How water is made clean ?

Most of our water supplies come from rivers and lakes.

In order to make sure that supplies of drinking water are clean water treatment plants are operated. In general, water supplied to our homes must be attractive looking ( colourless), odourless and safe to drink. In order to achieve this, there are a number of steps involved in the treatment of water.

1. Screening :- The water passes through a wire mesh to remove any floating debris like twigs and plastic bags etc.
2. Settling :- The water flows into large tanks called settling tanks or sedimentation tanks. In these tanks aluminium sulphate (commonly called "Alum") is added to the water. In other words the aluminium sulphate takes the cloudiness out of the water and leaves the water clear.
3. Filtration :- The water is passed through filtration beds. These consist of layers of sand and gravel. Filtration beds ensure that even the smallest particles of dirt are removed from the water.
4. Chlorinating :- The next stage in the treatment of water is to kill germs which are left in it. Small quantities of chlorine are added to the water to kill bacteria. The chlorine is not present in large enough quantities to smell or taste it.

Facts

1. Water is the most common compound found on Earth.
2. Four fifths of the Earth's surface is covered in water.
3. Water plays a very important role in our lives, we drink it, wash in it, wash with it and swim in it.
4. Our bones contain about 72% water, our kidneys about 82% and our blood is about 90% water.
5. The body of an adult contains about 40 litres of water.
6. Each of us need an intake of about 2 litres of water per day. This water may be taken as part of our food or drink.
7. Water is more important than food.
8. Water is something we have taken for granted, each person in Ireland uses about 150 litres of water every day.

Other Facts About Water

• Human Beings can survive for some weeks without food, but without water we could perish after only a few days.
• Water has always played a significant role in our lives. As far back as 2500B.C. man was building highly advanced water supply systems.
• The ancient Greeks built and operated water distribution systems in 200B.C. and many of these are still in good working order.
• Rome consumed up to 200 million litres/day in Caesar's time.
• In a lifetime, each person is estimated to drink about 40,000 litres (8750 gallons) of water.
• The Romans built huge channels to carry water from rivers and lakes to cities, they were called aqueducts.

How you can help in the Conservation of Water

Instead of taking a bath why not take a shower ? You could save 45 litre's of water each time. Thats the same as 45 cartons of milk.

When you wash your teeth don't leave the tap running and use a mug or glass of water to rinse your teeth.

When you wash your hand's make sure the plug is in and don`t leave the tap running.

When you are washing up, dont use a running tap instead use a wash hand basin. Don`t rinse your vegatables under a running tap, wash them in a bowl of water.

When you use a washing machine or dishwasher try to use a full load, as the dishwasher or washing machine will use the same amount of water whether it is a full load or not.