What happens to your water before it gets to your home?

What happens to your water before it gets to your home?

Ever wonder how your drinking water from a purification plant gets cleaned?  Most people have municipal water unless they have a well. Municipal water has many steps water must go through in order to be considered safe enough to distribute.

If you live in Chicago, you may receive your municipal water from one of the largest water treatment plants in the world, the Jardine Water Purification Plant. Nonetheless the CDC requires certain steps to ensure that water is properly purified.

First, chemicals with a positive charge are added to the water. This process helps neutralize the dirt and other dissolved solids. When this happens, these solids combine with the chemicals that have the positive charge and form larger particles, called floc.

 

The water is then put through a sedimentation process in which the floc settles at the bottom of the water. Once the sedimentation occurs, the water on the top is put through a filtration process.

The water travels through a series of sand, gravel, and charcoal filters to remove dust, parasites, bacteria, viruses, and chemicals.

The final touch is the addition of a disinfectant to kill parasites, bacteria, and viruses. This process also protects the water from germs when it is sent through pipes to your home. The water is then certified as “safe” according to EPA standards when it leaves the treatment plant, but it is still subject to contamination between the plant and home.

DRF Water Heating Solutions provides water treatment system installations. Water filtration systems can help rid your water of contaminants that it may pick up while travelling from its source to your home or business. To receive a complimentary quote on a water filtration system for your home, fill out the contact form below.