Potable Water Flashcards

All 6 cards in this deck

What is potable water?

Water that is safe to drink: it has sufficiently low levels of dissolved salts and microbes.

True or false? Potable water is pure water in the chemical sense.

False. Potable water still contains dissolved substances, so it is not chemically pure.

What are the steps used to produce potable water from fresh water in the UK?
e.g. water taken from a river

1. Choose an appropriate source of fresh water: a river, stream, lake or borehole
2. Pass the water through filter beds to remove undissolved solids
3. Sterilise the water (chlorine, ozone or UV light) to destroy harmful microbes

Name three sterilising agents used to make water potable.

Chlorine, ozone, or ultraviolet (UV) light.

What are the two methods of desalinating salty or sea water?

Distillation, or a membrane process such as reverse osmosis.
Both require large amounts of energy.

Which process should a country with very little rainfall, a long coastline and plentiful energy supplies use to obtain most of its potable water?

Desalination of sea water, by distillation or reverse osmosis.