For our community we will mainly draw our water from wells.

The

wells provide many advantages compared to surface water.

Groundwater water is less expensive to treat, compared to surface

water. There will be two wells drilled in our community to provide

drinking water. Although a standard well can pump up to 750 gallons

of water per minute, having multiples wells in the aquifer can be

useful. For cost reasons the main well will not be dug as deep as the

secondary well. The shorter the distance the water needs to be

pumped the less expensive our water authority's operating costs will

be. Another reason why there will be two wells is because if one well

isn't operating correctly the other well can be used. Also, if the water

table drops significantly the deeper well can be used to allow

continued use of groundwater. This limits the amount of time our town

needs to divert water from the river. Surface water, such as that in our

river, requires much more treatment than the groundwater does. If the

aquifer becomes contaminated the town will use the water coming

from the river until the groundwater supply is safe to drink again. The

shallower the well the easier it is for the well to be contaminated by

surface water. Both the surface water, diverted from the river, and the

groundwater provide reliable inputs our towns drinking water supply.

Groundwater will be the primary source of water for our

community. Groundwater requires less treatment than surface water.

In our town we have limestone rich areas. This is beneficial to our town
because the groundwater will be neutral when it is collected for use.

Surface water will need to be treated for pH because it isn't running

through the limestone. Since, limestone is a base it lowers the pH. This

limestone aquifer contains a lot of water because limestone is porous.

This means that our town will not have to treat the water for pH. Also,

the rocks and soil act as a filter for larger particles. The ground water

will then be pumped to the higher elevation, where the water

treatment plant is located. At this higher elevation the water will not

need to be pumped throughout the plant and the community because

gravity will act as the pressure to move the water. The water will then

be treated for chlorine in a container before moving to the closed

reservoir. The water will be aerated in the reservoir to reduce the

amount of radon and bacteria. The groundwater will then be ready to

use for drinking. This is the process of how our town will treat drinking

water.

The well water needs to be tested for iron and manganese. The

two wells that provide drinking water in our town will both have

Catalox filters installed. The filters backwash the water a very high

rate, removing the iron and manganese.

However, it is possible that nitrates could contaminate the well.

To avoid the contaminated water from entering the water supply, the

town tests for water at the well, once a day. If one well is effected by

the leaching of nitrates, which is very hazardous to babies and infants,

the town will draw water from the other well, once that well is tested.

There are two methods that the town can use to treat the nitrates. One

way to treat the water is demineralization. Through this process the

nitrates are removed from the minerals and water by reverse osmosis

and distillation. Distillation and reverse osmosis are both extremely

expensive however distillation requires the installation of a large

quantity of equipment. In reverse osmosis the water is forced through

a membrane that removes the nitrates. This method is more efficient

for the small town. There is yet another way to treat the nitrates, the

ion exchange system. In this method the contaminated water goes

through resin beads. When the nitrate ion come in contact with the

beads they are exchanged for chloride ions. To continue the process a

brine solution is added to the resin beads so they continue removing

the nitrates. The resin beads can make the water have a high pH level.

Therefore, when the town uses this process the water will need to pass

through the treatment plant, where the mixing well is located in PEX

piping.

This is flexible plastic pipe, that doesn't corrode is used

throughout the entire water supply system. Otherwise, the pipes in the

plant could corrode before the pH is treated. The pipe is less expensive

than a traditional copper pipe. Also, PEX piping resits the scale build up

in a copper pipe. This will provide the town with a stable infrastructure

to expand.
 It is important to have more than one source of water for the

town. This allows the town to have a backup and/or extra water supply

in case of a drought or contamination in one of the sources. For this

reason our town also draws water from the river. The river will diverted

to enter the water treatment are. Once at the plant, the water enters

one of many holding containers, where alum is added. This building is

the coagulation room. This changes the charges of the particles so that

they stick to together and sink to the bottom. The water will then pass

through sand filters to remove the floc from the water. This is the

sedimentation room. The floc will then be sent to the landfill. From

there the water will move on to another area where chlorine is added

to remove microorganisms and bacteria. This is called the disinfection

room. Once the bacteria is removed the water will enter a mixing well

before moving to the closed reservoir. Here, lime will be added to

adjust the pH of the water so that it has a pH rating of 7. The surface

water will then be tested for pH before moving on to the charcoal filter.

When the pH would be more than seven the water would be harmful to

the drinkers and damage pipes. The water will be checked for pH, at

this point. This is a part of the feedback in the system. If the pH is

over seven more lime will be added. Also, if the pH is too low acid will

be added to raise the pH to around seven. The balanced water will

then be passed through a charcoal filter to improve the taste of the

water. From there the water will move to the same indoor reservoir as
the groundwater.

The water needs to be tested for contaminants on a regular

basis. Coliform bacteria could be present in the water supply.

Therefore, the water needs to be tested around 40 times per month to

determine if there are bacteria present. Out of those 40 samples one of

those might contain bacteria. If over 5% of the samples contain

bacteria there could be a problem. It is a law that the town must notify

its residents within 24 hours to inform them on how to treat the

bacteria. The residents would be told to boil all of the water for several

minutes before using.The bacteria testing will take place right in the

reservoir, right before the water is distributed to the town. Coliform

bacteria are generally harmless but it could indicate bigger problems

with the town’s water supply. Coliform bacteria can indicate that

diseases, such as cholera and hepatitis, can be present in the water. If

the water has bacteria is present, it will be sent back to the

chlorination tank where chlorine and other chemicals, depending on

the type of bacteria present, would be added to the water to eliminate

living bacteria. The water will need to undergo shock chlorination to

eliminate the bacteria. The water will only need to be shock

chlorinated if the contamination originates at the well. However, the

water could be contaminated because of other environmental factors,

such as livestock waste runoff. The bacteria could also originate in the

pipes.
 However, gravity alone cannot provide water to the whole town.

Because of this the water mains will gradually decrease in diameter as

the water travels away from the plant. This will allow our city to save

money by not requiring many pumps to force the water thought the

plant and the city.