Water supply engineering is about the development of different sources,

supplies, distribution and treatment of water. In order to understand more about this
matter, let's discuss first about water. Water can be in a form of solid(glaciers),
liquid(ocean,river,lakes etc.) and gas(vapors). Water experiences what we
call hydrologic cycle or water cycle, in which explains how the water renews its sources.
First, when the sun heats the ocean and lakes, water evaporates and rises into the
air. Then, the water vapor cools and condenses to become droplets, which form clouds
also called as condensation. Afterwhich, if enough water condenses, the drops become
heavy enough to fall to the ground as rain and snow, which is called precipitation. Then
lastly it goes as a runoff which goes back to the ocean and repeats the process of water
cycle again. Water is divided into two types which is saline(saltwater) and freshwater.
Salt water is composed of 97% of earth's waters while 3% is composed of freshwater.
Surface water, ground water and rain waters are mainly used for natural drinking.
Due to development and innovation, engineers have devised a typical water
supply system in order to preserve and use our sources. The typical water supply
system finds raw water from a source that is potentially useful. Then the water from the
source undergoes treatment in order for it to be used by people, and l astly it is distributed
to the consumers. We have different water resources in Metro Manila which are:
Laiban Dam, Kanan Dam, Agos Dam, Kaliwa Low Dam, Marikina River, Wawa Dam, Laguna
Lake, and Angat Dam. This water resources acts as storage for our water supply
because, dams are a solid barrier constructed at a suitable location across a river valley
to store flowing water. It is divided into two types whoch are storage dam, used to
impound surplus water, and diversion dam, which is used for irrigation and reservoir.
For the geographical location of our dams, our water resources first flow
in Umiray to Angat Dam then to Ipo Dam going to the aqueducts and finally to the treatment
plant.
Our water supply is treated in order to remove the coliforms and different impurities
that prevents the water for being potable. There are kinds of impurities in the water, first
is suspend solids which increases the temperature of the water, turbidity and
discoloration. Next is dissolved solids, which are chemicals that causes hard water and
changes the taste and odor of water. Lastly is the living organism which carries the
water borne diseases. We treat our water from this impurities in order to increase its
quality. Water quality is the characteristics of water with respect to its suitability for
drinking. There are different parameters that indicates the quality of water: First is
Turbidity, which is the cloudiness of water and its limit is 5NTU. Second is pH, which
measures the basicity and acidity of water and its limit is 6.5-8.5 mg/L. Third is the
residual chlorine which indicates the analysis of microbial occurence and its limit is 0.3-1.5
mg/L. Fourth is Microbiological Parameter, which contains the potential pathogens in
the water and its maximum level is <1.1 MPN/100 ml. Fifth is Color which indicates
what substances is in the water, its limit for True is 5PCU while for apparent its
10PCU. Afterwhich is the odor and taste and lastly is the total dissolved solids which is
the measure of combined content of all organic and inorganic substances contained in a
liquid.
Water treatment is any process that makes water more acceptable for a specific
end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow
maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, including being safely returned to
the environment. Water treatment removes contaminants and undesirable components,
or reduces their concentration so that the water becomes fit for its desired end-use. For
its process, first the water undergoes screening, which prevents foreign objects such as
grass, leaves, tree limbs and other large floatables to enter the process. Then it
undergoes aeration, it is the process of bringing water and air into close contact and
removes dissolved/trapped gases, such as carbon dioxide. After that coagulation is
done, which promotes aggregation of small particles in to large particles by rapid mixing.
Then the next step is flocculation, which is the formation of small particles into big ones
(flocs), ready for sedimentation process. Afterwhich, sedimentation is the next step
which are used to settle out the floc before going to the filter. Lastly filtration
which seperates suspended solid matter from a liquid, by causing the latter to pass through
the pores of some substance, called a filter and then disinfection is done to remove and
filter out the harmful pathogens.
Maynilad is really essential for treating and distributing water from our respective
houses, without their help we will not have clean, potable and useable water in our homes
because they provide safe, affordable and sustainable water solutions that enables us
to have healthier and more comfortable lives.