Water Transformation

Chlorine Basins

Cholera Bacteria

Water Transformation

We went to the Water Treatment Plant for a field trip last Thursday and saw the steps that the treatment plant took to transform filthy river water into drinkable “good” water. 

Under the city roads, the river churned and swished. It was brought into the plant where two big metal screens filtered out all the big pieces of trash. Sadly, not all of this trash was from nature. We observed a lot of human waste being stopped at the screens like trash bags and plastic food containers. They raised the screens and removed all of the build up every hour or so. Next came a smaller screen to catch and other pieces of trash that got through. Most but not all garbage was cleared out.

Next the water went through a machine that swirled the water around. This transferred oxygen to all parts of the water so that way it would be easier to treat.

After that, we went to a station where workers added alum to the river water. Alum is a substance that is very similar to a magnet. It is used to make dirt particles clump together. When the particles clump, it’s called floc. When most of the dirt has turned to floc, we transfer the water to a new station.

Then we moved to the sedimentation station. This station is where we let the floc settle to the bottom of the water. The water sits there in these individual compartments and sat there for a few hours. When all of the dirt has settled on the bottom, we move to the following station. 

Now we moved to the sand filters. Once the water travels through the channels, it comes into this big basin. Here we pour the water over special sand and it traps all of the remaining bits of dirt and junk. It should come out free of anything other than water.

The last step is adding chlorine and testing the water to make sure that it is free of any color and bacteria. The chlorine makes sure that the water is clear and free of any germs or diseases. But to be on the safe side, they test it very carefully to make sure it is clean enough for us to drink and use in our daily lives. 

I found this field trip to be very informational and interesting. Us humans litter all the time and don’t notice all the effort that is put into making our water clean. So now that we know, let’s keep it that way.