An overview of water treatment technologies
There have been several new developments in the water treatment field in the last years. Alternatives have presented themselves for classical and conventional water treatment systems. For filtration systems such as sand filtration and disinfection with chlorine many new solutions exist.








Which new water treatment technologies are interesting for industial applicatons?

• Well water treatment or surface water treatment as alternative voor mains water.
• Cooling with Cooling towers instead of with ground water.
• Pre-installation of low-pressure reverse osmosis systems before ion exchangers for boiler feed water.
• Disinfecting with UV-disinfectors instead of chlorination.
• CIP (cleaning in place) with chlorine dioxide
• Replacing high-pressure membrane systems with low pressure systems.
• Applying ultrafiltration systems instead of sand filters
• The re-use of waste water in the industry (water recycling).
• Compact membrane bio-reactors for biological purification.
• Oxidising non-biologically treatable (waste) water catalytical wet air oxidation
• Treatin cooling water with ozone instead of chemically dosed biocides.

source : lenntech.com

What do these have in common - a taconite mine in northern Minnesota, the color of your blood, a rusty pail, and yellow or red stains on sinks and plumbing fixtures? The answer is - Iron. Iron is the fourth most abundant mineral in the earth’s crust. Soils and rocks in Minnesota may contain minerals very high in iron, so high in fact, that taconite can be mined for its iron content. Iron gives the hemoglobin of blood it’s red color and allows the blood to carry oxygen. The iron in a metal pail turns to rust when exposed to water and oxygen. In a similar way, iron minerals in water turn to rust and stain plumbing fixtures and laundry.

Source :  health.state.mn.us



img Source :mtculligan

The World Health Organization

    The World Health Organization (WHO), set up some guidelines for drinking-water quality which are the international reference point for standards setting and drinking-water safety. The latest guidelines drew up by the WHO are those agreed to in Geneva, 1993.

    Click here for the WHO's drinking-water standards.

    You will notice that there is no guideline for some of the elements and substances which are taken into account. This is because there have not been sufficient studies about the effects of the substance on the organism, and therefore it is not possible to define a guideline limit. In other cases, the reason for a non-existing guideline is the impossibility of that substance to reach a dangerous concentration in water, due to its insolubility or its scarcity.

    The European Union

    The European Union drew up the Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption, adopted by the Council on 3 November 1998. This was drawn up by reviewing the parametric values of the old Drinking Water Directive of 1980, and strengthening them where necessary in accordance with the latest available scientific knowledge (WHO guidelines and Scientific Committee on Toxicology and Ecotoxicology). This new Directive provides a sound basis for both the consumers throughout the EU and the suppliers of drinking water.

    Click here for the EU's drinking water standards.

These were the main changes in the parametric values:

- Lead: The guideline was reduced from 50 µg/l to 10 µg/l, and a transition period
of 15 years was defined to allow replacing of lead distribution pipes.

- Pesticides: The values for individual substances and for total pesticides were
retained (0.1µg/l / 0.5µg/l), plus additional, more stringent values were
introduced for certain pesticides (0.03µg/l).

- Copper: The value was reduced from 3 to 2 mg/l.

- Some new standards were introduced for new parameters like trihalomethanes,
trichloroethene and tetracholoroethene, bromate, acrylamide etc.

source : lenntech.com

Water quality and improving hard water is an issue for many people in Australia. Hard water is any water made up of an an appreciable amount of dissolved calcium (it has high total hardness) when you apply a hard water test.

Magnesium and calcium may be added to the natural water system as it passes through earth and rock made up of large amounts of these calcium deposits, such as sandstone, limestone, and siltstone. Calcium is a common and naturally occurring reality of the underground water sources.

Hard water does not pose a health threat and is not regulated by state or government agencies. Water hardness can often be confused with alkalinity because both of them are reported in the exact same units (mg/l CaCO3).

Hard Water – Five Key Problems Problems connected with hard water range from nuisances such as “hard water hair” to costly commercial breakdowns. It is well known that hard water causes scaling; where the precipitation of minerals forms a hard deposit called lime.

• The main problems linked to hard water are the mineral deposits which they leave behind. Particularly when your equipment or appliance handles a lot of water, the limescale can build up fast.  Apart from being unsightly anywhere it accumulates, this particular scale can block pipes or cut short the life of flushing toilets and water heating systems.
• The plumbing and water heating systems often clog up so badly, they have to be replaced. Expensive system repairs from a plumber will likely then become inevitable.
• One other issue is related to how hard water responds to soap and the soap residue that it leaves. That is why, clothes that are laundered in hard water don’t get because clean and feel rigid and scratchy immediately after laundering.
• What’s more, where the water is especially challenging, or the people using it are especially prone to this, hard water can cause things including skin rashes, psoriasis and eczema.
• The scale deposited by hard water is also know to increase energy expenses by as much as 25%.

Options for Improving  Hard Water Problem There are several potential hard water treatments and approaches to improving hard water:

• Reverse Osmosis
• Chemical Water Softeners
• Magnetic hard water treatment
• Hard water stain removal

These solutions all have their downsides and costs. Reverse osmosis systems are expensive; to install and run. Read more about the problem with water softeners.

Magnetic water treatment systems are unlikely to work as this quote from wikipedia shows.

Scientific and engineering studies generally refute the effectiveness of the method, finding no differences not attributable to other causes between systems with and without a magnetic water treatment device, and no theoretical basis to expect that there might be.

Read more about our view on magnetic water treatment here

Improving Hard Water With Digital Water Conditioning Did you know that it is possible to solve your water hardness problem, easily where the water enters your home via the main water pipe? Digital water conditioning is an eco-friendly defence to stop lime scale and rust.  This technology helps to keep plumbing and electrical home equipment looking new. It safeguards your brand-new water pipes and water heating systems and even better… existing ones are cleaned.

Water pipes remain clear.

• Significantly less repairs and upkeep in your home, equipment or plant.
• Will save power expenses.
• Reduces cleaning efforts.
• Does away with the need for chemical cleaners.
• Equipment lasts longer: it remain clean and clear from scale.
• Fixtures remain sparkling for a longer time.

credit :  hardwatersolutions.