Water quality and conservation

1. Water Conservation And
Water Quality
Dr. Sheeba Veluthoor
CoreValleys Pvt. Ltd.,
Calicut
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2. Water
Chemistry

3. The Water Cycle

4. Water – Save it now!
Finding out about water
conservation.
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5. Rain Water in India
• Total annual rainfall in India: 400 million hectare-meters (area x
height)
• India’s area: 329 million hectares
• If evenly spread, average height: 1.28m
• Actual distribution:
– Highly skewed area-wise
– The desert receives less than 200mm annually, while Cherrapunji
receives 11,400mm
– But almost every part of India receives at least 100mm annually
• Key: even 100mm annual rainfall sufficient if harvested properly and
where it falls
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6. What is the average rainfall in Kerala?
Which state receives the highest rainfall?
• About 3000 mm total per year
• Kasargod and next is Kozhikode
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7. Why not harvest this water
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8. CoreValleys
Why Rain water harvesting
• To conserve & augment the storage of
ground water
• To reduce water table depletion
• To improve the quality of ground
water
• To arrest sea water intrusion in
coastal areas
• To avoid flood & water stagnation in
urban areas
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9. Hydrologic (Water) Cycle
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10. There are two main techniques of
rain water harvestings.
• Storage of rainwater on surface for future use.
• Recharge to ground water.
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11. Water available from Roof = Annual rainfall (in mm) x roof area (in
sq. m) x co-efficient of run off for roof
Suppose the system has to be designed for meeting drinking water
requirement of a 5-member family living in a building with a
rooftop area of 100 sq.m. Average annual rainfall in the region is
600 mm. Daily drinking water requirement per person (drinking
and cooking) is 10 liters.
We shall first calculate the maximum amount of rainfall that can
be harvested from the rooftop .Following details are available:
Area of the catchments (A) = 100 sq.m.
Average annual rainfall (R) = 600 mm (0.6 m)
Runoff coefficient (C) = 0.85
Annual water harvesting potential from 100 sq.m. roof
= A x R x C
= 100 x 0.6 x 0.85
= 51 cu.m. (51,000 ltr)
Availability of Rainwater Through Roof Top
Rainwater Harvesting
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12. RAIN WATER HARVESTING
Rain
Roof Top
Filtration
or
Recharge to ground water
Storage
Rooftop Water
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13. CoreValleys 13

14. CoreValleys 14

15. 15
Plastic sheets are very effective catchment surfaces
Source: ENPHO n.y.
Surface harvesting
2. Roof catchment systems
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16. CoreValleys 16

17.  Ensure safe drinking water
 Identify problems
 Adopt precautionary measures
 Raise awareness
 Determine the effectiveness of water treatment
technologies
 Select an appropriate water source
 Influence policies to supply safe water
Why Do We Do
Water Quality Testing?
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18. 18
Categories of Contaminants
Chemicals
 Organic
 Inorganic
 pH
Microbiological
Bacteria
Virus
Protozoa
Helminths
Physical
 Turbidity
 Colour
 Odor
 Taste
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19. Fecal pollution:
Introduces varieties of pathogens.
Bacterial:
Cholera
Typhoid fever
Shigellosis
Diarrhoea
E.coli
Y.enterocolitica
C.fetus
Leptospirosis
Viral:
Hepatitis A , E
Rota viral
diarrhoea
Poliomyelitis
Helminthes:
Round worm
Thread worm
Whip worm
Hydatid disease
Guinea worm disease
Fish tape worm
Schistosomiasis
Protozoal:
Amoebiasis
Giardiaisis
Balantidiasis
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20. Bacterial Indicator Organisms
• Good indicators should:
– Be present whenever pathogens are present
– Present in the same or higher numbers than
pathogens
– Specific for faecal contamination
– Non-pathogenic (harmless)
– Have a survival time equal to pathogens
– Not reproduce in water
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21. Escherichia coli (E. coli)
• Found mainly in faeces of warm-blooded
animals
• Majority of E. coli is harmless (non-pathogenic)
• Meets criteria for a good indicator and is the
most important
– Most specific for faecal contamination
– Limited ability to survive and reproduce in
water
– Non-pathogenic CoreValleys 21

22. Turbidity
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23. What is Turbidity?
 A measure of water clarity
 The murkier the water, the higher the turbidity.
 Turbidity reduces the transmission of light into water.
 Turbidity increases as a result of suspended solids in the
water.

25. Sources of Turbidity
• Phytoplankton blooms
• Soil erosion
• Waste discharge
• Urban runoff
• Abundant bottom feeders

26. Conductivity
• Conductivity is the measure of water’s ability to conduct
an electric current.
• Estimates amount of total dissolved minerals (ions).
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27. Conductivity in water
• Dissolved salts (ions)
conduct electrical current in
water.
• Absolutely pure water is a
poor electrical conductor.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~dp6/chem110/cond/cond.html
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28. So What?
• Increased concentration of salts increases the conductivity
• Salts cannot be filtered out
• Higher conductivity can.…
– Foul irrigation water (leads to high salinity soils)
– Kill wildlife
– Create water shortages

29. Total dissolved solids

30. 2008-08 30
Odor and Taste?
What are some common odors/tastes?
– Earthy, musty, moldy
• Can be produced by some types of bacteria (actinomycetes)
• May occur after adding chlorine
– Grass, hay, straw, wood
• Associated with algal byproducts – decaying vegetation
– Marshy, swampy, septic, sewage, rotten egg
• Sulphur – human or natural
– Chlorine
• Residual from water treatment
How is it measured?
– Use your senses
– Do not breathe in the smell directly, use your hand to waft vapors
towards your nose

31. pH testing
tap water
Let's say we start off with the pH 6.5-10 paper. Dip the paper into the
beaker with the tap water for just a couple of seconds. Then take it to
the chart.
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32. Water pH
• Measure of intensity of alkali or acid
contained in the water.
• Pure water is 7.0, Recommend 6.5-8.5
• Lower than 5.0 may cause excessive
corrosion, bitter metallic taste
• Higher than 8.5 means there may be
lots of sodium bicarbonate in the water,
slippery feel, soda taste

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Colour?
• Reddish, brown, or yellow
– iron
• Black
– bacteria growth
– manganese
• Dark brown or yellow
– Industrial waste from tanning
industry, pulp and paper
– Decaying vegetations
• Foam
– detergents
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34. WATER HARDNESS
 Water hardness is caused by divalent ions, especially Ca2+ and Mg2+.
 The measure for water hardness is 1°d (=10mg CaO/L water).
 Classification:
 0 – 4 °d …. very soft water
 4 – 8 °d …. soft water
 8 – 12 °d…. medium soft water
 12 – 18 °d …. pretty hard water
 18 – 30 °d …. hard water
 over 30 °d …. very hard water

35. PO4
3-
• Natural unpolluted water contains less than 0,1 mg/L of all the
PO4 (higher concentrations are caused by human pollution).
• Sources of pollution:
– phosphoric manures
– washing and detergents
– phosphating (transformation of metal surfaces into phosphates as a
protection from rusting)

36. NO2
-, NO3
-
• Nitrates (NO3
-) are the major polluters of
ground water and also of many fluent and
influent waters.
• Sources of pollution:
– artificial manures
– intensive stockbreeding
– poor infrastructure (sewage)
• The functioning key of nitrates is
transformation into nitrites (NO2
-).

37. NH4
+
• The presence of ammonium in water shows that the water was
in contact with rotting organic materials, fecals..

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Chemical Tests
• There are many different chemicals that can be found in our
drinking water
• Difficult and expensive to test for all chemicals so we need to
select a few that are a priority in the local area
– Iron, Manganese
– Arsenic, Fluoride
– Chlorine
– Total Dissolved Solids
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Iron and Health
• Need small amounts of iron in food to be healthy
• No health impact, no WHO Guideline value
• > 0.3 mg/L of iron
– Causes a bad taste
– Stains water pipes and well aprons
– Stains clothes during washing
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Arsenic and Health
• Light or dark spots on skin
• Hardening skin on palms and feet
• Causes cancer
• Babies and young children are most vulnerable
• Biggest chemical issue in developing countries, high priority for
WHO
• WHO Guideline < 0.01 mg/L
• Standards vary between countries
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Fluoride and Health
• Helps make teeth strong
and prevents decay at low
doses (0.5 – 1.0 mg/L)
• Higher doses are not good
for teeth (1.5 – 4.0 mg/L)
• Very high doses harms the
skeleton (> 10 mg/L)
• WHO Guideline < 1.5 mg/L
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42. Salinity: a measure of dissolved ions
• Salinity is a measure of the dissolved cations and
anions in water bodies. It can be chlorides,
sodium, etc…
• Salinity is measured in parts salt per thousand
parts water (PPT) or referred as PSU (practical
salinity units)
• Since salt is comprised of ions, conductivity could
be measured to determine salinity (most accurate
method)

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Chlorine for Disinfection
• Two things happen when we add chlorine to
water:
1. Some chlorine reacts with organic matter to
form new chemicals – Combined Chlorine
2. Some chlorine is left over – Free Chlorine
Total Chlorine = Combined + Free
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44. ONGOING RESEARCH AT
COREVALLEYS
LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF WATER
 Test kits for water
 Ensuring water potability through analytical testing
 Ensuring wastewater is safe to be discharged into the
city sewage or ground water.
 Ensuring the safety of water used for dialysis or other
hospital purpose
 Water quality for cleaning infections, laundry or food
processing.

45. ONGOING RESEARCH AT
COREVALLEYS
 Helping the small and medium scale food industries by
functioning as an R and D laboratory.
 Ensuring that processed food is up to the standards of
FSSAI
 Helping the manufacturer to maintain the sanitation
standards in raw material & finished products
 Helping them maintain the minimum amount of
preservatives and colors in the processed foods.
LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF FOOD

46. ONGOING RESEARCH AT COREVALLEYS
Product development
• Garlic Sauce (completed)
• Roasted chilli chutney
• Cholesterol lowering supplement from Fenugreek
• Protein Powders development for various classes
• Malnutrition Supplements for various weaker groups (WHO project)
• Nutritional Supplement to replace the Amrutham powder in
Anganavadis
• To improve the taste and flavor of coconut Vinegar
• Ready to drink, drinks based on lemon, mint and Green tea
• Ready to drink, drinks from Nata de coco
• Isolation of Natural products from plant extracts and further study

47.  Nutrition Labels
 Shelf life study
 Ingredient and additive optimization
 Sensory Analysis
 Chemical and Microbiological
optimization
 Swab analysis
 Consultancy
 BSc and MSc Academic Projects
 Training
We are also involved in..

48. Acknowledgements
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Shijil VK
Amrutha Vijay
Lekha R
Dhanesh P
& Anjali