Water treatment is the process of cleaning the water and making sure it is safe for people to use, whether for drinking, washing, bathing or cooking. Almost every large city in the world treats its drinking water in some way.  Drinking water treatment plants select the processes necessary for their type of source water, as water can require different treatment based on where it comes from and the type of environment it flows through. Therefore, only the steps that are necessary for the particular type of supply are utilized.

Adapted from Pollution Probe's Drinking Water Primer

Clean Drinking Water. Source: TsjaIf you’re like most people in Canada, you have easy access to a good supply of drinking water. You just turn on your tap and out comes the water, ready to be used for drinking, bathing, and cooking. But not everyone in the world is as fortunate as Canadians. In fact, there are more than two billion people who don’t have an adequate supply of water.

Many of these people don’t have water close to where they live and have to carry their water by hand from the source to their homes. They might spend most of their day carrying water from the source to where they live. For others their source of water is both dirty and far away from their homes.

Most people in Canada either get their water from public utilities or private wells on their property. So just how does our water get into our homes? And how is it treated to make sure it is safe?

Adapted from Pollution Probe's Drinking Water Primer.

Wastewater is water that carries wastes from homes, businesses, and industries to municipal wastewater treatment plants. The characteristics of the wastewater vary depending upon the population density of the community, the type of industry in the local area, land uses, groundwater levels, and the degree of separation between stormwater and municipal wastewater.
Wastewater
Physically wastewater is usually characterized by a grey colour, musty odour. It is a mixture of water and dissolved or suspended solids.

Chemically wastewater is composed of organic and inorganic compounds as well as various gases. Organic components may consist of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and greases, oils, pesticides and phenols. Inorganic components may consist of heavy metals, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, chlorides, alkalinity and toxic compounds.

Biologically, wastewater contains various micro-organisms some which are of concern include protista (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and algae), plants (ferns, mosses, seed plants and liverworts), and animals.

Adapted from Environment Canada's Municipal Wastewater Sources and Characteristics.