Water School

Sedimentation in water treatment is a process in which water is cleaned by allowing solids to settle out of the water by gravity during treatment.

Potable water treatment is the process to purify water to make it acceptable to drink.  Most water treatment processes include some form or a combination of sedimentation, filtration, and chlorination.To view an illustration of the potable water treatment process at the East Williamson County Regional Water System, click here.

Reclaimed water is treated wastewater or effluent that can be used for certain beneficial purposes, such as irrigation, without first being returned to the water cycle.

Raw water is ground or surface water that is taken directly from its source without treatment. Typically, most water is considered to be raw until it is treated by a potable water treatment process.

Separate from sanitary water lines or wastewater sewers, storm sewers carry away surface rain runoff, street wash and snow melt via curb-side drains.  Also unlike sanitary sewers, these systems usually drain directly into a creek, river, or other body of water without treatment.  This is also how a lot of the trash ends up in our rivers and lakes.  Everything thrown out in the street or dumped in a street drain (storm drain) ends up in a nearby river or lake.Dumping hazardous substances into the...

Wastewater treatment plants are typically located near creeks and rivers.  The treated effluent is returned to the water cycle by being released into these waterways.  As water sources become less abundant, many municipalities have chosen not to release effluent into the water cycle; rather to reuse the effluent for irrigation and industrial purposes directly from the water discharged from the treatment plant.