How does water work?

So you turn on your faucet and you get clean water. Where did it come from?

Your water came from a river or a lake, which is then pumped into a water treatment facility. Inside this facility, the water is made potable by adding chemicals like lime, potassium permanganate, fluoride, soda ash, ferric sulfate, ammonium hydroxide, chlorine and carbon dioxide. These chemicals disinfect your water and make it taste good too. The processes are just as important as the chemicals used. The chemicals and processes are done in a precise way to ensure maximum efficiency of the treatment plant for optimum quality.

Once it is done being treated, it is pumped through large water mains into your city. Your neighborhood is connected to this water main by a smaller pipe, and your street is connected to that smaller pipe. Your house connects to the street pipes which supplies water to your toilets, sinks, showers, washing machines, dishwashers, spigots, and sprinklers.

What happens to the used water? Your used water flows from your home into a separate pipe network that carries wastewater back into the system. The water flows to a central wastewater treatment plant where it is treated with biochemical processes and physical solids removal processes. After the water is treated into acceptable limits, it is discharged into your local river or lake and the cycle begins again.

Now what about  rainwater? Water from precipitation flows freely without pumping, usually in a separate storm water sewer system. Water that collects and flows in the streets is called runoff and it is collected by drains in the street, which lead to the pipe system. The pipe system then flows directly into the local water supply without treatment. Some cities choose to treat their storm water runoff if it is polluted by dirty streets and unsanitary pipes.

Now I hope you learned a bit about the water that flows beneath your feet everyday. The next post will be about the economics and politics of water.