Water

Groundwater is the water located beneath Earth’s surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. Groundwater is recharged from, and eventually flows to, the surface naturally; natural discharge often occurs at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands.

The pollutants released to the ground that can work their way down into groundwater, can create a contaminant plume within an aquifer. Pollution can occur from landfills, naturally occurring arsenic, on-site sanitation systems or other point sources, such as petrol stations or leaking sewers.

Movement of water and dispersion within the aquifer spreads the pollutant over a wider area, its advancing boundary often called a plume edge, which can then intersect with groundwater wells or daylight into surface water such as seeps and springs, making the water supplies unsafe for humans and wildlife. Different mechanism have influence on the transport of pollutants, e.g. diffusion, adsorption, precipitation, decay, in the groundwater.

Surface water is water on the surface of the planet such as in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean. It can be contrasted with groundwater and atmospheric water.

Non-saline surface water is replenished by precipitation and by recruitment from ground-water. It is lost through evaporation, seepage into the ground where it becomes ground-water, used by plants for transpiration, extracted by mankind for agriculture, living, industry etc. or discharged to the sea where it becomes saline.

Discharge Of Effluent and Sewage water into the surface water without treatment makes it polluted.

Demand of packaged/bottled water has exploded worldwide in recent years, largely as a result of a public perception of purity.

Bottled water is bought for many different reasons including taste, convenience, poor tap water quality and safety concerns, health concerns and as a substitute for sugary drinks. The environmental impact, container safety, water origin, emergency supplies and role of the bottled water industry continue to be areas of concern for many people.

While most of the bigger companies take good care to ensure the right processes involved in treatment of water before bottling it, many small local players often fill bottles without proper treatment. The right equipment required for purification of water in large scale is often very expensive, making them unaffordable for the small local bottled water sellers. The products of such companies are very often found to be non-compliant to the standards of drinking water.

Water treatment is, collectively, the industrial-scale processes that makes water more acceptable for an end-use, which may be drinking, industry, or medicine. Water treatment is unlike small-scale water sterilization that campers and other people in wilderness areas practice. Water treatment should remove existing water contaminants or so reduce their concentration that their water becomes fit for its desired end-use, which may be safely returning used water to the environment.

The processes involved in treating water for drinking purposes to provide a safe source of water supply may be solids separation using physical processes such as settling and filtration, and chemical processes such as disinfection and coagulation

So the product water and Source water needed to be tested for checking the machine performance and Water Quality

Wastewater treatment is the process that removes the majority of the contaminants from wastewater or sewage and produces both a liquid effluent suitable for disposal to the natural environment and a sludge. Biological processes can be employed in the treatment of wastewater and these processes may include, for example, aerated lagoons, activated sludge or slow sand filters. To be effective, sewage must be conveyed to a treatment plant by appropriate pipes and infrastructure and the process itself must be subject to regulation and controls. Some wastewaters require different and sometimes specialized treatment methods. At the simplest level, treatment of sewage and most wastewaters is carried out through separation of solids from liquids, usually by sedimentation. By progressively converting dissolved material into solids, usually a biological floc, which is then settled out, an effluent stream of increasing purity is produced

The Product water discharged should be checked to verify whether it matches the PCB permissible limits.

Construction usually involves in transformation of a design into reality. Construction starts with planning, design and continuous until the structure is ready. For successful execution of a project effective planning is essential. Design and planning includes the quality of material used for construction which in turn leads to strong structured building. Quality of water used is directly proportional to the strength and durability of the concrete or mortar.

Quality of concrete depends on cement, sand, blue metal and water used, of which Water plays a major role by acting like a binding paste between cement and sand voids. This creates a strong bond between cement and sand, which results in a strong building structure. Potable water is generally considered satisfactory for mixing. Water found satisfactory for mixing is also suitable for curing.

Salts in water such as calcium salts, magnesium salts, iron salts, organic and inorganic solids reduce the initial strength of the building construction. Rust formation in the steel bars used in RCC is due to the poor quality of water. So this makes water testing highly essential before commencement of the construction.

Water which is not conforming to IS 456:2000 should not be used for concrete mix. This ensures a sturdy building structure for safe living.

We often take water quality for granted in daily life and in our work. If we work in a laboratory, we may be very conscious of the need for reagent grade water (RGW) for our laboratory experiments and animal water in order to reduce the risk of scientific variability or to prevent bacterial disease respectively, yet we fail to consider the quality of the water we use in our equipment. We also might not be aware of the different grades of water that are available, the appropriate water grade applications or the cost to obtain the desired water grade. Inattention to water quality in the lab can result in compromised experimental results, contaminated reagents or damaged equipment. Biomedical research, medical, and design professionals should become familiar with and apply the water grade most applicable to their needs.

Reagent grade water (RGW) is water that is suitable for use in a specified procedure such that it does not interfere with the specificity, accuracy, and precision of the procedure. Process definitions alone (e.g. “RO”, “DI”, “Distilled”) do not in themselves adequately define required water quality. The quantitative parameters associated with attempts to standardize description of water quality vary widely amongst standards organizations and have been subject to on-going changes. Many of the parameters have qualifiers and ultimately defer to requirements as determined appropriate and validated by the end user. This makes sense in that the wide variety of applications can have substantial variation to tolerances with regards to the composition and quantity of contaminants. It is therefore not uncommon that water quality parameters be supplemented with identification of the intended applications, specific contaminant concerns, (and sometimes even purification process identification) to ensure intended results will be achieved. When communicating water quality and tolerance for contaminants, the question invariably becomes: “How pure is pure”?

If Swimming Pool water is not properly maintained, water may contain a range of germs, including bacteria and algae. Some germs can cause health problems such as ear, nose and throat infections. As part of your regular pool maintenance, check the pH and chlorine levels of your pool water daily – these tests should be done before the first swim of the day.

The topic describes the changes over time in the quality of designated bathing waters in terms of compliance with standards for microbiological parameters (total coliforms and faecal coliforms) and physicochemical parameters. Particulate organic pollutants discharged into Surface water around outlets of insufficiently treated wastewater lead to an excess of dissolved oxygen consumption, resulting in high environmental degradation of Surface water. The EU directive on the quality of bathing waters (76/160/EEC) aims to ensure that water commonly used for bathing do not contain bacteriological or chemical contamination at levels that could pose a health risk.

The most important use of water in agriculture is for irrigation, which is a key component to produce enough food. Irrigation takes up to 90% of water withdrawn in some developing countries and significant proportions in more economically developed countries.

The requirements apply to “agricultural water” – i.e., water that is used in the growing, harvesting, packing, or holding of “covered” produce. FDA considers water to be “agricultural water” if it is intended to or likely to contact covered produce or food-contact surfaces. Examples of agricultural water include irrigation water that is directly applied to the harvestable portion of a crop, water used for preparing crop sprays, and water used for washing or cooling harvested produce

Broadly, the proposed agricultural water standards are aimed at minimizing the likelihood of produce being contaminated by pathogens in water used in the growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce. Because the methods for detecting microbial pathogens in water are so limited, FDA is basing its proposed standards on monitoring for hazards and testing water for fecal contamination – specifically for generic E. coli, which FDA claims is a satisfactory indicator for determining fecal contamination.

The basic requirement is that all agricultural water must be safe and of adequate sanitary quality for its intended use. Certain actions would also need to be taken if a farm has reason to believe that its agricultural water is not safe and not of adequate sanitary quality for its intended use as water testing.

The proposed standards for agricultural water include:

•  General water quality requirements
•  Water system inspection requirements
•  Water treatment requirements;
•  Water testing requirements;
•  Requirements for water used in harvesting, packing, and holding of produce; and
•  Recordkeeping requirements.

Water used for sauna room in gym or steam bath should be well treated and tested before utilization as there is high risk of contamination in surface and ground water.

De-mineralized water used to recharge the electrode in Lead Acid battery. Demineralised water is specially purified water that has had most or all of its mineral and salt ions removed, such as Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Chloride, Sulphate, Nitrate and Bicarbonate. It is also known as Deionised water, DI or Demin water.

Demineralised water and deionised water are generally considered distinct from distilled water, which is purified in a still ie. by boiling and re-condensing, a process which also removes salt ions.

The major differences are that demineralised water is usually freer of mineral ions, depending on the number of processes used to make it, and distilled water may have less organic contaminants, as deionisation does not remove uncharged molecules such as viruses or bacteria. However, deionisation also leaves behind less ‘scale’ than distillation, and so has a cleaner production.

These de-mineralized water should meet the specific standards based on which its performance depends and application is served.

Some of the major and common uses are:

•  laboratory applications and testing Eg. autoclaves
•  wash water for computer chip manufacture, and other microelectronics
•  automotive uses eg. lead-acid batteries and cooling systems
•  high pressure boiler feed
•  laser cutting
•  steam irons and steam raising applications
•  pharmaceutical manufacturing
•  cosmetics (‘aqua’ often refers to DI water)
•  aquariums
•  fire extinguishers

Boiling, steaming, and simmering are popular cooking methods that often require immersing food in water or its gaseous state, steam. Water is also used for dishwashing. Water also plays many critical roles within the field of food science. Solutes such as salts and sugars found in water affect the physical properties of water. The boiling and freezing points of water are affected by solutes, as well as air pressure, which is in turn is affected by altitude.

Solutes in water also affect water activity that affects many chemical reactions and the growth of microbes in food. Water activity can be described as a ratio of the vapor pressure of water in a solution to the vapor pressure of pure water. Solutes in water lower water activity—this is important to know because most bacterial growth ceases at low levels of water activity. Not only does microbial growth affect the safety of food, but also the preservation and shelf life of food.

Water hardness is also a critical factor in food processing and may be altered or treated by using a chemical ion exchange system. It can dramatically affect the quality of a product, as well as playing a role in sanitation. Water hardness is classified based on the amounts of removable calcium carbonate salt the water contains per gallon.

The hardness of water also affects its pH balance, which plays a critical role in food processing. For example, hard water prevents successful production of clear beverages. Water hardness also affects sanitation; with increasing hardness, there is a loss of effectiveness for its use as a sanitizer

• Packaged Drinking Water Testing as per IS 14543
• Potable Water testing as per IS 10500
• Drinking Water Testing as per WHO/APHA
• Water For Laboratory – Reagent Frade / Distilled as Per IS 1070 / ASTM D1193-91
• Water For Swimming Pools as per IS 3328
• Effluent and Sewage Water as per TNPCB Norms
• Water used for concrete mixture (construction) as per IS 456
• Bathing Water Quality Based on EU directive 76/160/EEC
• Water used for Irrigation
• Steam Water For Fitness Centre
• Water for Storage Batteries as per IS 1069
• Water used in food processing as per IS 4251
• Water Used for Clinical Laboratory Studies As per NCCLS