Written history dating from 2000 B.C. includes information on water treatment to give water a better taste. Ancient Greek and Sanskrit scrolls tell about gravel filtration, straining, and boiling water. Their goal was not for clean, pure water, but for it to simply tasted better than water from a stagnant pond. Egyptians began flocculating water after 1500 B.C. with alum, which joined and settled particles to the bottom of containers. Hippocrates’ bag filter and Archimedes water screw appeared within 250 years of each other, followed quickly by the first Roman aqueducts. Water filters for domestic use in the 18th century were wool, charcoal, and sponge. The first municipal water treatment plant was built in Scotland in 1804. The cholera epidemic led to water disinfection by chlorine in 1854.

Today, many of the principles begun thousands of years ago are still applied to water treatment plants, although the chemicals and methods may have changed as technology improved. Bell Chem is your water treatment chemical supplier, carrying a vast array of cleansers, flocculants, sanitizers, coagulants, and chemicals to keep your water supply healthy and your equipment performing at its peak.

Water treatment involves many components to give consumers the freshest, safest water possible. To meet this need, a variety of chemical families aid in the transformation of water into a portable form.

• Silicones, such as T-Guard, T-Sil 10 CST, TA-10X, TE-600, TA-D, and T-Sil 1000CS are defoamers.

• Oxidizing bleaching agents include sodium hypochlorite (bleach), and peroxides – hydrogen peroxide and sodium percarbonate, for example – that also disinfect and stabilize pH.

• Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) is a decomposing agent for proteins.

• Aluminum sulfate acts as a coagulant.

• pH increasers include calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate, and sodium hydroxide, which have the added advantage of not causing water hardness.

• Water softeners used in water treatment systems include lime and potassium chloride.

• Citric acid acts as a filtration cleaner.

Water quality is of vital importance and the water treatment chemical supplier of Florida, Bell Chem, strives to keep the most reliable products in stock for its customers. Read our blogs or call Bell Chem at 407-339-2355 (BELL) or visit www.bellchem.com to learn how our products can help your industrial or municipal water treatment facility.