"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Centralized Water Treatment
03/16/25
“How can we treat water for a city in a centralized location?”
Water has to be treated before it reaches a city. Dense urban areas often use Centralized Water Treatment. This involves coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection.
Colloids
03/15/25
“Are there substances that are neither suspended nor diluted in another substance?”
When people talk about substances that exist in another substance, it’s common to place them as being either suspended or diluted. However, a mixture exists between them. These substances, termed Colloids, exist between 1 to 1000 nanometers in size (to small to be visible to the naked eye) and do not settle out over time. Examples of colloids include jello, shaving cream, and milk.
Why Colloids Are Hard to Remove From Drinking Water
03/14/25
“Why are colloids hard to remove from drinking water?”
Colloids are substances dissolved in another substance but microscopic and non-settling. These properties make colloids hard to remove from drinking water because they’re difficult to visually detect, can pass through filters easily, and are stabilized in water through electrostatic charges. This is Why Colloids Are Hard to Remove From Drinking Water.
Confined Aquifers
03/13/25
“What are aquifers between confining beds?”
Aquifers can be found everywhere on the globe. Aquifers resting between confining beds are called Confined Aquifers. Confined aquifers are under pressure from all sides, so when a hole is breached in the top layer the water will shoot out. Confined aquifers are what power artesian wells.
Image credit: https://www.dnr.wa.gov
Flocculation
03/12/25
“How can we use substances to remove colloids from water?”
Colloids are incredibly difficult to remove from water due to their small size and electrostatic charges. However, we can remove them by adding a charged substance to water to remove the negative charge of the colloids, pulling them away from the water, and then adding other substances to bind the colloids together that can be later settled out. This Flocculation is vital for many forms of water filtration.
Image credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/
Unconfined Aquifers
03/11/25
“What happens when a confining bed does not cover an aquifer?”
Aquifers are found all over the world. Aquifers that are not covered with a confining bed are labeled Unconfined Aquifers. Unconfined aquifers are more susceptible to pollutants and can vary greatly depending on weather conditions.
Image credit: https://waterjournalistsafrica.com/
Aquifer Confining Beds
03/10/25
“How can aquifers be confined by a geological feature?”
Aquifers form when water percolates down through soil to porous rocks. Sometimes, there’s a geological feature that impedes the movement of water above an aquifer. These are called Aquifer Confining Beds and play a vital role in aquifer mechanics.
Image credit: https://books.gw-project.org/
Artesian Wells
03/09/25
“How can we harness artesian pressure for water use?”
Groundwater can exert heavy artesian pressure on aquifer barriers. If someone opens up the barrier, the water will come shooting out from the pressure. This can be harnessed to make Artesian Wells that don’t rely on pumps to bring water to the surface.
Image credit: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/
Artesian Pressure
03/08/25
“Why does some aquifer water shoot up by itself?”
We typically associate groundwater extraction from an aquifer as an energy-intensive process. But some groundwater goes up by itself. This is because, in confined aquifers, the groundwater naturally exerts a lot of pressure, but it is kept down by an impermeable layer. When this layer is removed, the water will shoot up from the Artesian Pressure biding it.
Image credit https://irp.cdn-website.com/
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