water purification and bottling

I recently visited a water factory. In the water factory, the water is purified to make it potable. We can’t drink water unless it is purified, otherwise it will not be safe.

I saw how the water is processed and packed.

This is how the water is purified. The water is collected from the bore well. The water is sent through pipes to bigger tanks. Some chlorine is added to clean the water. It is left in the tank for 1 hour, so that the heavy chemicals and organisms settles down. Then the settled water is transferred to another tank near it. This raw water is ready to be filtered in the factory.

The water is taken inside the factory. It is passed through the sand filter. The water is sent through filters or membranes whose holes will only let through extremely small particles. This filter traps relatively large particles which may be present in the water-things like dirt, sand, slime and grit.

After, that it is passes through the Activated carbon filter. Carbon filtration (also known as charcoal filtration), uses a process known as adsorption. Activated carbon filter removes foul smell and colour.

Then, the water is passed through the RO process (Reverse osmosis). In the RO process, the water is passes through many membranes with force. In the force, the impurities are left behind and only the pure water passes through. If 1 gallon of water is required, then 2 gallons of water has to be sent through RO because 1 gallon of it will be rejected. The rejected water is used for cleaning and watering plants.

Next, the water is passed through the UV light (Ultraviolet light). It is a disinfecting agent -- it kills microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses. The process uses no chemicals. Instead, the water is passed in a transparent tube through intense UV light inside a chamber. The UV light damages microorganisms at the cellular level, either killing them or causing them to lose the ability to replicate. A virus that can't replicate is harmless.

Then the water is pass through the 1 micron, 0.5 micron and 0.2 micron filter, meaning that nothing larger than 1 Micron will pass through these filters. So, if anything is killed by the ultraviolet light, it would be picked up by these filters. A 1 Micron filter is capable of removing viruses, bacteria and various other bugs.

Lastly the water is passed through the UV light again. Now the water is purified and is stored in the steel tanks.

Bottling

The water is ready to be bottled. There are small and big plastic bottles in different capacities (20 litres, 5 litres, 2 litres, 1 litre, 500ml and 300ml). The sleeve will have the brand name and it will have the brand details, capacity details, etc. The cap has the cost and the batch details. To print that, the caps are passed through a printer with a motion senser. When it senses that something is going under, it will print the cost and the batch details.

This is how the bottles and cans are filled with water.

First, the outer part of the plastic bottles and cans are washed with the rejected water

Next, the inner part of the bottles and cans are washed with the purified water. So that there won’t be any microorganisms inside the bottle and cans. Then, the water is filled in the bottles and cans and they are sealed.

Instead of carrying everything individually, they are packed as multipacks and are ready to be sold.

These packs are sent in truck to the shops for the consumers to buy.

I enjoyed the experience of watching how the water is processed and bottled.