Coagulants are what? Where and for what are coagulants used

The use of pure water increases the health and immunity of the person, moreover the organism itself is restored using its own reserves. People from time immemorial settled near rivers and lakes, using the sources that nature gave for life. The most ancient civilizations already knew how to purify water for the needs of citizens, passing it through layers of clay and sand. At that time people did not use coagulants (these are the substances by which the primary purification of life-giving moisture is performed today).

Such different clean water

In the modern world it is believed that, ideally, a person should use three types of water in his dwellings:

• Water, past standard multiple repeated cleaning and filtration in special sedimentation tanks;
• Household, pre-softened to prevent the formation of scale in heating appliances, used for washing and washing;
• Drinking, used solely for ingestion and cooking.

The city's water supply system provides the usual water for the apartment. For self-cleaning, various filters, structuring systems, and certain minerals (eg shungite) are useful. In addition, there are coagulants, disinfecting water, for home use.

What happens to water before getting into pipes?

Prior to settling and filtration, preliminary rough cleaning of the water intended for supply to the city water supply networks is carried out. First, special water quickly mixes water and coagulants (these are special chemical reagents). During coagulation, the electrostatic repulsion of particles dissolved in water decreases, they coalesce. This facilitates and speeds up the purification during sedimentation and filtration.

The process in one tank should last about one minute. With a shorter time interval, the necessary uniformity of mixing the substance with water is not ensured. With a longer interaction, the floccules formed (sediment, adherent foreign particles) can be destroyed. After passing through several reservoirs, where coagulants for water mix with it with gradually decreasing velocity, the liquid is exposed to sedimentation.

What does the beautiful word "flocculation" mean?

Coagulants are chemical reagents. Not all substances harmful to humans can be removed by conventional filtration in a short time. Some of them are in a dissolved state. If impurities or hydrosols are present in the water, the coagulants for water purification at the moment of interaction form an insoluble precipitate with them in the form of a slurry. The process of formation of coalesced, larger "piles" of fine particles is called flocculation. The size of these new particles can reach several millimeters.

Of course, it is possible to purify water from various impurities by conventional filtration, only this will last for several years, and water is needed daily in huge quantities. For the cleaning process to pass quickly enough, coagulants are added to the mixers. This reduces the time to release water from unnecessary harmful substances in total up to 30-45 minutes. Thanks to this acceleration, residents of large and small towns are able to use water without interruption without leaving their homes.

What happens at the treatment plant

In water, even transparent at first glance, usually contains a huge amount of impurities. Among them may be the following substances:

• Gypsum and chalk;
• Sand and clay rocks;
• Silt and plankton;
• Slightly soluble metal hydroxides;
• Bacteria;
• Dissolved chemicals;
• Various suspensions.

Heavy and large particles with a large specific gravity drop rather quickly to the bottom of the settler, in 1-2 minutes. Accelerating the process of sedimentation (sedimentation) of small particles, which can last up to two years, coagulants are added to the water. These are ferric chloride, sulfuric acid alumina, ferric sulphate, hydroxoxulphates and aluminum hydroxochlorides, mixtures of iron and aluminum salts, clay opacifiers, various flocculants and suspension clarifiers.

For purification and clarification of water in a system of vertical sedimentation tanks, 50 to 100 ml of reagents are consumed per 1 liter. Enlarged and glued together by chemical substances colloidal particles precipitate, which is easily separated by further settling and filtration.