Water Treatment Plant Section #1

Camrose constructed a Water Treatment Plant (View Schematic) in 1986. The plant contains state of the art equipment and has been designed to adapt to changing treatment practices. The current facility can treat all the water necessary to service a community of 20,000 people and can be twinned when the population exceeds that. The goal of the Water Treatment Plant is to provide safe, healthy water that meets or exceeds all provincial and federal regulations, and which is free of tastes, odors, and colors.

	First, Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) is added to remove organic materials, which cause taste and odor. This fine black powder attracts contaminants, absorbing them onto their surface, which makes them easier to remove.
	The next step in treatment is aeration. This is the process of blowing fine bubbles of air through the water. These bubbles work to remove taste and odor-causing substances in the water, such as carbon dioxide, methane, hydrogen sulfide, and other volatiles.
	Next, the water moves into the first clarifying tank. Alum is added to the water in the clarifier, to modify the electrical charge of small particles in the water, causing them to attract one another. Polymer is also added into the alum clarifier. As a coagulant aid, polymer helps the small particles join together to form larger particles. These larger particles, called "floc" are heavier than water and will settle to the bottom of the tank forming a heavy sludge. The alum and polymer combination removes much of the color and turbidity from the water. This process also removes the PAC, which was added previously. A large rake slowly turns at the bottom of the clarifier tank, scraping the sludge into the center, where it is then pumped into the Sanitary Sewer System. The water left at the top of the tank is clear. This purified water is then collected and piped into the second clarifier.

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