White Swan Water Treatment Plant - Example

Student Name: xxxx Professor: xxxx Title: xxxx Date: 30th April 2016 ENCIV 3060 – WATER & WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE (FIELD TRIP) Introduction White Swan Reservoir’s official construction was commissioned on 13th March 1947. It was constructed by about 270 men who were being transported to the site by a bus daily. The opening was done on 1st August 1952 by The Premier of Victoria, the Hon. J. G. McDonald. The White Swan Reservoir was named after the Original “White Swan” Hotel which was located in the township where the White Swan reservoir now lies. The water is treated by a Dissolved Air Flotation and Filtration (DAFF) treatment plant prior to disinfection by the addition of chlorine and ammonia at both White Swan. Ballarat West groundwater is disinfected by chlorination and blended with water from White Swan Reservoir prior to entering the distribution system. Fluoridation of all three Ballarat supplies was introduced during January of 2010. White Swan WTP were commissioned in December 2001. The community in the following towns is served by the Central Highlands Water; Raglan, Lexton, Waubra, Maryborough and district, Redbank, Dean, Avoca, Amphitheatre, Beaufort, Ballarat and district, Learmonth, Landsborough and Navarre, Clunes, Blackwood and Barry’s Reef, Daylessford, Hepburn and Hepburn Springs, Allendale, Broomfield, Kingston, Newlyn, Smeaton and Springmount Water is life. Clean water is good for health. Water treatment has the following benefits; Clean water is good for a healthy living. Unclean water causes so many diseases in the human body. The organic and inorganic components are not good for health. High levels of lead in drinking water is associated with slow mental and physical development. This means that water treatment can help speed up the human mental and physical development. A healthy population means a productive society which will translate into the national development. Also this reduces the costs incurred on medication issues arising from unclean water. These costs can be channelled to other activities which in turn will improve the lives the people. Many lives can be saved by treating the water. No human being can survive without water. This implies that one has to take the water they can access. Making treated water accessible is the key step in saving lives. Water treatment removes toxic metals from water like copper, lead and magnesium as well as harmful organisms. Though some minerals in water are not harmful, but they react with other elements in water causing deposits which must be treated to remove them. Sometimes pesticides used on farms can get into the water hence the need for treating the water before use by human beings. Home water filters may be able to remove heavy metals but cannot be able to remove the pesticides. Treated water is good for home appliances. Softened water makes the appliances operate at high efficiency hence saving money as well as making them last longer. Use of softened water also reduces the detergent or laundry used to wash the appliances by half or even more. It also makes the washing process easier. Jobs are created by the water treatment firms. This is a direct source of employment to the people. Others who gain indirect employment include the distributors. This acts as a source of income to them as well as improving the economy. These employees pay taxes hence contributing the economic welfare of the country. The following are the issues concerning this particular community which is served by the White Swan Reservoir: Clean water. The community needs clean water for domestic use. White Swan Reservoir steps in here as a source of this much needed water by the society. As discussed above, clean water is of great importance to good health. Clean water ensures the community is prevented from water related diseases, some of which are very dangerous. This means a healthy community. Employment. This particular community needs a source of income and employment is one of the sources of income. Part of this community is employed courtesy of the White Swan Reservoir. Some of the youths who could be otherwise unemployed at least have somewhere to earn a living. This not only provides a living to them but keeps them busy which helps in diverting their attention from harmful practises like drug abuse and general illegal activities as a result of idleness. Sponsorship. The Central Highlands Water sponsors events by other organisation which have benefits to the community. Some of the benefits considered include but not limited to; the benefits to the Highland Water which essential means the benefit to the picture of providing clean water to the community, specific achievable outcomes, defined target audience group, monitoring or evaluation plans and plans to achieve the objectives. Education. The community needs education on issues relating to water sanitation and usage. The Central Highlands Water has installed programs in place to provide this kind of education to the public. Other information in the education programme include water management to reduce on the wastages. This program not only benefits the general public but it is of great value to the company. The community is able to save on the water costs through the water management programs they are taken through. The program is an integrated and interactive one which focuses on the community a solid understanding of and respect for water. Recreational facilities. The reservoirs, parks and gardens owned by the Central Highlands are open to the public. The public can use these facilities as recreational facilities for functions like family picnics, weddings etc. Some of the parks are open to the public for fishing. This acts as a source of food to the community. Community consultation. Central Highland Water consults the community on the issues such as development stages of a project which affects the area, allow the residents to be heard as well as receiving feedback and recommendations from the community. This makes the community feel part of the project hence the feeling of ownership and being appreciated. General Plant Information Plant Capacity The plant total capacity is 14 billion litres (3,274 million gallons) with a maximum depth of 40 metres (131 feet). The plant for treating water is just adjacent to the reservoir. The plant is located at an altitude of 536 meters above sea level. The total cost used to construct this plant was estimated to be £1,336,014. The construction was completed in 1952, the same year it was commissioned. The plant is connected to the other reservoirs in the Ballarat catchment areas. The tunnel under the embankment containing the inlet and outlet pipes is 200 metres (656 feet) long and has a diameter of 3.3 metres. The plant height is 50 metres but the water level only reaches 40 metres at full capacity. This tower is made of 5,735 cubic metres of concrete and was built prior to the embankment Operating hours The White Swan operates on a 24 hour basis. Number of people This plant serves the local community of more than 130,000 people. Description of treatment train The water treatment goes through the following processes; i. Coagulation/flocculation. This is a process through which a chemical called a coagulant is added to water to destabilise the particles which form and settle due to suspension ii. Sedimentation/filtration. After the coagulation, the surface water is passed through sand filters where the particles not removed during coagulation is filtered out. Filtration ensures odour quality. iii. Dissolved air floatation and filtration (DAFF). Some of the coagulated particles are lighter than water hence float. These particles are removed by injecting bubbles of air into the water making these particles float as the clean water is collected from below. iv. Ultrafiltration. Water is passed through a membrane filter which traps solids that are then removed. v. Water softening. This is done to remove the calcium and magnesium from water to reduce its hardness. vi. Ozonation. This is done to remove manganese and iron levels for the water from underground sources. vii. Reverse Osmosis. Is used to remove trapped salts from source water. viii. Electrodialysis reversal. This process is used to remove the dissolved salts from water. ix. Lime/soda ash/sodium hydroxide. This helps keep the pH of treated water in acceptable limits for improved taste, reduced corrosion and disinfection. x. Potassium permanganate. This is added to reduce the manganese and iron levels in water which will otherwise cause rusting and staining of laundry and pipes. xi. Powdered activated carbon. This improves the taste and odour of the water. xii. Chlorination. Chlorine is used to disinfect water and kill disease causing organisms. xiii. Chloramination. This process achieves the same results as chlorination. xiv. Ultra violet disinfection. This is used as a means of effective disinfection. xv. Fluoridation. This is the addition of some levels of fluorine. Unit Operations The plant has a maximum depth of 40 metres (131 feet). The total cost used to construct this plant was estimated to be £1,336,014. The tunnel under the embankment containing the inlet and outlet pipes is 200 metres (656 feet) long and has a diameter of 3.3 metres. The plant height is 50 metres but the water level only reaches 40 metres at full capacity. This tower is made of 5,735 cubic metres of concrete and was built prior to the embankment The annual demand for water is approximated to be 13,000 ML. the complaints relating to the quality of water is about 7.4/1000 services/yr across all of the Ballarat system over the past 3 years. But when supplied with ground water these have been up to about 14/1000 services/yr in the Ballarat West Water zone. Summary White Swan Water Reservoir which was opened in 1952 has been providing clean water to the local community as well as involving them in the development process that affects the area as well as providing education and funding of local projects. Work Cited: Central Highlands Water, [Online] Available at http://chw.net.au , Accessed on 28th April 2016. Chong, M. N., Jin, B., Chow, C. W., & Saint, C. (2010). Recent developments in photocatalytic water treatment technology: a review. Water research, 44(10), 2997-3027. Engineers, J. M. M. C. (1985). Water treatment principles and design. Wiley. Thurman, R., Faulkner, B., Veal, D., Cramer, G., & Meiklejohn, M. (1998). Water quality in rural Australia. Journal of applied microbiology, 84(4), 627-632. Read More

Jobs are created by the water treatment firms. This is a direct source of employment to the people. Others who gain indirect employment include the distributors. This acts as a source of income to them as well as improving the economy. These employees pay taxes hence contributing the economic welfare of the country. The following are the issues concerning this particular community which is served by the White Swan Reservoir: Clean water. The community needs clean water for domestic use. White Swan Reservoir steps in here as a source of this much needed water by the society.

As discussed above, clean water is of great importance to good health. Clean water ensures the community is prevented from water related diseases, some of which are very dangerous. This means a healthy community. Employment. This particular community needs a source of income and employment is one of the sources of income. Part of this community is employed courtesy of the White Swan Reservoir. Some of the youths who could be otherwise unemployed at least have somewhere to earn a living. This not only provides a living to them but keeps them busy which helps in diverting their attention from harmful practises like drug abuse and general illegal activities as a result of idleness.

Sponsorship. The Central Highlands Water sponsors events by other organisation which have benefits to the community. Some of the benefits considered include but not limited to; the benefits to the Highland Water which essential means the benefit to the picture of providing clean water to the community, specific achievable outcomes, defined target audience group, monitoring or evaluation plans and plans to achieve the objectives. Education. The community needs education on issues relating to water sanitation and usage.

The Central Highlands Water has installed programs in place to provide this kind of education to the public. Other information in the education programme include water management to reduce on the wastages. This program not only benefits the general public but it is of great value to the company. The community is able to save on the water costs through the water management programs they are taken through. The program is an integrated and interactive one which focuses on the community a solid understanding of and respect for water.

Recreational facilities. The reservoirs, parks and gardens owned by the Central Highlands are open to the public. The public can use these facilities as recreational facilities for functions like family picnics, weddings etc. Some of the parks are open to the public for fishing. This acts as a source of food to the community. Community consultation. Central Highland Water consults the community on the issues such as development stages of a project which affects the area, allow the residents to be heard as well as receiving feedback and recommendations from the community.

This makes the community feel part of the project hence the feeling of ownership and being appreciated. General Plant Information Plant Capacity The plant total capacity is 14 billion litres (3,274 million gallons) with a maximum depth of 40 metres (131 feet). The plant for treating water is just adjacent to the reservoir. The plant is located at an altitude of 536 meters above sea level. The total cost used to construct this plant was estimated to be £1,336,014. The construction was completed in 1952, the same year it was commissioned.

The plant is connected to the other reservoirs in the Ballarat catchment areas. The tunnel under the embankment containing the inlet and outlet pipes is 200 metres (656 feet) long and has a diameter of 3.3 metres. The plant height is 50 metres but the water level only reaches 40 metres at full capacity. This tower is made of 5,735 cubic metres of concrete and was built prior to the embankment Operating hours The White Swan operates on a 24 hour basis. Number of people This plant serves the local community of more than 130,000 people.

Description of treatment train The water treatment goes through the following processes; i.

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