Whenever health is a concern, drinking water is always close behind. Water is something that humans cannot live without. This is why the Big Berkey water filter wants to provide clean and safe water for all. For more information on the Big Berkey water filter, visit the official USA Berkey website
Water purification is not a passing fad or a “new” thing. Since ancient times, people are already using crude but effective filtration methods. Pollutants aren’t prevalent in those times but people knew the importance of water. Who knows, they might have experienced diarrhea at that time. It might be a common ailment today but it might be an emergency in olden times. Water is also used for other things aside from drinking and domestic activities. Industries; whether big or small use huge amounts of water. Needless to say, they also need to treat water for their various activities. This article will talk about the various uses of water purification.
Water purification for industries
There are lots of industries and businesses in the world and they all use water. Some examples of these industries are textile, petroleum, chemical, and so on. Also, water is an important element in the food processing industry. These industries use water for heating, washing, cooling, rinsing, and more. They manufacture goods using water as well.
Even though these industries aren’t consuming the water per se, they still need safe water. Issues like corrosion, bacterial growth, among others happen due to dirty water. This bacterial growth happens in their processing and piping devices. It can result in poor product quality.
Industries use normal and conventional water treatment methods. They have backups to these methods which include ion exchange and membrane systems. Some industries even use ozone radiation to treat water. Other water treatment examples are evaporation, electrodeionization, and the use of membrane systems. Even ultraviolet radiation also has a role in water purification for these industries.
The thing is that they will only use what’s right for them. This is normal since their actions will depend on the raw water quality. It will also depend on the intended use of the water. After seeing all these factors, they can now decide on the treatment method to use.
Purification of saltwater
Almost every community around the world use freshwater for drinking and other purposes. Water storage plants source their water from lakes, rivers, and streams. The thing is that freshwater reserves are diminishing little by little. Demands for water are climbing up as well. The thing is, the cause for some of these demands are not man-made. Flooding, droughts, and climate change are some natural aspects of these demands. Because of this, some countries thought of using ocean and inland seawater as a water source. The demand is so high that they needed to find alternative solutions or they will have more problems.
This is where desalination comes into play. Desalination is effective in removing minerals and salt from seawater. After doing this method, the water is now safe to drink and to use for other purposes. The popular reverse osmosis method takes the limelight here. The success of this method prompted Big Berkey to make filters with reverse osmosis.
Aside from reverse osmosis, multistage flash distillation, and electrodialysis are also widely-used methods. Other examples include vacuum distillation and freeze-thaw. All these are great purification methods for saltwater. It is important to note that it’s harder to purify saltwater than freshwater. The main reason is the cost of purification methods.
These methods consume more energy than their freshwater counterparts. High energy usage means higher costs. This is why researchers are finding ways to make the processes cheaper. They couldn’t allow the costs of these treatment methods to destabilize their economy.
Improvements and configurations
Water treatment systems vary in size. It can be small for individual use in homes. Bigger systems handle industries involved in manufacturing goods. A much larger system takes care of the water purification needs of a city or town. Lots of factors determine what treatment methods to use on a specific location. These factors are the raw water quality, water usage, and government rules and laws. They need to know the required purification levels and the capital they are willing to shell out.
They need to look at the costs of maintaining and operating these water treatment plants. Learning about the required flow capacity is something they need to check as well. People get their treated water through water distribution systems. Pumps, pipes, storage tanks, and booster stations comprise this system.
Treatment plants use smart technologies to provide water in a more efficient way. They also did this to meet the rising demand for treated water. Demands for clean water rise up because of the rising population in a specific area. They also need to adhere to environmental rules and regulations.
These improvements aim to reduce the carbon footprint of water treatment plants. It can also increase the energy that the plant can save while doing these processes. The improvements use various chemicals and alternative energy sources like solar energy. Minimized waste also helps in improving treatment systems.
Of course, when technology advances, water treatment plants go with it as well. Some advancements include complex, yet innovative instruments. The control of their systems improved as well. Online technologies have a hand in plant improvements as well. Specific software can automate the processes. This results in minimal errors.
Other innovations to the system include computer-operated machinery and options for remote operations. They aim to provide consistent and high-quality water that needs minimal supervision. This is very important in bigger water treatment plants since it will cut errors in the system.
Conclusion
Big Berkey emulates these systems’ improvements. This makes their water purifiers a prized commodity. They continue to improve their systems so that they could succeed in their quest for clean water. Because of their water filters, people can now have clean and safe drinking water at any location.
