Treatment FAQ

why might pre chlorination be added to wastewater treatment plants

by Jackson Boyle Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago

This often occurs in a new plant where the initial wastewater flow is far less than the design flow and the detention period in the primary tanks is greatly prolonged. Again pre-chlorination of the tank influent is used to delay putrefaction and resulting odors.

Applied to aid disinfection; control odor and corrosion; reduce plant BOD load; aid in settling; control foaming; and help remove fats, oil, and grease.

Full Answer

What are the benefits of prechlorination in water treatment?

The excess chlorine is beneficial in the various stages of treatment by: Moreover, chlorine can produce prolonged contact time once added during the start of the water treatment process. Thus, prechlorination can increase safety when controlling corrosion and disinfecting extremely contaminated water.

How does chlorination work in wastewater treatment?

Nearly every wastewater treatment facility uses chlorination to disinfect wastewater before the water is sent back out into the environment. The primary goal of chlorination is to disinfect the wastewater and remove any harmful pathogens that are present in the water.

Why is chlorine added to the raw water before prechlorination?

In prechlorination, chlorine is added to the raw water prior to flash mixing and post screening. The excess chlorine is beneficial in the various stages of treatment by: Aiding coagulation.

When should I add chlorine to my water treatment system?

Chlorination can be done at any time/point throughout the water treatment process - there is not one specific time when chlorine must be added.

Why is pre-chlorination done in water treatment?

Pre-chlorination in the flash mixer is found to remove tastes and odours, and control biological growth throughout the water treatment system, thus preventing growth in the sedimentation tanks (where solids are removed from the water by gravity settling) and the filtration media (the filters through which the water ...

Why is pretreatment of water in a treatment plant necessary?

Water pretreatment removes suspended impurities, solids, colloids and living organisms from raw water. Water pretreatment processes ensure that your water quality is not influenced by seasonal changes, extreme weather or industrial pollution.

What is the purpose of chlorination in wastewater treatment What is the purpose of dechlorination?

Chlorine needs to be put into wastewater to treat it and oxidize any contaminants it once held when in the sewage system. The chlorination wastewater treatment procedure creates byproducts in treated water. Dechlorination involves removing any chlorine-based byproducts to ensure the water is truly safe.

What is water pretreatment plant?

Pre-treatment is the removal of specific pollutants from produced water before mixing it with the main produced water stream, wherein the recovery of some contaminants may occur. From: Journal of Water Process Engineering, 2014.

What pretreatment means?

Definition of pretreatment (Entry 1 of 2) : an act or instance of treating someone or something in advance : preliminary or preparatory treatment pretreatment of stains pretreatment of a surface for painting … pretreatment is often required to remove oil and grease from the waste water.—

What are the advantages of chlorination?

The benefits of chlorination are: Proven reduction of most bacteria and viruses in water. Residual protection against recontamination. Ease-of-use and acceptability. Proven reduction of diarrheal disease incidence.

How is chlorine used in water treatment?

How does chlorine disinfection work? Chlorine kills pathogens such as bacteria and viruses by breaking the chemical bonds in their molecules. Disinfectants that are used for this purpose consist of chlorine compounds which can exchange atoms with other compounds, such as enzymes in bacteria and other cells.

How is chloride treated in wastewater?

But there's no easy and affordable way to remove chloride in wastewater. It would require reverse osmosis, the same process used to produce water for laboratory use, which is technically difficult as well as costly. Based on a new study reducing chloride in wastewater means reducing salt used in softeners.

Dechlorination: Why It Matters

While chlorination is an effective technique that can be used for wastewater treatment, there are also times when dechlorination should be used. Nearly every wastewater treatment facility uses chlorination to disinfect wastewater before the water is sent back out into the environment.

The Disinfectant in Wastewater: Chlorine

Before you decide to use chlorine to disinfect wastewater, you should better understand the benefits that this treatment method offers. Along with removing any pathogens that can be found in the wastewater, chlorine is also able to:

Safe Handling and Using Chlorine

When you’re preparing to use chlorine for wastewater treatment purposes, it’s important that you understand how to safely handle and use this substance. You can use chlorine for wastewater disinfection as a chlorinated compound or elemental chlorine, the latter of which is in a gaseous state upon use.

Chlorine in Drinking Water

Chlorine is highly effective at treating drinking water and making sure that this water is perfectly safe to consume. Because of how effective chlorine is at getting rid of harmful pathogens in wastewater, chlorination has been the primary disinfection method used for drinking water treatment over the past century.

Why is pre chlorination always followed by post chlorination?

The pre-chlorination is always followed by post chlorination, so as to ensure final safety of water. Until the middle of the 1970s, water treatment plants typically used both pre-chlorination and post-chlorination.

What is post chlorination?

Post chlorination is the normal process of applying chlorine in the end, when all other treatments are completed but before the water reaches the distribution system. At this stage, chlorination is meant to kill pathogens and to provide a chlorine residual in the distribution system.

What is the term for adding chlorine to water after the break point?

The addition of chlorine beyond break point is called break point chlorination . The residual of free chlorine, appearing after break point, is not usually removed except by sun light and therefore, it takes care of the future recontamination of water.

What is pre chlorine?

Pre-chlorination is the addition of chlorine to the raw water prior to treatment to produce residual chlorine after meeting chlorine demand. The residual chlorine is useful in several stages of the reatment process – aiding in coagulation, controlling algae problems in sedimentation basins, reducing odor problems, and controlling mud-ball formation in filters. In addition, the chlorine has a much longer contact time when added at the beginning of the treatment process, so prechlorination increases safety in disinfecting heavily contaminated water.

What is chlorine used for?

But the chlorination can also be used for taste and odor control, iron and manganese removal, and to remove some gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Chlorination is currently the most frequently used form of disinfection in the water treatment field. However, other disinfection processes have been developed. Like several other water treatment processes, chlorination can be used as a pretreatment process (pre-chlorination) or as the final treatment of water (post -chlorination).

What does de chlorine mean?

De-chlorination means removing the chlorine from the water. This is generally required when super-chlorination has been practiced. The de-chlorination process may either be carried out to such an extent that sufficient residual chlorine of 0.1 to 0.2 mg/L only remains in water after de-chlorination.

Why is prechlorination important?

In addition, the chlorine has a much longer contact time when added at the beginning of the treatment process, so prechlorination increases safety in disinfecting heavily contaminated water. Pre-chlorination is generally applied to the water before coagulation. It improves the coagulation and reduces load on filters.

Why is pre chlorination important?

Pre-chlorination at the influent of a settling tank is sometimes practical for the benefit of improved settling. Generally, such benefits are incidental to the use of pre-chlorination for some other pur­pose.

When does wastewater become objectionable?

The decomposition of wastewater starts in sewers and becomes objectionable only after anaerobic decomposition has taken over. The degree of putrefaction that occurs is related to the time the wastewater is in the sewers which, in turn, depends on the length and grades of the sewers.

Why is chlorination needed in wastewater?

Chlorine needs to be put into wastewater to treat it and oxidize any contaminants it once held when in the sewage system. The chlorination wastewater treatment procedure creates byproducts in treated water.

Why is wastewater chlorination important?

The process of wastewater chlorination achieves one important goal: it disinfects the water and frees it of the harmful pathogens. This must be done, and it happens before the water runs off naturally into oceans, rivers and streams.

How does prechlorination help with water?

Reducing odor and mud ball formation. Moreover, chlorine can produce prolonged contact time once added during the start of the water treatment process. Thus, prechlorination can increase safety when controlling corrosion and disinfecting extremely contaminated water.

What is prechlorination used for?

At times, it is also applied for the purpose of disinfection and for the removal of oil particles. It is also used in water treatment to control aquatic growth as well as ...

Is chlorination a pretreatment?

Similar to numerous processes for water treatments, chlorination can be applied as pretreatment, such as in prechlorination, or the last part of the water treatment process, like in postchlorination. In the treatment of water for the purpose of corrosion control and disinfection, both pre- and postchlorination are involved.

Why is chlorination important in water treatment?

In order to combat waterborne diseases, different disinfection methods are used to inactivate pathogens. Along with other water treatment processes such as coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration, chlorination creates water that is safe for public consumption.

What is the purpose of adding chlorine to water?

The main objective of this chlorine addition is to disinfect the water and maintain chlorine residuals that will remain in the water as it travels through the distribution system.

What is the combination of free chorine and hypochlorite?

At lower pH levels, the hypochlorous acid will dominate. The combination of hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ions makes up what is called ‘free chorine.’. Free chlorine has a high oxidation potential and is a more effective disinfectant than other forms of chlorine, such as chloramines.

What is chlorine breakpoint?

Residual Chlorine, Breakpoint. Any type of chlorine that is added to water during the treatment process will result in the formation of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ions (OCl-), which are the main disinfecting compounds in chlorinated water. More detail is provided later on in this fact sheet.

How is calcium hypochlorite made?

Calcium hypochlorite (CaOCl) is made up of the calcium salts of hypochlorous acid. It is produced by dissolving chlorine gas (Cl 2) into a solution of calcium oxide (CaO) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Calcium hypochlorite is a white, corrosive solid that comes either in tablet form or as a granular powder. Calcium hypochlorite is very stable, and when packaged properly, large amounts can be purchased and stored until needed. The chemical is very corrosive however, and thus requires proper handling when being used to treat water. Calcium hypochlorite needs to be stored in a dry area and kept away from organic materials. It cannot be stored near wood, cloth or petrol because the combination of calcium hypochlorite and organic material can create enough heat for an explosion. It must also be kept away from moisture because the tablets/granular powder readily adsorb moisture and will form (toxic) chlorine gas as a result. Calcium hypochlorite has a very strong chlorine odour – something that should be kept in mind when placing them in storage.

What happens after chlorine demand is met?

After the breakpoint, any additional chlorine added will result in a free chlorine residual proportional to the amount of chlorine added.

How much calcium hypochlorite is needed for water treatment?

Compared to the 1-16 mg/L required with chlorine gas, only 0.5-5 mg/L of calcium hypochlorite is required. When calcium hypochlorite is added to water, hypochlorite and calcium ions are produced.

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