Water Pollution Problem Essay

Problem 1

Municipalities are tasked with the responsibility to provide clean water to their resident population at all costs. Impure water lacks appeal from people who would want to drink it. They kill disease causing pathogens, remove residual deposits in the water and prevent subsequent growth of potentially devastating microorganisms or residue. This way pathogens as well as contamination coming from the pipes or that could come in due to a burst pipe are neutralized and consumers are assured of safe drinking water. Some of the methods of disinfection include:

a) Chlorination with gas

This is achieved by releasing chlorine gas from a pressurized cylinder with pressure less than the atmospheric pressure which is then injected in the water supply pipe. Water in this pipes flows at very high pressures causing a vacuum effect that sucks in the chlorine into the water stream. Time is provided for proper mixing to ensure maximum disinfection. This is considered very effective as it acts as both a primary and secondary disinfectant.Its main fallback is that chlorine is a toxic and lethal gas at even 0.1 percent by volume of air concentration.

b) Ozonation

This is basically the use of ozone; an oxygen allotrope that contains three atoms

They are found in smaller numbers in waste water and pose as parasitic organisms to obtain energy and reproduce from the bacteria. Bacteriophage is a phage type of virus common in occurrence in waste water and attacks bacteria for food. This way they help control the number of bacteria in the ecology thus balancing the system. Two other examples of viruses of type enteroviruses present in sewage water treatment include Hepatitis A and Polio Myelitis. Their inability to die from conventional chlorination procedures make them to be of special concern in wastewater