Water Secret

Water may come from a superficial source (rivers, lakes etc) or an underground source (extraction from a well). According to its quality it may need to undergo purification, or just a simple disinfection process.

The Integral Water Cycle is the route made by water from catchment in nature in its initial state to its availability in peoples’ homes. However, it is also the route that it makes after consumption to reintegrate back into nature in a purified and clean state. The process begins with the catchment of water in natural springs, wells and reservoirs, and passing it through Drinking Water Treatment Plants, where it is submitted to a series of stringent tests and processes to make it fit for human consumption.

The purification process does not necessarily take place near to the city or population to be supplied to. Drinking water must therefore be pumped along large tubes to its destination. This phase is called Adduction.

Once consumed, the residual water is channeled through tubes into the sewage system and sanitary collectors to Residual Water Treatment Plants, which integrate it back into streams, rivers, the sea and other receiving bodies, until the cycle is complete.

To make water fit for human consumption it must pass through a series of necessary phases so that we can drink it without concern:

• First: When water enters the plant from its source in nature, we firstly eliminate any foreign element that it is carrying. During this phase, called pre-treatment, we add a dosage of chlorine to disinfect the water.
• Second: Once we have eliminated the largest elements that the water was carrying when it entered the plant, we begin to separate the smaller ones, in this case particles or substances that float in the water that must also be eliminated to make the water fit for consumption. In this phase, called coagulation – flocculation – decantation, we reduce the pH level of the water to make it less acidic.
• Third: We filter out the smallest particles that have not yet been removed from the water via sand filters. These trap any particles that still might be floating in the water. Also, during this phase we separate all organic substances, thus removing bad smells and tastes.
• Fourth: Finally we do a final disinfection, by adding a dosage of chlorine to the filtered water to render it completely fit for human consumption.

After the purification process come the Adduction and Distribution phases. As the purification process does not necessarily take place close to the city or population to be supplied to, the water must be pumped along large tubes to reach its destination. This is called Adduction.

Once in the population the water is distributed via a series of tubes of different sizes and diameters, so that it reaches every house or building in the necessary quantity and at the right pressure. Along the network there are control, security, disinfection and impulsion elements which actively guarantee the best distribution of this water.

The distribution network ends at each entrance to a building that we are supplying to. These tubes are called connectors.

Maintaining this distribution network in optimal operative conditions is a daily challenge for water supply companies.

Once water enters our homes, the recollection and transport phases begin. Following responsible water use, a certain amount of water that has undergone a transformation rendering it unfit or even dangerous for human consumption is produced (in cisterns, sinks, toilets etc).

The recollection of this waste is carried out via the urban sanitary network or sewage system, where water flows under the simple effect of gravity.

The sewage system networks are made up of large tubes called collectors, which tip their contents into controlled flows or into the sea, or most often, into Residual Water Treatment Plants. If necessary, this spill is carried out using pumps, which send the water to treatment plants or to be spilled.

Residual Water Treatment Plants carry out the same process that nature does usually in rivers and seas in a reduced space, and can cope with much larger flows of water than nature can manage. Physical, chemical and biological process combine to leave water treated in conditions that would not be harmful to humans or the environment should it be spilled into a flow or the sea. The incorporation of new technologies and recuperation of residue, called ‘silt’ are environmental factors for the operators of Residual Water Treatment Plants.

The water cycle does not finish when it returns to rivers and seas. Work carried out to treat the water, from purification, distribution and disinfection give rise to other processes which see the water reintegrated back into nature in other ways.

For example, once the water has been purified, we obtain a type of fertilizer which comes from substances that have dissolved in the water. This fertilizer is mixed in with vegetable residue to facilitate its decomposition, and at the end of the process we have a product which is free from bacteria which serves as a green fertilizer for farmers and professionals in the sector. The material that we obtain can be incorporated into the soil as a high quality biological fertilizer. This phase is called Composting.

As we have already seen, during the purification process of residual waters, silt and mud is produced that, once treated in large tanks and starved of oxygen, produce gas (biogas). One of these gasses is methane, which is used as a fuel for some engines, and it generates electric energy via a generator.

This phase is called Cogeneration and it consists in producing electrical or mechanical energy and useful calorific energy from a fuel. The cogeneration is applied to various of our plants.

To find out how much water has been consumed in a residence we must read the meter, a piece of equipment designed to control the volume of water that has been consumed in a home. Nowadays, it isn’t necessary for a professional to come to the house to know how much water has been consumed in your home. Now we can access them from a distance. How do we do that? Via a system that Works with a radio installed in your meter that emits signals that arrive to our control centre with information about your consumption. And not only this – it can also warn us about potential emergencies.