Basic introduction to Water Treatment

Get a basic introduction to industrial water treatment and understand why it is necessary to treat the water.

In this module you will get a basic introduction to industrial water treatment.   

Water for industrial purposes is used in a wide range of industrial processes, for instance as:
• Cooling water in the machining industry
• Process water in the food and beverage industry or as
• Cleaning water in the semi-conductor industry

But in order to enter into the processes with the desired effect the water must undergo treatment first.  

Water used in industrial processes may stem from a variety of sources. It can be groundwater, surface water, seawater, tap water or even wastewater.

Depending on its source, water contains bacteria, soluble, particles, chemicals or other contents that must be removed or in some way treated before the water can be used successfully in industrial processes.  

Let’s take a look at a couple of typical customer challenges:

“My raw water has a high content of iron. I need the water to be oxidized before it goes into the process”.

“All particles must be removed from my process water. Otherwise they will clog my equipment”.

“I need my water to be ultra-pure to support my semi-conductor processes”.

These examples all have to do with process water. But there is another type of water in industries that also needs treatment: Wastewater.

Industrial wastewater is used process water and must be treated before it can either be discharged into the environment or reused in the process.  

Let’s very briefly touch upon how water treatment is conducted.  
Put very simply, water treatment is about either removing or adding content. The process takes place between intake and distribution. Removing content could be filtration of particles. Adding content could be dosing of disinfectants.

A typical water treatment process entails five steps:
• Aeration
• Flocculation
• Particle/substance removal
• Disinfection and
• Stabilisation

Depending on the nature of the raw water, the process may however vary. The higher the pollution in the water or the higher the required water quality, the more treatment steps are required.  

Course overview

Modules
Modules: 3
Completion time
Completion time: 12 minutes
Difficulty level
Difficulty level: Intermediate