ABSTRACT
The objective of water treatment is to produce an adequate and continuous supply of water that is chemically, bacteriologically and aesthetically pleasing. More specifi cally, water treatment must produce water that is:
(a) palatable (i.e. no unpleasant taste); (b) safe (i.e. does not contain pathogens or chemicals harmful to the consumer); (c) clear (i.e. free from suspended solids and turbidity); (d) colourless and odourless (i.e. aesthetic to drink); (e) reasonably soft (i.e. allows consumers to wash clothes, dishes, themselves, with-
out use of excessive quantities of detergents or soap); (f) non-corrosive (i.e. to protect pipework and prevent leaching of metals from
tanks or pipes); (g) low organic content (i.e. high organic content results in unwanted biological
growth in pipes and storage tanks that often affects quality).
