter. This process works by forcing water rapidly through several layers of sand and activated carbon in order to remove several compounds which can affect the smell and taste of water. Organic compounds such as debris that can cause odors and smells are removed as the water passes through the first layer of sand.

While this is the most common method of filtration, it is not the most effective. Some water purification factories across the United States have begun switching to pressure filtered water, which has the advantage of being able to filter out smaller particles than sand filtering can accomplish. Water filtered this way generally only has to pass through two filters to be completely clean of contaminates, whereas water filtered using the traditional rapid sand method can pass through a filter several times.

Disinfection is the next process, which is completed using chlorine to remove all harmful bacteria from the water. Pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and other microbes cannot survive in a chlorine environment, which is why chlorine is used to treat pools and keep them clean for swimmers. This same process is used to treat your drinking water, though most of the chlorine is removed once the water has been disinfected.

The water purification process is a long one, but the end result is drinkable water that can be enjoyed by you and your family. If you want to take it a step further, there are several faucet level purifiers you can purchase that will serve to remove chlorine and other minerals from the water treatment process.

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