Alum Flocculation Water Treatment

Jul 1 2017 coagulation flocculation in water treatment to study the effect of adding different plant based coagulants as coagulant aid to alum to reduce its quantity as it is.

Alum flocculation water treatment. Yet coagulation water treatment is far from being a new process. Flocculation and coagulation treatment chemicals are used in effluent water treatment processes for solids removal water clarification lime softening sludge thickening and solids dewatering. In fact it was in use by the egyptians as early as 2 000 b c. By 1757 alum was being used for coagulation in municipal water treatment in england.

Students experience firsthand one of the most common water treatment types in the industry today flocculants. The benefits of alum are that. Aluminum sulfate is widely used as a flocculant in water treatment plants in the united states. The drawback of alum is that the necessary dosage varies unpredictably.

Laboratory studies have shown that alum is effective at reducing turbidity and. Coagulants neutralize the negative electrical charge on particles which destabilizes the forces keeping colloids apart. In coagulation treatment a harmless chemical such as alum causes all of the particles to give off a positive charge and thus clump together making them easier to filter. Coagulation is especially useful in removing the chemical phosphorus from water.

The benefits of alum are that it is widely available is proven to reduce turbidity and is inexpensive. There are numerous ways to use alum as a flocculant including to crush it into a powder before adding it to water stirring and decanting or stirring the whole stone in the water for a few seconds and waiting for the solids to settle. In modern water treatment coagulation and flocculation are still essential components of the overall suite of treatment processes understandably because since 1989 the regulatory limit in the us for treated water turbidity has progressively reduced from 1 0 ntu in 1989 to 0 3 ntu today. During the flocculation procedure the solution which is coagulated already is mixed gently.

Many water utilities are committed to consistently producing treated water turbidities of less than 0 1 ntu to guard. Usually flocculation follows the coagulation process and helps in getting rid of of. Flocculation or floculation is a significant process widely utilized in water treatment operations including purification of drinking water sewage water treatment storm water treatment and treatment of various other industrial wastewater streams. Later the romans used the coagulation process in water treatment as did the english in the 18th century.

There are numerous ways to use alum as a flocculant including to crush it into a powder before adding it to water stirring and decanting or stirring the whole stone in the water for a few seconds and waiting for the solids to settle. It is also widely available in developing countries sold in blocks of soft white stone and generally called alum. In addition they learn about the types of solids that can be found in water and the reasons that some are easier to remove than others.