Sewage Filtration And Water Treatment

There are many reasons why people decide to install a home drinking water purification system. Their water might taste odd, have a strange color or smell, or perhaps their water is what is called “hard water” (water that has high mineral content) which often causes problems with laundry.  Mostly water purifiers are installed at residences that have their own wells, if you’re connected to the city water line, the water usually has already been treated in a water treatment plant and if there’s something wrong with it, you should contact the water company or state department of health. Rusty pipes can also be the reason for your bad water and should be replaced instead of adding a water filter.

A good first step would be to get your water tested to find out what kind of purifier is required, because different kinds of purifiers remove different types of bacteria and minerals. You can take a water sample to a laboratory, either a private one or your county / state department of health. This is something you should always do regularly if you have your own well.

An activated carbon water filter

An activated carbon filter can remove many organic chemicals and pesticides, hydrogen sulfide, mercury and radon gas and is good for reducing taste, odor and color problems in water. Activated carbon filters usually have replaceable activated carbon cartridges and always require regular maintenance or bacteria will start to breed in the filter.

A reverse osmosis water filter system

Reverse osmosis systems, while being more expensive, can in addition remove calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, nitrate, boron, potassium, sulfate, radium and salts.

Oxidizing greensand or zeolite filters require that you regularly regenerate the system by adding potassium which is dangerous if it gets into your eyes and gloves are required to protect your skin.

An ion exchange water filter

Ion exchange water filters work by running the water through small resin beads. It can remove barium and small amounts of iron and manganese . The resulting water includes added sodium, which might not be good for you if you have blood pressure issues or hypertension.

Chlorinating the water is also an option, but I’d advice against that, because if the system isn’t working properly, the water might in fact become poisonous. Likewise, killing bacteria using a UV filter is not very good either because there’s no way to know (without constantly testing the water) if the system is actually working.

Ozone water treatment is another quite expensive solution. When compared to chlorination, it’s better at killing bacteria and viruses. Ozone is formed by using electricity like in lightning strikes. The ozone gas is then forced through the water, oxidizing iron, manganese, sulfur and some other particles. These particles will then be removed by using a secondary filter. There are still some suspicions that byproducts from the ozonation process might cause cancer.

In emergency situations such as earthquakes, war, floods, etc., it is very imporant that sewage treatment is taken care of, because disposal of untreated human feces can result in the contamination of the ground and water and can provide breeding sites for flies and mosquitoes which may carry all kinds of infections. Feces also attracts domestic animals and vermin which increase the potential for the spreading of diseases.

Distribution of safe drinking water is essential for the protection of public health, but the importance of excrement disposal can’t be stressed enough. Diarrhea is responsible for 17% of ALL deaths of children under 5 years of age in the world. Over 85% of all deaths in african refugee camps are related to diarrhea.

Diarrhea diseases are most usually transmitted by feces being in touch with food or water through unwashed hands or when people drink from contaminated water sources. While proper hygiene and clean drinking water reduces diarrhea in many cases, the treatment of fecal waste plays the most important role in keeping the people healthy.