How long does it take to purify water?
like at a place that does it for the whole town.
2007-04-03 09:28:03 · 3 answers · asked by æd∆n 5 in Environment
Well there are many steps in the purification process. It also depends on the quanitity of water coming in. Some waste water treatment facilities have different levels of purifying, so the steps may vary a little bit. For an example:
1. Raw sewage first comes in and large waste is removed (tampons, condoms, other nasties that go down the toilet). Most plants can pump through about 14,000 gallons of wastewater per minute.
2. Grit removal where water runs through
3. Primary Clarifier: water will float around in this for about 2 hours... where skimmers will remove "floatables"
4. Aeration and biological treatment: 8 hours time
5. Secondary clarifier: Removal of dead microorganisms...5 hours
6. Other steps, cholorination, aeration, etc.
Final release into the water table will be less than 20 hours after it entered.
Hope this helped... just an example from an upstate new york plan, I'm sure it varies for all.
2007-04-03 10:27:23 · answer #1 · answered by jdubs914 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The process is described in detail in the source. Times are given for some of the steps, but not all of them. Flocculation is 30 minutes minimum, sedimentation is 4 hours minimum. Read it yourself.
2007-04-03 17:13:20 · answer #2 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
very long
2007-04-03 20:32:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋