Design Aspects : Page 3

A treatment plant consists of different parallel treatment lanes or units to increase reliability . for example a unit is out of operation because of maintenance or cleaning, the other parallel units can take over the flow, avoiding an interruption in drinking water production. The parallel units and the treatment processes in series must be operated in such a way that always, so 24 hours per day, sufficient water can be produced to feed the clear water tank. Therefore sufficient valves and pumps must be available in the treatment plant . However, the installation of too many control devices increases costs and complicates operation . In the process flow diagram the optimal division of control devices is indicated. Finally the treatment plant must be positioned in a building. The building must be compact to diminish investment costs, but the treatment processes pumps and valves must be accessible for
  

Design Aspects : Page 1


One of the activities of a drinking water supply engineer is designing treatment plants. The design phase starts with the identification of a problem, the water quality does not meet the drinking water standards and an extension of the existing treatment plant is needed. Then alternative solutions have to be identified. After choosing the most promising alternative, the treatment process has to be further designed looking into:
  • Capacity of the plant
  • Hydraulic line
  • Dimensions
  • Flow control
  • Structure and architecture.

The different aspects of the design are represented in, so-called, design schemes. The approach is multidisciplinary involving process, civil, and mechanical engineers and architects. Alternative solutions for the treatment plant are identified based on the raw water composition and the drinking water standards and requirements. Mostly, there are different possible processes and positions of the processes in the treatment based on objective criteria (for alternative) such as :
  • Costs
  • Environmental impact
  • Energy consumption
  • Operational complexity
  • Additional water quality effects
  • Reliability
  • Robustness.

Input for this analysis comes from experience at comparable treatment plants or, in case of new technologies, extensive pilot plant research.


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