Drinking Water Treatment Systems:

Water treatment is the set of physical, chemical or biological operations aimed at eliminating or reducing pollution or undesirable characteristics present in the water; the purpose of these operations is to obtain waters with characteristics suitable for human or animal consumption or for agricultural and livestock applications.

The water treatment is carried out through a series of linked processes that depend on the characteristics of the water to be treated. Its most common sequence is the following [1]:

• Pre-oxidation: introduction of an oxidizing chemical agent into the water, capable of eliminating any matter that can be oxidized, both organic and inorganic.


• Coagulation and flocculation: this process facilitates the grouping of the particles responsible for the color and turbidity of the water. It consists of a process of gentle and continuous agitation of the water with coagulants in order to form flocs that can be easily removed by sedimentation.


• Decantation: with the water almost at rest and through the action of gravity, the particles and clusters formed in the previous process are deposited at the bottom, forming a sludge that is subsequently extracted.


• Filtration: retention by means of filtration membranes of the particles that could not be extracted in the previous process by passing the water through some filters, retaining the suspended solids, high molecular weight solutes, turbidity and some bacteria.


• Neutralization: adjustment of the acidity of the water using chemical reagents to prevent it from corroding the pipes.


• Final disinfection: with the addition of reagents, normally chlorine and ammonia to form chloramines, it is possible to eliminate the microorganisms that may have survived the previous processes and the quality of the water is guaranteed throughout the entire route through the distribution network.

Open Contact Aeration System

The aeration tower system is based on air contact technology, with the objective of modifying the concentration of volatile substances, eliminating remaining gases (objectionable, i.e. that are likely to have major consequences if they are not removed), oxidizing heavy metals such as iron and manganese, oxidizing organic matter and the gases resulting from it.

High Cup Flocculators and Settlers

It is the technique in which a flocculation chamber is used to handle a retention time above 15 minutes, guaranteeing the formation of floccules with sufficient density and weight for a primary settling. Sheets are used that offer a barrier that prevent the advance of flocs or solids to the refining and filtration stage.

Physical Chemical Process

These are the electrical, electronic and mechanical components for the treatment of the effluent with the following processes: Chemical dosage, filtration, chlorination and ultraviolet disinfection among others.

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