Water safety

Water is vital for both industry and life because it’s a fundamental component of all living organisms and a key resource for various industrial processes. In life water is essential for hydration, nutrient transport, waste removal, and temperature regulation. Industrially, water is used for cooling, processing, refining, and as a solvent in manufacturing and energy production.

A water audit is a systematic process to analyze and measure water use, identify inefficiencies, and recommend improvements to enhance water conservation and reduce costs. It involves quantifying water flows, identifying leaks and developing strategies to improve water use efficiency. Therefore water is necessary for everyone whether it is for life or for industry. Everyone tries to save water whether it is a home, shop or industry. Therefore, some ideas have been created in the industry for water audit and reuse of water.

A water audit (domestic/household), similar to an energy audit, is the method of quantifying all the flows of water in a system to understand its usage, reduce losses and improve water conservation. It can be performed on a large scale for a city or a state as well on smaller scale for irrigation projects, industries and buildings. The audit can begin with an extensive approach to generate the water balance using available data and estimates which helps in identifying specific areas to concentrate in further stages. Water is also used as an industrial solvent for the production of several commercially important products. Almost all power plants that generate electricity employ water to spin turbines. Heavy water, an important form of water, is widely used in nuclear reactors as a neutron moderator.

Water audit is important for reducing water losses and wastage, improving water quality and safety, and enhancing water efficiency and productivity. A water audit is crucial for understanding and optimizing water usage, saving costs and promoting sustainability. It helps identify areas where water is being wasted, leaks are present, and inefficiencies exist, allowing for the implementation of measures to reduce consumption and lower bills.

What is a water audit?

A water audit is a comprehensive assessment of water use within a specific area or facility. It involves collecting data on water consumption identifying areas of inefficiency or waste, and developing strategies to improve water management.

The purpose of a water audit is to identify opportunities for reducing water consumption, improving efficiency, and saving costs. By conducting a water audit, individuals and businesses can gain a better understanding of their water usage patterns and make informed decisions about how to conserve this valuable resource. A water audit, also know as a water assessment, is an analysis of a business’s water usage to identify inefficiencies and potential cost savings. It documents all the different ways your business uses water within its operations, when and how much water is typically consumed, and identifies opportunities for reductions. Water audits typically involve assessing a business’s past utility bills and using water meters to generate precise data around water consumption. Many businesses are surprised to find that they are using more water than they are using more water than the thought, especially if they have not been monitoring their usage closely.

There are two main types of water audits: self-audits and professional audits. Self-audits require companies to track their own water usage over a period of time and then analyze the data to find ways to improve efficiency. Professional audits are conducted by third-party experts that specialize in evaluating a company’s water use and helping develop a water conservation plan. Both types of audits can be beneficial , but professional audits tend to be more comprehensive and can provide unbiased recommendations. Whichever type of audit you choose, the goal is the same: to save water and money by becoming more efficient.

There are typically three main types of water audits:

Preliminary, Comprehensive and benchmarking. A preliminary audit offers a basic overview of water usage while a comprehensive audit involves detailed data collection and analysis to identify areas for improvement. Benchmarking audits compare a facility’s water usage to industry standards or similar facilities to identify inefficiencies.

1. Preliminary Water Audit

A preliminary water audit is a foundational assessment that provides a general overview of water usage patterns and consumption, helping to identify areas for further investigation and potential improvements in water management. It’s a starting point for individuals or organizations seeking to understand their current water use and pinpoint areas where they might reduce consumption.

In essence , a preliminary water audit is a reconnaissance phase, laying the groundwork for a more comprehensive understanding of water consumption and identifying potential areas for improvement in water management. Water audit involves preliminary water survey and detailed water audit preliminary water survey is conducted to collect background information regarding plant activities, water consumption and water discharge pattern and water billing, rates and water cess.

2. Comprehensive Water Audit

A comprehensive water audit is a systematic process of evaluating how water is used within a specific facility or system, from source to end-use, to identify areas of inefficiency and potential for conservation. It involves detailed data collection, analysis of water consumption patterns, and recommendations for improvement. The goal is to reduce water waste, lower operational costs, and improve overall water management. These audits provide a detailed analysis of water usage patterns, enabling companies to identify inefficiencies and areas of waste. By conducting water audits, organizations can achieve significant cost saving and reduce their environmental impact. The importance of water audits extends beyond financial benefits.

3. Benchmarking Water Audit

Benchmarking in an audit should focus only on those aspects that are within the control of the leadership of the organizations audited.

Benchmarking is a process for comparing an organization’s (Programs) methods, processes, procedures, products and services against those of organizations (Programs) that consistently distinguish themselves in the same categories. It helps to identify opportunities to improve the economy, efficiency, effectiveness and performance of an organization. It is undertaken for two reasons: either to learn and improve or to get and keep a competitive advantage. In audit , a benchmark is a standard against which performance or results are measured and compared. It’s used to assess an organization’s performance against industry standards, best practices, or other organizations to identify areas for improvement and gauge overall effectiveness.

Water plays a very important role in industry. Therefore water is very important in all industries and hotels, Marts etc. and water is used a lot in these. Some rules have been made by the government for this. So that water can be cleaned using some technology and reused. This also saves water. And the water is also recycled and use again.

There are three main types of water treatment plants.

A Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is a facility that treats wastewater from homes, businesses, and industries to remove contaminants and pollutants, making it safe for discharge into the environment or for reuse. It’s like a large-Scale filter that cleans dirty water and prevents pollutions of natural water bodies. Sewage treatment plants are facilities designed to treat wastewater from domestic, commercial, and industrial sources. 

Main two popular methods of STP

a. MBBR:- MBBR, or Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor, is biological wastewater treatment technology used in sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), it utilizes plastic biofilm carriers that move freely within the treatment tank, allowing microorganisms to attach and grow, effectively braking down pollutant. This method offers benefits like high pollutant removal, ease of operation, and reduced space requirements compared to traditional systems.

An MBBR reactor is an aerobic biological process in which the degradation of organic matter is carried out by aerobic bacteria inside a moving bed biological reactor.

Moving bed MBBR reactors use biofilm-covered plastic carriers to break down organic waste. These carries, also known as carriers are submerged in the biological reactor and, through their movement, increase the performance and purification capacity of the MBBR system without increasing the size of the reactor. This type of system is commonly applied in places where the available space is limited, since it allows reducing the required volume of the aeration chambers with respect to conventional activated sludge systems, while maintaining the same treatment performance. In most cases the pollutant load has to undergo primary treatment before being incorporated into the MBBR reactor.

b. SBR:- In a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), SBR stands for Sequencing Batch Reactor. It’s a type of activated sludge process that uses a single batch reactor to treat wastewater in a series of steps: filling, aeration, settling (Clarification), and decatinge. Sequencing batch reactors (SBR) or sequential batch reactors are a type of activated sludge process for the treatment of wastewater. SBRs treat wastewater such as sewage or output from anaerobic digesters or mechanical biological treatment facilities in batches. Oxygen is bubbled through the mixture of wastewater and activated sludge to reduce the organic matter (measured as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD)). The treated effluent may be suitable for discharge to surface waters or possibly for use on land.

2. ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant)

Effluent Treatment Plant or ETP is one type of waste water treatment method which is particularly designed to purify industrial waste water for its reuse and it’s aim is to release safe water to environment from the harmful effect caused by the effluent. Industrial activities generate large volumes of wastewater containing organic matter, heavy metals, suspended solids, and toxic substances. If untreated, this effluent can harm water bodies ecosystems, and human health.

ETP is a regularly priced security which trades during the day on a national stock exchange. ETPs may embed derivatives but is not a requirement that they do so-and the investment memorandum (or offering documents ) should be red with care to ensure that the pricing methodology and use (or not) of derivatives is explicitly stated. Typically, individual underlying securities, such as stocks and bonds, are not considered ETPs.

How does ETP Plant work?

The conceptual approach of the treatment includes the removal of suspended particles dissolved organic matters and handling of sludge for disposal. Different processes involved are:

a. EQUALISATION: The equalization tank’s purpose is to balance the raw effluent from various processing units. The wastewater is collected in an existing mixed effluent tank and pumped to an existing aeration tank, which also functions as an equalization tank. The floating aerator is used to homogenise the effluent before it is pumped to the neutralization tank for treatment.

b. pH CONTROL: the pH value of effluent should be between 5.5 and 9.30 according to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).pH neutralization is used to modify the pH of waste water.

For waste that is acidic (low pH): Bases are used to modify the pH of a solution.

In the case of alkali waste (high pH): Acids are used to modify the pH of a solution.

c. COAGULATION: Coagulation is a technique that involves adding liquid aluminium sulfate to untreated water. This causes tiny dirt particles to stick together after mixing. This collection of particles that are easily removed through settling and filtration.

d. SEDIMENTATION: Water travels slowly in this process, causing the heavy particles to settle to the bottom. Sludge is the term for the particles that gather at the bottom of a container.

e. FILTRATION: Filtration is the process of passing water through a filter that removes particulates. The filters are made out of sand and gravel layers. Backwashing is required to clean these filters on a regular basis.

f. DISINFECTION: Before entering the distribution system, water is disinfected Chlorine is used to disinfect and decontaminate water.

g. SLUDGE DRYING: Sedimentation collects and settles down solids, which are then transported to drying beds. When the sludge thickness reaches around 300 and the bed should be segregated to allow natural.

Water Treatment Plant comprises of various treatment scheme to get appropriate water with desired quality for different application. Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, including being safely returned to the environment. Water treatment removes contaminants and undesirable components, or reduces their concentration so that the water becomes fit for its desired end-use. This treatment is crucial to human health and allows humans to benefit from both drinking and irrigation use.

How does ETP Plant work?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the overall water treatment process, especially for public water systems, consists of 5 major steps:

a. COAGULATION: The first step of getting water treated is through coagulation. This involves adding chemicals with a positive charge to the water which should neutralize the negative charge of dirt and other dissolved substances. Such chemicals include iron and specific types of salt.

b. FLOCCULATION: This step refers to the process of gently mixing the water to create larger, heavier particles known as flocs. In most cases additional chemicals are being added to the water to allow the flocs to form easily.

c. SEDIMENTATION: Once flocs form, they settle to the bottom of the water because they are heavier. This is called sedimentation in water treatment, which is one of the processes that water treatment plants use in separating the solids, such as flocs from the water before going to the next step.

d. FILTRATION: The water again goes through another process of solids separation through filtration. The separated, clear water on top now passes through filters with various pore sizes, made from different materials such as sand and gravel. Ultimately, these filters are in place to help remove dissolved particles and unwanted substances from the water.

e. DISINFECTION: During this step, any remaining parasites, bacteria, and viruses must be eliminated. This can be done by adding one or more chemical disinfectants to water such as chlorine or chlorine dioxide. Why do water treatment plants do this? It’s to keep water safe when travelling from the water treatment plant to homes and businesses because chemical disinfectants help eliminate the remaining unwanted microorganisms before the water reaches the intended end-use.

1. STP (Sewage Treatment Plant)

The treatment process involves removing contaminants and pollutants from the water to make it safe for discharge into the environment or for reuse. The treatment of sewage typically involves four main stages.

3. WTP (Water Treatment Plant)