This is a guide about how dirty water becomes clean drinking water. Imagine there are tiny little things in water so small they can’t sink. These little things are like magnets that push each other away and float around in the water. To get rid of them, treatment plants add other positive magnets to the water. These positive magnets grab onto the grumpy magnets, making them clump together.
The clumps are big and heavy enough to sink out of the water or get filtered out. One type of magnet-adding chemical is called alum. It works by making snowflake-like filters that grab the little dirty specs. There are other magnet-adding chemicals too. And the best one to use depends on how much acid is in the water.
Before water reaches your home, it goes through a whole process, such as adding solid chemicals for water treatment. Then comes the fancy part. They add in some extra treatment to make the water taste better. That process keeps it from getting all stinky. On top of that, they test the water all the time to make sure it meets all the safety standards.
So, next time you take a big gulp of water from your glass, remember all the solid chemicals for water treatment that went into making it safe and healthy. One of the main processes they do is filter out any big chunks and gunk. You wouldn’t want to drink water with leaves or bugs in it. Municipalities use big filters to strain all that bad gunk out.
