Greening of Water Purification before and after Use

Eor most uses, water requires treatment. The processes used to treat water are generally similar for municipal, commercial, or industrial uses although the kinds of treatment used and the degree of treatment depend on the end use of the water. This section addresses the major treatment processes applied to water supplies. 

A large variety of processes are used to treat water and are discussed in this chapter. Some of these are physical processes including filtration, aeration, and adsorption on solids such as activated carbon. Chemical processes used include acid-base, precipitation, oxidation-reduction, and com-plexation. Treatment of drinking water almost always involves physical and chemical processes, whereas wastewater treatment usually uses all three processes with a heavy reliance on biological treatment. 

Most physical and chemical processes used to treat water involve similar phenomena, regardless of their application to municipal, commercial, or industrial use. Therefore, after introductions to water treatment for municipal use, industrial use, and disposal, each major kind of treatment process is discussed as it applies to all of these applications. 

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