Water is
essential for everyday life. It is very vital for health, hygiene and the
productivity of our community. The raw (untreated) water that are the sources
of drinking water supplies are usually treated by a series of processes to make
them adequately safe for human consumption. The objective is to produce water
that is chemically safe, free of harmful microbes, pleasant to drink with
respect to odour, taste and appearance and non-corrosive towards pipes and
fittings. The quality of drinking water and water used for food production is
subject to the provisions of the EC Drinking Water Directive 1998. The water
treatment process may vary slightly at different locations, depending on the
technology of the plant and the water it needs to process, but the basic
principles are largely the same. The first process in water treatment is screening in which
debris such as leaves, plant fragments and other foreign material that are
suspended beneath the raw water are removed by passing the water through a
series of coarse meshes. Micro strainers remove fine solids by passage through
a fine steel or plastic mesh.