Transcript Champaigndrinkingwater

The NSF Water
CAMPWS
• CAMPWS - Center for Advanced
Materials for the Purification of Water
with Systems
CAMPWS Goals
• Develop materials & systems to purify the
Earth’s waters for human use and agricultural,
industrial & ecological purposes
• Provide people and facilities that enhance the
scientific understanding of water and build the
research, educational & industrial workforce for
water purification
CAMPWS Project Areas
•
•
•
Selective Removal of Trace Contaminants
through development of new filter fibers,
disinfection, and nanofluidics
Desalination (remove salt) and Water
Reclamation (treatment to provide safe water)
through nanopore membranes and systems for
desalination
Study membrane fouling find new applications
of reverse osmosis, biological treatment and
catalysis
DRINKING WATER
The Journey from the Ground
to our Homes
Where it all begins…
• The water of Champaign-Urbana and much of
central Illinois is supplied by the Mahomet
Aquifer
• The Mahomet Aquifer is located about 300 feet
underground and winds through east-central
Illinois, underlying about 1.26 million acres along
its path
• Water pumped from this underground river is
among the cleanest of all natural water sources
How the Mahomet Aquifer was created
1.6 million years ago
Aquifer Facts
• Rain water that falls in places like West Virginia
and Ohio takes about 3,000 years to reach the
Champaign area in the Mahomet Aquifer
• This means that our tap water in Champaign
was rain 3,000 to 10,000 years ago!
• This ancient supply of water is among the
cleanest around, but it still isn’t ready for drinking
just yet…
Why Water Treatment?
• There are some things in “raw” water that are a
nuisance or may affect its use that are removed
by treatment:
– Physical debris (not much in our water)
– Chemical substances (mainly iron and
hardness)
– Biological substances such as bacteria and
algae (no harmful bacteria but some
nuisance forms)
Wells in Champaign
• Because we use well
water we do not need to
treat to remove the larger
particles
• The water from the well
field is pumped to the two
water treatment plants
(University and Lincoln
and Mattis Ave.)
Coagulation
• When well water reaches
the treatment plant,
chemicals are mixed into
the water. This causes
dissolved chemicals and
small particles to clump
together and when the
clumps are big enough
they fall out of the water.
Flocculation
• Sometimes we use
other chemicals to
help particles and
clump together
• In a quiet basin the
clumps grow in size,
become heavy, and
settle to the bottom of
the tank
Sedimentation
• The settling clumps form a layer on the bottom of the tank called a
sludge blanket
• The water, now free of particles, is taken away from the top of the
sedimentation tank through the gutter-like spokes to the next
process while the sludge is removed from the bottom
Meanwhile…
• The sludge is then
pumped to a holding
basin (one at each
treatment plant)
• In Champaign we put the
sludge to good use. The
sludge, which is mainly
lime, is used on corn and
soybean fields. You may
have seen white fields in
the fall or spring as the
land is prepared for the
new crop.
Filtration
• After sedimentation
the water is
chlorinated and then
flows by gravity
through the filter
layers as a final
treatment before it
moves to your tap
• Filtration makes the
water “crystal clear!”
Disinfection
• The chlorination step assures that harmful
bacteria are killed and water with chlorine
protects all of the distribution system
Fluoridation
• Fluoride is added to
the water to prevent
tooth decay
…to Our Homes
• Our drinking water, stored
in water towers and
standpipes, along with
the pumps at the plant
provide pressure to move
the water to our homes
…AND CUT!
Our presentation is over, but there are
a few things to remember!
• The Mahomet Aquifer is a clean and inexpensive
source of water, but we really don’t know how
much is there and how many people can use it
• The treatment process provides high quality
drinking water through coagulation, flocculation,
sedimentation, filtration & disinfection
• The sludge removal in the sedimentation
process benefits local agriculture
Looking Ahead
• Conserving our clean water supply is
important and any improvement in the
efficiency of the water treatment process is
vital to water conservation
• The Water CAMPWS is working to create
new methods of creating clean water
supplies through new types of filters,
reverse osmosis, and methods of
disinfection
Water CAMPWS