Water Filtration And Purification And Its Effects Environmental Sciences Essay

Filtering and Purifying water, before you drink it, has now become a crucial part of living in a rapidly growing, economically expanding world. In today’s society water is reused over and over again. Not only to recycle but to produce enough to sustain people in their everyday lives. The process of filtration makes our water clean by removing visible and non-visible particles. The process of purification makes the water safe and clean to drink. Taking these processes seriously can keep you and the people around you safe and free of harmful substances found in water.

A ten step quality process of filtering spring water begins by:

Selecting a source and monitoring the water you chose (Arrowhead 7).

Some drinking water such as Arrowhead source is a natural spring source (Arrowhead 7).

The selection of springs is based on the natural composition, lack of bacteria, availability, and taste (Arrowhead 7).

Especially trained geologists and hydrologists monitor the springs on a regular schedule at the place of the source. (Arrowhead 7).

Sourcing the water receiving and monitoring the source (Arrowhead 7).

Receiving the source water can be as much of a challenge and discovering the source. By following simple steps the water we buy and drink gets to the site in order to begin the filtration process.

Spring water is transported by food-grade pipelines, or often by clean stainless steel tanker trucks. Which eventually go directly to the water filter plants (Arrowhead 7).

Filters called One-micron filters remove sand and/or other particles that are partially visible or present in the water(Arrowhead 7).

The Storage of water (Arrowhead 7)

This temporary state of storing the water is done in food-grade storage tanks (Arrowhead8).

The water in the tanks is tested (Arrowhead 8).

Micro-Filtering the spring water (Arrowhead 8).

Two-stage, micro-filters, filter the raw spring water collected from the source (Arrowhead 8).

These filters are created to filter out particles and tiny as 0.2 micron in diameter (Arrowhead 8).

The Ultraviolent light and Ozone disinfection stage (Arrowhead 8).

The Ultraviolent process removes non-visible bacteria (Arrowhead 8).

The Micro-filtration is like a second step that adds to the removal of bacteria (Arrowhead 8).

Another filtration system called the HydRO-7 process is used by Aquafina Inc. Unlike companies that use spring water Aquafina reuses public water. Here are the 7 simple steps enabling a public water source to be safe and clean to drink.

Step One: Removes particles with Pre-filtration.

Step Two: Seizes even smaller particles.

Step Three: Removes organic matter by UV.

Step Four: Removes solid minerals by using reverse osmosis.

Step Five: Sets apart trace elements by using an Activated Carbon Filter.

Step Six: Makes the water very clear by using a Polishing Filter.

Step Seven: the final purification stage is done in an Ozonized Water Tank and the Ozone Generator.

(I received all of the information in the past paragraph from (http://www.aquafina.com/)

Other water products similar to Arrowhead and Aquafina all have to follow the required statement under California law. These laws determine what waters are safe and what departments are allowed to develop and sell bottled water. Water in California is produced and used from sources such as; lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs, ponds, wells, and springs. Often water that has traveled through the earth picks up natural elements, and substances that are found due to human and animal’s natural activities such as pollution (Arrowhead 23).

Benefits following the filtration and purification process done by companies such as Suburban Water Systems include; the removal of dangerous elements such as Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Fluoride, Lead, Mercury, Nitrates, and Radium. These elements are removed by an advance process of reverse osmosis. Other assets include; improvement in taste, bathing water, laundry, dishwashing, cleansing water, and maintenance as well (www.subwater.com). Filtering and purifying your water is a basic survival skill too. One basic rule of wilderness survival is; filter + purify = safe to drink. So if you are ever caught in a situation of survival remember this rule. (Bryan 1)

The Earth has a system that has been around since the beginning of time, we know it as the Water Cycle. All of the earth’s features (including us) depend on the Water Cycle. It explains why the earth never runs out of water and only changes state or form (Usborne 51). But society today has damaged this system by polluting the land, sea, and air. Causing much of the pure water to be used and polluted. We use so many chemicals and man-made systems to make the water safe to drink. It makes you wonder whether or not this water is truly safe to be used (Usborne 51).

Different types of water found in the U.S. include; Bottled water which refers to any type of water being contained in a sealed container primarily for domestic use by humans. Vended Water, meaning that it has not undergone the same advanced treatment as bottled water and is dispensed through a public water facility. Both are the two forms of clean water available in California. Each is protected under the CDPH or California Department of Public Health (www.cdph.ca.gov).

When survival skills are needed finding water can be a challenge. Dehydration is a common result of lack of healthy water, leading most of the time to serious medical conditions. Make sure to note that if you are ever caught in a challenging situation in search of water that you check your source and make sure it is safe and clean to drink. Contaminated water is sometimes easily noticed if you look for obvious signs; turbidity (cloudiness of water), pesticides, fertilizers (from agricultural land nearby), and a more noticed pest called Giardia Lambia. When looking for water along a trail or when camping use your map. Most maps show any sources of water these maps are called Topo maps (Wilderness-suvival-skills.com).

Water is a basic part of living. Making sure your water is clean is the first step in staying healthy. Since majority of our water is recycled we should make sure we know what types are best.

Purifying water is just as necessary as filtering it, if not even more important. Purifying water is done in order to clean the water of non-visible elements. In doing this you make the water clear and able to be digested safely into our bodies. Purifying is done in water plants as mentioned before. But if you find yourself in a situation in need of water you must filter and purify it yourself. When or if this problem ever arises you must filter your water using available items and then boil the water. This makes the water somewhat clean and safe to drink.

Thanks to advancements in our ways of cleaning our water, we now have clean safe water for our use at the turn of a nob. When using water we should make sure we use it wisely and are cautious to the harmful pollution in water outside. So when outdoors drink out of a water bottle and don’t drink out of the stream… But if found without a clean water at hand remember filter + purify=safe to drink!