Our drinking water becomes safe when it goes through the process at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The district is divided into seven service areas, each with a reclamation plant. The plant mimics the purification process that occurs naturally in rivers, condensing what would take one or two weeks to just under 8 hours!
First sewers from 125 municipalities including offices, homes, factories and businesses, empty into seven wastewater treatment plants in Cook County. Second, Screens remove large objects such as trash, wood, etc. that could damage pumps. Third, they use air bubbles to keep lighter materials suspended while grit, sand and gravel sink to the bottom, once the large material is on the bottom, a conveyor scrapes it into a drain. What is collected is taken to a landfill. Fourth, the waste is taken to Primary Settling Tanks, here solids settle to the bottom, fats and oils float to the top. A revolving conveyor with slats skim off the floating fats and oils and send them to a drain on to the landfill. Fifth, air is pumped into a carefully maintained population of micro-organisms. These micro-organisms break down the remaining suspended solids and help them settle in the final setting tank. A portion of the settled solids containing the micro-organisms is returned to the aeration tank to continue working. There are many steps to take to make sure our water is clean enough to drink. http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/flash/flash_filtration.htmlHere is a website that shows the process to get our clean water!
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