Methods For Purifying City Water

Every town or city has its own water treatment plant, but it’s important to understand how this water is purified before it reaches your faucet. Water that has not been purified contains contaminants such as bacteria, diseases, dirt, pesticides, and many other chemicals. Drinking such water can result in diarrhea and vomiting, as well as more serious health concerns.

Water should have gone through one or more of the water purification methods before you drink it. Water purification methods include physical processes such as filtration, sedimentation, or distillation, biological processes such as sand filters, active carbon, and chemical processes such as flocculation, chlorination, and the use of ultraviolet light. There are many methods to water purification and we are going to explain all of them below.

Boiling

Boiling water is one method of purification. It is a straightforward method for killing germs and parasites. For years, people have relied on this method to produce safe and sanitary water for cooking and drinking. Consider it a tried-and-true method for purifying water. 

When boiling water for purification, you must know how long to do it for. If you don’t do it long enough, the method may become ineffective, making you and your family sick from water pollution. A heat source, such as a stove, and something to hold the water, such as a pot, are mandatory materials you need to properly boil water.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends bringing the water to a boil and holding it there for at least one minute. If you are above one mile in altitude, keep the water at a rolling boil for at least three minutes.

If your water appears cloudy, you must filter it before boiling it. This will keep dirt and debris out of it. You can use coffee filters, cloth, or paper towels. Simply pour the water through the filter as many times as necessary until the water is clear. Keep in mind that boiling will still be required to remove microscopic pathogens.

Filtration

Filtration is an excellent method of water purification. If you’re used to drinking tap water, it’s useful to understand how it’s filtered before it reaches your faucet. Many municipal public water systems use filtration as a method today. This method simply separates solid debris from water by passing the liquid through a filter.

Municipal water treatment plants’ modern filtration systems are based on slow sand filtration and are enhanced by the addition of a multimedia filter. This filter is made primarily of carbon, which forms a solid block. This is distinct from unstructured and loose sand filters.

Modern water filters, in addition to solid carbon, include other substances that help clean the supply through chemical and physical processes. The multimedia filter absorbs contaminants on the chemical side. The atomic charge of carbon causes any particles in the water to lose their bond with water and attach to the filter. The multimedia filter physically traps particles larger than water in its pores. This physical procedure is comparable to slow sand filtration.

When filtering water on your own, you will typically use materials such as a cloth or paper of some kind. Originally, municipal water treatment plants relied solely on filters made of charcoal, gravel, or sand. Slow sand filtration refers to the process of filtering water through such a granular bed.

Distillation

Distillation is commonly known as a method of producing alcohol such as whiskey and gin. It is also, however, a method of water purification. This process removes many contaminants from the water, but it can also remove important minerals. As a result, many experts do not advise people to drink only distilled water.

Distillation is a simple process. Water’s boiling point is much lower than that of solids and minerals. As a result, you can distill water by heating untreated water until it reaches its boiling point and begins to turn into vapor. By keeping the heat constant, the water continues to evaporate but the solids do not. Microorganisms that cause disease, such as bacteria and viruses, are also removed during this purifying process.

After all of the water has become vapor, it is placed in a condenser. When the water cools, it returns to a liquid state. People frequently repeat the distillation process several times to ensure that the water is clean.

Reverse Osmosis 

There are three canisters in a reverse osmosis system. The membrane is one, and the carbon filters are the other two. Pre-filtration is the first step in reverse osmosis water purifying. A  sediment filter or a carbon block filter is used to remove larger sediment and reduce chlorine. This guards against the membrane becoming damaged or clogged.

The water is then forced through the semipermeable reverse osmosis membrane using pressure. Water can pass through this membrane, which is made of synthetic plastic. It does not, however, allow calcium, chlorine, sodium, bacteria, viruses, or other contaminants to pass through.

Following filtration, the water passes through another carbon filter, or post-filter, to remove any contaminants that may have escaped the membrane to further purify. The end result is clean, fresh water that can be used for drinking, cleaning, bathing, and all of your other household needs.

Chlorine

When you think of chlorine, you might think of swimming pools and water parks, but people also use it to purify drinking water.

There’s a reason why people consider filtering and adding chlorine to drinking water to be one of the millennium’s most important public health breakthroughs. It has largely reduced waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States and other developed countries around the world.

During the water treatment process, chlorine is the only disinfectant that can effectively kill microorganisms such as bacteria. It also keeps water quality consistent from the treatment plant to your tap.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, there are several different methods for purifying city water. Each method has its different pros and cons. If you’re looking to better the quality of your water inside your home, look into the various filtration methods. There are many different ways to filter the water in your home for better quality.

Call 1-Tom-Plumber

Don’t hesitate to contact us here or call us at 1-Tom-Plumber (1-866-758-6237) if you need helping installing any type of water filtration system. 1-Tom-Plumber’s certified team of plumbers and drain technicians respond immediately to any emergency plumbing, drain cleaning, or water damage problem.

We also handle the excavation of underground water lines and sewer main lines. Our immediate-response team is available every day and night of the year, even on holidays.