JosieLynn: H20 Treatment Blog

Monday, September 13, 2010

H20 Treatment Blog

1. What happens to H2O to make it drinkable?
Firstly, drinkable water is defined as being rid of harmful bacteria and other pathegens, also other chemicals must be below drinking-water standards. So to make water drinkable it must go through several steps of cleaning. The first step to purify water is Intake Screens. This doesnt allow plants, logs, and other large particles to enter the process. Next, water is sent to a Rapid Mixing Unit which removes color, sediments, and bacteria. The use of Aluminum Sulfate helps this process. Thirdly, the Aluminum Sulfate in the last step is formed into Floc, this is called Floculation. Then the water is sent to sedimentation where Floc settles to the bottom of the tank to be removed. Then water goes through Clearwell's where more chemicals are added to help the water to become pure. Chloramines are added to kill bacteria and viruses. Lime is added to adjust the Ph Level. Chlorine is finally added as a primary disinfectent. Orthophosphate is added to prevent the corrosion of pipes. Now the water is good to drink.
2. What happens to water that is "Flushed"? How is it treated?
Water that is leaving a home goes to a septic tank or goes to a sewage-treatment plant. There the water gets cleaned by chemicals and is reused. After it is cleaned it is sent into rivers or reused for other purposes.

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/qahome.html
http://www.charlestonwater.com/water_process_large.htm

Drought

INTRODUCTION

A Drought is a climate that has a shortage of water for an extended period of months and years. Rain rarely ever falls in a climate that has a drought. A drought can turn fertile land into a massive desert.

This is a picture of how droughts remove water quickly and how the land drys fast as well.

WHERE AND WHY

Droughts happen around the equator where water evaporates very quickly and where it is hot and dry. Some places that have droughts are India, US, Brazil, Iran, West Africa, South Afrcia, Eastern Europe, Western Asia, and Australia. Droughts happen because a region recieves belowaverage precipitation. Some of the World's droughts are shaped by cycles like El Nino and La Nina. It is predicted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research that in the future droughts will increase in intensity and the percentage of Earth's land area that has droughts will double in size.

This is a picture showing droughts. Dark purples and greys are at risk of droughts. Blues are where droughts are least likely to have a drought.

WEATHER CONDITIONS

Some of the weather conditions needed for a drought to happen are low to no water. This low amount of precipition causes the soil to dry out in a land that already has very little water. When droughts occur the risks of wildfires increase.

The top map shows where droughts were reported and the bottom map shows the people who were affected by the droughts.

TECHNOLOGY

Scientist use Case Studies to help predict droughts and how the predictions are communicated to a society. Computer-based simulations have been used to track areas of persistant dryness of the past to help predict where they might occur in the future. These models do not agree on which areas will be at risk the most.

This is a picture of African Children finding water in a Drought.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Droughts have a big impact on people and the environment. The greatest impact on the environment would be the decrease in plant life and animals because of the dryness not being able to support life. The impact on the people is that water is really hard to find and this climate doesnt allow life or human beings to survive. People would have to move out of an area of drought to places with more water.

This is a map showing Drought Frequencies in an Area in Africa.

WARNINGS

Warnings for droughts are issued by governmental figures in a society and relayed down the ladder to other groups of people who may be endangered. Droughts are a slow climate change so relaying a warning in a society wouldn't be hard to do.