Surface Water

What is surface water?

Surface water is water that is found directly on the surface of the Earth, is unbound and takes the form of streams, lakes or rivers, but also puddles. Surface water consists of rainfall water, groundwater/source water, and waste water.

Due to industrial, agricultural and general anthropogenic activities and emissions, surface water is becoming more and more polluted, putting entire ecosystems at risk.

How does surface water treatment work?

Surface water is heavily polluted as it is exposed in nature. It often contains both dissolved and undissolved substances (turbidity) and cannot be used as drinking water or for industrial purposes until after it has been treated.

The following methods are used depending on the substances in the water:

• Precipitation/flocculation: Adding precipitating agents helps to turn dissolved substances into solid matter after they cross over the solubility threshold, which can then be removed from the water.
• Filtration: Filtration is always required, whether by itself or following precipitation. If the composition of the water fluctuates a lot, we recommend using ultrafiltration.

The treated water can be used as cooling water, boiler feedwater or as service water, for example.

What units does Herco offer for surface water treatment?

A water analysis is generally always required due to weather-related fluctuations throughout the year. Depending on the composition of the water, we recommend our media filters - MF series or our UF filter units. We would be more than happy to advise you in selecting the right unit for you. Please take a look at our “Designing pre-treatment for reverse osmosis” webinar on our YouTube channel.