Today we went to the Wadi Al-Arab Dam and Drinking Water Treatment Facility. The treatment plant is relatively straightforward. Water comes in from four wells---up to 100 meters (300 feet) deep---and is sent to aeration chambers to remove sulfides that cause odor in the water and to mix the incoming supply. Aeration was my favorite part of the treatment plant because it was such a beautifully simple design.
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| Aeration Chamber for the Incoming Water Supply |
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| Aeration Chamber for the Incoming Water Supply |
After aeration, chlorine is added for disinfection, then aluminum sulfate and cationic polymers are added as coagulants to make small particles stick together and sink out of the water flow.
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| One of the Chemical Injection Chambers |
After the coagulants are added, the water is sent to a rapid mixing chamber to introduce small particles in the flow to the chemicals that will make them stick together (flocculate).
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| Rapid Mixing Chamber |
After the mixing chamber, chlorine is added again to ensure a residual disinfectant stays in the water stream until it reaches the user. From there water is sent to filtration beds composed of (from top to bottom) anthracite coal, sand and gravel.
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| Filtration Beds |
From the filtration beds, water is sent to pump stations, and then to a reservoir, and then to the user.
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| Reservoir at Wadi Al-Arab Damn |
With increased water born diseases like diarrhea, cholera, typhoid and other medical condition it has become important to use water cleaning systems. At Swiss Cleanwater Group, we restore water in a sustainable manner because we care for people’s health, and the environment that we live in.
ReplyDeleteIn all of the cities we visited, the water was perfectly safe for consumption. The treatment process at this plant was similar to that used in Seattle.
ReplyDeleteThe water in rural areas was not necessarily safe for consumption, so we drank bottled water when we visited those areas.
Hello Christina, I appreciate your blog. I'd like to add. "Chemically pure" water, entirely free from any other materials, does not exist in nature. An example of this form of water, distilled water, is usually flat and tasteless and few people enjoy drinking it. It would be prohibitively expensive and possibly unhealthy to purify our entire water supply to that level. "Natural water", free from any man-made additives (if it still exists) contains concentrations of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and iron which are beneficial to human health in small quantities. thanks!
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