South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 85–92

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South African Journal of Chemical Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sajce

Assessment of drinking water treatment and disinfection by-products

Dessalegn Geleta Ebsa a, *, Wakjira Takala Dibaba b
a
Water Supply and Environmental Engineering Department, Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Ethiopia
b
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering Department, Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Ethiopia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Water treatment plants and disinfection by-products are a worldwide problem in the provision of drinking water
Chlorination with disinfectants. However, in countries like Ethiopia, studies on the condition of water treatment plants and
DBPs the risks they pose are scarce. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate the drinking water treatment plants of
Simulation
Jimma Town. The WatPro v4 simulation was used to evaluate the performance of the water treatment plant and
Treatment plant unit
WatPro v4
disinfection. The results show that the treatment efficiency of the study was estimated to be 69.75%, while
giardia and virus were reduced by 22.6% and 75.34%, respectively, and did not meet the requirements for
surface water treatment. Furthermore, the contact time of the water system did not meet the contact time
requirement (it should be great than one), but it was 0.476 for this study, and the current water distribution
network and treatment plant of Jimma town were underperforming and did not provide adequate water to the
various demand categories. Due to the poor performance of water treatment plants, the health and economic
well-being of the majority of the population is seriously affected, and some people refuse to drink it, preferring to
treat it at home instead. Disinfection of drinking water (chlorination) causes some to react with naturally
occurring organic matter or waterborne diseases, while others exist as free chlorine or residual chlorine, pro­
ducing the disinfection by-products (DBP), increased risk of bladder cancer and other human health effects.
Therefore, the study strongly suggests that DBP and their precursors be removed following chlorination. We
believe that the study provided new and updated insights on the treatment condition and DBP risk, which could
aid decision-makers, planners and stakeholders in monitoring actions to reduce the health risks associated with
DBPs in drinking water.

1. Introduction to slowly settling flocs or increase the toughness and prevent the par­
ticles from collapsing in subsequent processes (Singh and Mahanta,
Raw water from the surface water, lake, or reservoirs is drawn into 2021; Yahya et al., 2020). Salts of Aluminum or iron are the most
the plant through an intake structure for treatment and sent to the dis­ commonly used coagulation chemicals in water treatment due to their
tribution system to reach or satisfy the customers (Koop and van Leeu­ effectiveness, relatively low cost, availability, and ease to handle, stor­
wen, 2015). The main treatment process units that make up the age, and application (Capt et al., 2021).
conventional surface water treatment are water intake; screening; The common design parameters that affect the efficiency of coagu­
coagulation/flocculation; sedimentation; filtration, and disinfection. lation are mixing intensity and detention time (Muranho et al., 2014).
The coagulation and flocculation treatment unit process is used to The most common problems that usually occur in the coagulation pro­
remove color, turbidity, algae, and other microorganisms from surface cess are under or over-dosing, mixing of insufficient energy, fouling or
waters (Loucks and van Beek, 2017). The addition of chemical co­ clogging of injectors or diffusers, and side reactions (Maiolo and Pan­
agulants to water forms precipitates or flocs that trap the contaminants. tusa, 2019). Most of the time coagulation and flocculation inter counter
The most commonly used coagulants are aluminum sulfate and ferric as the pre-chlorination for surface water treatment plants and it may not
sulfate, but other coagulants are also available (Popawala and Shah, be used for groundwater, whereas chlorination is common for both
2011; Krueger et al., 2020; Richter et al., 2018). Coagulation can be surface and groundwater sources typically to eliminate or inactivate
either a primary coagulant or coagulant aid. Primary coagulants are microbiological populations (Anisha et al., 2016; Salunke et al., 2018;
used to destabilize and agglomerate particles which helps to add density Mehta and Joshi, 2019).

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (D.G. Ebsa).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajce.2022.05.003
Received 1 October 2021; Received in revised form 22 April 2022; Accepted 11 May 2022
Available online 18 May 2022
1026-9185/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
D.G. Ebsa and W.T. Dibaba South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 85–92

Table 1 desired level of microorganism killing or deactivation, and secondary

Baffling conditions with their baffling factors. disinfection maintains disinfectants residual in the finished drinking
Condition Description Df water to prevent the regrowth of microorganisms as water passes
through the distribution system (Mala-Jetmarova et al., 2018; Chaud­
Un baffled None, agitated basin, very low length to width ratio, high inlet, 0.1
and outlet flow velocities. hari et al., 2017). Different chemicals are used in water treatment plants
Poor Single or multiple un baffled inlets and outlets, no intra-basin 0.3 for disinfection of microorganisms that may alter residual chemicals,
baffles. and this primary disinfection happens early in the source water treat­
Average Baffled inlet or outlet with some intra-basin baffles. 0.5 ment, prior to sedimentation or filtration (Mavi and Vaidya, 2018). No
Superior Perforated inlet baffle, serpentine or perforated intra-basin 0.7
baffles, outlet weir, or perforated launders.
residue is produced in this treatment step, but the disinfectant (chlorine)
or disinfection by-product used may be present in the stream of residual
Source: EPA, water treatment manual; disinfection, 2011 (Koop and van Leeu­ waste from the water treatment plant (filter backwash). Secondary
wen, 2015) Evaluation of contact time for water system.
disinfection occurs at the end of water source treatment when the
finished drinking water is clear (Apreutesei et al., 2008). This disinfec­
Table 2
tion step is used to maintain a disinfectant residue in the finished
Inactivation table of microorganisms or natural organic matter. drinking water to prevent microbial re-growth, but this process does not
produce any residue. However, water from the clear well (treated water
Disinfectants Giardia reduction Virus reduction Crypto reduction
dosage (mg/l) (log(10)) (log(10)) (log(10))
in a reservoir) can be used to backwash the filter. As a result, the
disinfectant added to the finished drinking water can be part of the filter
6 22.5643 75.3254 2
backwash (Mehta, 2019; Desta and Befkadu, 2020). Chlorine and chlo­
6.09444 22.7747 75.3254 2
6.13889 22.9882 75.3254 2 ramines are effective secondary disinfectants, and when chlorine is
7.58333 23.183 75.3254 2 added to water, it produces nascent oxygen, which kills the bacteria
9.02778 23.4024 75.3254 2 which is cheap and most reliable when dissolved it’s in water, chlorine
10.4722 23.6027 75.3254 2 gas quickly forms hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which in turn, dissociates
11.9176 23.8055 75.3254 2
13.3611 23.9881 75.3254 2
into hypochlorite ion (OCl− ) (Datturi et al., 2015; Onyango et al., 2010;
14.8056 24.196 75.3254 2 Bhatt and Paneria, 2017).
16.25 24.3832 75.3254 2 Given the need for more assurance about the quality of the water the
community consume, as well as the requirement for safer drinking
water, the goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of treat­
Table 3 ment units and DBP formation for Jimma town water supply using
Disinfectant by-products (DBPs) trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids WatPro v4 software. The findings of the study have a significant
(HAAs). contribution to the decision-makers, practitioners and the community of
Disinfectants dosage (mg/l) TTHMs (ug/L)) HAA5 (ug/L) Chlorite (ug/L)
Jimma and other areas in terms of examining the effectiveness of the
water treatment plant, evaluating its efficiencies and identifying factors
6 0.0716945 1.45429 0
influencing components of the treatment plant.
4.09444 0.0820115 1.92986 0
6.13889 0.0900406 2.3829 0
7.58333 0.0967059 2.82023 0 2. Methods and materials
9.02778 0.102097 3.24909 0
10.4722 0.106796 3.66928 0
2.1. Study area description
11.9167 0.110798 4.08421 0
13.3611 0.114425 4.4929 0
14.8056 0.117346 4.90108 0 The study area was found in Jimma town, which is located at a
16.25 0.120056 5.30447 0 distance of 3450 km west of Finfinnee at 9◦ 5′ N and 36◦ 33′ E. Based on
the 1:50,000 scale topographic map of the Ethiopian mapping author­
ities, the elevation of the town varies between 1760 and 2180 above
Table 4 mean sea level and with a total area of 3580 hectares.
Treated water output summary of WatPro 4.0 simulation results.
Parameter Criteria Value Unit
2.2. Existing water treatment plant

Disinfectants
The existing water treatment plant in Jimma town was used to treat
Effluent Chlorine 4 2 mg/L
Effluent Chlorine Dioxide 0.8 0 mg/L drinking water and conveyed to the end-users via the distribution net­
Effluent Chloramine’s 1 0 mg/L works. The design of the treatment plant was having a pre-treatment
DBPs unit, a horizontal roughing filtration unit and a rapid sand filtration
TTHMs 100 0.0918659 ug/L
unit. The chemicals like alum, lime, and chlorine were added to the
HAA5s 100 2.49309 ug/L
Chlorite 1 0 mg/L water following its sequences (coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation,
Total Giardia Reduction 6 23.0313 log(10) filtration, and chlorination). One of the popular methods of disinfection
Total Virus Reduction 7 75.3254 log(10) used for the town water treatment is disinfection by chlorine which has a
Total Crypto Reduction 2 2 log(10) great power of killing the diseases causing organisms (pathogens) but
Turbidity 0.5 1.25 NTU
chlorination has its side effect as an emerging disinfection by-product.
Thus, instead of chlorine if chlorine dioxide is used the amount of
The application of disinfectants in a potable water supply has been disinfection by-product is hugely reduced.
practiced for over a century and is considered one of the most effective
methods of public health protection. Chlorine was once the disinfectant 2.3. Water treatment simulation: WatPro
of choice, but other chemicals such as chlorine dioxide, chloramines,
and ozone have recently been utilized to purify water (Bhatt and WatPro is a useful program for analyzing and designing a water
Paneria, 2017). Disinfection takes place in two ways in water treatment treatment system. In this program, engineers can create a simulation of a
plants (primary and secondary). Primary disinfection achieves the water treatment plant and predict water quality with specific parame­
ters. It is a steady-state water treatment-modeling program, with a focus

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D.G. Ebsa and W.T. Dibaba South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 85–92

Fig. 1. Existing water treatment system layout of Jimma town.

Fig. 2. Process flow diagram of the Jimma town drinking water treatment plants using chlorination.

Fig. 3. Data entry window of flocculator generated by WatPro 4.0.

on disinfection and disinfection by-products. Although other aspects of ammonia) and design and operating characteristics of process tanks.
water treatment processes are supported, these are of lesser significance WatPro was required for the simulation of water treatment to identify
within the package’s scope. The information in this section is taken from the formation of DBPs (trihalomethanes chlorite (THMs), haloacetic
the WatPro user guide (Hydromantic, 2004). WatPro 4.0 used raw water acids (HAAs), chlorate, calculate contact time (Ct) for any location in the
quality parameters to simulate water treatment i.e. pH, turbidity, re­ treatment system, and compare the inactivation of viruses and Giardia
sidual chlorine, and chemical dosages (e.g. Alum, ferric chloride, lime, by chlorine, ozone, chlorine dioxide, and chloramines.

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D.G. Ebsa and W.T. Dibaba South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 85–92

Fig. 4. Schematic chlorine contact tank (CCT). Source: Chlorination contact tank dimension consideration (Benson et al., 2017).

Fig. 5. Inactivation graph of microorganisms or natural organic matter graph.

Generally, WatPro can be used to model the formation of DBP, 2.4. Input data used for treatment plant simulation
calculating chlorine contact time (Ct) for any location in the treatment
system, optimizing plant operation by allowing chemical addition points The data required for a drinking water treatment simulation are the
to be varied or by tank baffling and estimating treated water quality for a characteristics of water, the layout of the water treatment plant, and the
proposed change in plant operation. required chemicals. These data were obtained from the Jimma town
The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of the water supply office and used as input to WatPro. The other data such as
performance of water treatment plants and support the use of water water quality (pH, turbidity, and residual chlorine) was obtained from
treatment simulators as development tools for disinfection processes. the town’s water supply laboratory technician. These input data
included daily recorded data which had been obtained since operation
and maintenance for each treatment unit, as well as availability and
method of shipment of treatment chemical types and chemical dosage,

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D.G. Ebsa and W.T. Dibaba South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 85–92

Fig. 6. Formation of disinfection by-products trihalomethanes, haloacetic, and chlorite graph.

Fig. 7. Water treatment steps of Jimma water treatment plant using process simulator WatPro 4.0.

such as CaO, and Ca(OH)2, Soda ash, Na2CO3, Ferric sulfate, Chlorine, operational performance of the disinfection process. The quality of
Sulfuric acid, H2SO4, Sodium hexametaphosphate and others. effluent treated water quality was employed to determine differences in
According to the Jimma town water service office, there is no suffi­ water quality among the three processes. The formation of DBPs, (THMs
cient laboratory equipment for the analysis of disinfection and disin­ and HAAs) in DBP effluent has been used to discover the convenience of
fection by-products such as haloacetic acids (HAAs), trihalomethanes each disinfection process.
(THMs), and chromite. Consequently, the study used WatPro v4.0
simulation to determine the condition of disinfection by-products for­
2.6. Evaluation of water treatment plant’s unit processes capability
mation and the presence of a number of microorganisms that would
harm public health.
The major unit processes included flocculation, sedimentation,
filtration, and disinfection units. Hence, the capabilities of major unit
2.5. Simulation and evaluation of disinfection processes processes were determined by using the following formulas:

A water treatment simulation was established for the disinfection a) Flocculation basin capability = Basin volume(m3)
Detention time (2.1)
processes (Chlorination) after the treatment plant of the town. The b) Sedimentation basin capability = Basin surface area (m2) * surface
simulation of chlorination was performed using the water treatment over flow rate (m/s) (2.2)
simulator WatPro v4 tool and three inactivation parameters were c) Filtration basin capability = Filter bed area (m2) * Filter loading rate
designated by the simulator tool, which evaluated the disinfection per­ (L/min/m2) (2.3)
formance for reduction of total giardia, reduction of a virus, and d) Chlorine contact time
reduction of crypto. The advantage of simulation analysis is that it
provides a convenient way to gain a broad understanding of the To inactivate viruses and bacteria using free chlorine, the

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D.G. Ebsa and W.T. Dibaba South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 85–92

disinfection treatment required before the first customer must be eval­

Actual contact time
uated. As per the result obtained from a laboratory expert on the water Inactivation ratio = (2.7)
required contact time
quality of Jimma water supply, the water at the entry point to the dis­
tribution system has free chlorine residual of 1.6 mg/L and the chlorine
is in contact with the water for 3 min between chlorine injection and 2.7. Evaluation of existing plant efficiency
entry point to the distribution system, CT is computed as follow;
Water treatment plants feature a number of treatment units, partic­ Most importantly, it is wise to verify if the treatment and supply
ularly flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection being the systems are efficiently performing their objectives. The core purpose of
most common. Equations 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3, as described below, were the system is to produce at least 99 L/s of clean water as given in the
used to determine the capabilities of these major treatment unit’s design report. Thus, 99 l/s or 8553.6 m3/day. However, it is identified
processes: that the current practical operation works at 170 × 1 pump or 4080 m3/
( ) day. Note that it does not bring any difference if it starts two (2) sets of
CT = Concentration of free chlorine Cmg/L ∗ contact time (minutes) (2.4)
raw water pumps because due to the dissolved iron and manganese as
well as other organic constituents in the raw water, it cannot expect the
a) Contact tank capacity of the clarifiers to hold more than this. However, only 2846 m3
of clean water every day in the distribution system (the current plant
In a water treatment plant, raw water is contacted with chlorine in a capacity). However, the treatment plant efficiency of the town can be
multi-chamber contact tank for a sufficient length of time to disinfect estimated as below;
pathogenic microorganisms at the final treatment step. Despite the fact
that viscous and turbulence effects are undeniably important in the flow water consumed
plant efficiency rate = ∗ 100 (2.8)
structure, chlorine contact tank’s (CCTs) have traditionally been water produced
designed using the concept of plug flow, in which the fluid parcels are
assumed to move with evenly distributed streamlines across the entire 3. Results and discussions
section of the chlorine contact tank’s chambers. The flow structure in
CCTs may contain recirculating flow zones that can lead to the formation 3.1. Performance of unit processes for water treatment plant
of jet flow adjacent to the internal baffles and this reduces the hydraulic,
mixing and energy efficiencies of the flow-through system. Therefore, 3.1.1. Flocculation
CCTs with low disinfection are not preferred and improvements in As per the design report document of DH Consultant, the total vol­
mixing efficiencies have been investigated through various design al­ ume of flocculator for eight units was 720 m3 and the detention time of
ternatives as shown in Fig. 3. the units was found to be 30 min. This time was found within the
The effective contact time was related to both the volume of the maximum recommended design range of 20–30 min. Thus, flocculation
contact tank and its design/structure. In the absence of any tracer test time does not allow the flocs to settle and form a scum on the walls and
data for the tank, an estimate from the effective contact time can: bottoms of the flocculator. The mixing energy (velocity gradient) from
( ) / ( / ) the design report was 86.1 s− 1. It was within the recommended design
Effective contact time (minutes) = tank volume m3 x 60 x Df flow m3 h range of the 45–90 s− 1. The head loss of the entire unit was 0.098 m,
(2.5) which was smaller than the design range of 0.35–0.5 m. Thus, parts of
Df is a factor related to the efficiency of the system to minimize short- the design parameters were within the recommended design range. This
circuiting through the tank. indicates that there was sufficient mixing and dispersion of coagulant
Contact time is a measurement of the length of time it takes for chemicals with the raw water. By using Eq. 2.2, the capacity of the
chlorine or other disinfectants to kill giardia at a given disinfectant coagulation tank was determined to be 34,560 m3/d. This shows that the
concentration. An operator measures the amount of contact time capacity of flocculation was greater than the current maximum water
available at the plant before the water goes out to the public to ensure demand of the town (34,560 m3/d > 6584.16 m3/d). Therefore, the
that 99.9% of giardia is either removed with filtration or inactivated Flocculation chamber works well, which is reflected in the supplemen­
with chlorine before the water gets to the public. As per the Jimma water tary result obtained from WatPro v4.
supply service office, no measurements have been taken for the CT
evaluation of the water system. However, this study tried to confirm the 3.1.2. Sedimentation
evaluation of CT for the water supply system of the town by the The total area of the two rectangular sedimentation basins is 120 m2.
following steps; The detention time (from the design report) was 4 h. This detention time
Step 1: Determine the time available in the basin at peak flow was much longer than the designed value of 3 h. This indicates that the
flocculated water is spending more time than the required design and
Time(min) =
basin volume (m3) ∗ baffling factor
(2.6) the plant is operating at about half of the designed flow to the sedi­
peak hourly flow (m3/min) mentation basin. From Eq. 3.10, sedimentation capability was found to
Step 3: Find the required Contact Time (CT) from the tables at peak be 3000 m3/d. This shows that the performance of the sedimentation
flow basin is below the town’s maximum day demand (6584.16 m3/d). Op­
Determine the CT required by the Environmental Protection Agency, erators reported that routine removal of sludge from sedimentation
by looking up the CT from the CT tables provided in the EPA guidance basins was not carried out. The sludge was removed once in three
manual using the measurements that have been taken from the water months. The sludge deposit in the settling basin was almost half of the
quality expert; 6.5 pH, 20 ◦ C of temperature, and 1.6 chlorine total depth. This indicates that too much flocs have accumulated at the
concentration. bottom of the basin for a long period, resulting in septic and sludge
Step 4: Does your water system meet CT requirements accumulation. This could result in short-circuits that limit sedimentation
Compute the inactivation ratio by dividing the actual contact time by performance as a result obtained from WatPro v4 simulator indicates.
the required contact time. If the ratio is greater than 1, then the water Therefore, proper hydraulic load adjustment and sludge removal cycle
system met its contact time requirements. planning are essential.

3.1.3. Filtration
The filtration rates (from the design report of the DH Consultant)

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D.G. Ebsa and W.T. Dibaba South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 85–92

were averaged 3.5 m/h. This indicates that the filter was operating stated above. Thus, result from the WatPro for Giardia reduction and/
below the recommended design load range of 5–15 m/h. The lower inactivation is 22.6% (log-3) and for viruses removal and / inactivation
filter-load factors reduced the potential for filter performance. This al­ is 75.34% (log-4). Therefore, such a result complies with the treatment
lows the filter to operate at a higher load factor and generate more requirements i.e. surface water treatment rule so that in case of giardia,
filtered water than the present quantity. From Eq. 2.3, the filtration viruses, and crypto inactivation and/or removal the treatment plant of
capability was 4354.56 m3/d. As a result, the municipal filter basin was the town does not have good performance. For various amounts of dis­
not performing in good condition to meet the maximum water demand. infectants, the following are the results tabulated (Table 2):
Therefore, proper adjustment of the filter loading rate and filtration Hence, from the above table, it is a fact that the amount of disin­
capacity is paramount to improving it and delivering the amount of fectant can affect the reduction and / inactivation of Giardia (log-3) but
water demand by the town population. for the reduction and/ inactivation of viruses (log-4) and for crypto
reduction it is almost constant. Therefore, it is recommended that in
3.1.4. Chlorine contact time order to increase the reduction/ or inactivation of giardia the disinfec­
As per the information suggested under Section 2.6 and using Eq. tant dosage should be enhanced. The following graph (Fig. 4) shows
(2.5), the chlorine contact time result was 4.8 mg-min/L. The results more details of the above statement.
were below the required contact time of 6 mg-min/L. Therefore, this
result indicates that the chlorine added was inadequate because the 3.5. Disinfection by-product (DBP) formation
contact time of chlorine was shorter than the standard value i.e. 4.8 > 6
mg-min/L. This means that to inactivate viruses and bacteria with free While chlorine has been effective for reducing most microbial
chlorine, the disinfection treatment required before the first customer pathogens to safe levels, but it reacts with natural products in water to
must be at least 6 mg - minutes per liter (6 mg-min/L) (www.doh.wa. form trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) as disinfec­
gov/drinkingwater). Therefore, in the case of disinfection by chlorine, tant by-products (DBPs). Therefore, as the result obtained from the WTP
the chlorine contact time was not sufficient to inactivate the pathogen simulation the values of those DBPs are tabulated as below (Table 3);
because the contact time achieved was shorter than the required contact From Table 3, the result (numerical value) of disinfection by-
time and the disinfection efficiency was inadequate. Hence, with the products tabulated indicates that there was the existence of disinfec­
required contact time value of 6 mg-min/L, it is necessary to adjust the tion by-products (disease-causing pathogens) in the treatment plant of
free chlorine residual concentration or the chlorine contact time. the town. Thus, as the disinfectant dosage increases the value of Tri­
halomethanes and Haloacetic acid increases except for that of chlorite.
3.1.5. Contact tank So that their (disinfect by-product) existence may cause many effects on
As per the information suggested under Section 2.5 and by using Eq. the health life of the population. Therefore, the performance of the
(2.6), the result of the contact tank was 24 mg-min/L. Thus, this value treatment plant in the town did not have a good manner to treat the
shows that contact tanks were used at a contact time of 24 mg-min/L to drinking water to maintain the health life of the people. For more detail,
disinfect drinking water prior to distribution. Therefore, the contact the above table is illustrated in the following graph (Fig. 5);
time required for the chlorine contact tank requires 24 mg-min/L to The ongoing implemented treatment processes including chlorina­
achieve the disinfection efficiency. tion have been evaluated and simulated using WatPro 4.0 simulator for
Jimma town water treatment plants. The evaluation of the treatment
3.2. Contact time for water system processes was based on the potential for DBPs production and the dis­
infecting effectiveness. Output summary for the treated water was pre­
As described clearly under Section 2.7 and in Eq. (2.8), the result of sented in Table 4. Due to health risk factors, the DBP criteria score was
the inactivation ratio for the water supply system of the town was 0.476. the highest. Hence, DBP’s generation potential is crucial in the safety of
This shows that the value obtained (inactivation ratio) was less than the water disinfection assessment mandates.
required contact time (0.476 < 1), which means that the disinfection Effluent treated water quality obtained through the simulation of the
efficiency of the water system is poor. Therefore, this value meets the current chlorination process shows that this disinfection technique may
rules for treating surface water. The inactivation ratio must be greater involve serious flaws. Operation conditions like temperature, pH, and
than 1 to ensure contact time for the efficiency of the water system. contact time may have considerable influence on the disinfection suc­
These insights show that the water supply system is not functioning well cess of chlorination respecting pathogens elimination. Regarding DBPs
because of it did not meet the required contact time. generation, these factors have low or no significant impacts. The tem­
perature of the treated water was considered 20 ◦ C for simulation pur­
3.3. Existing plant efficiency poses during all treatment plant steps. Moreover, the water treatment
simulator software WatPro v4 has no temperature and time retention
In the same way, as discussed under Section 2.8 and Eq. (2.8), the control tool specific for chlorination contact tanks.
result of the existing plant efficiency was 69.75%. This indicates that the The flocculation-sedimentation basin’s performance is inefficient;
treatment plant of the town performs its duty at an efficiency rate of the reasons for this are high levels of suspended solids, which require a
69.75%. Since the plant performs poorly, the health life of the people is high chemical dosage, and, as a result, large DBP was generated in this
inevitably exposed to too many problems. Therefore, the existing effluent water. As compared to the recent study on Assessment of
treatment plant efficiency of the town is almost not performing in good Treatment Plant Performance and Water Quality Gondar, Ethiopia
condition to ensure the drinking water quality of the town. (Krueger et al., 2020), the study suggests that the Jimma town WTP
units and process operation need to be improved, re-designed to
3.4. Treatment requirements enhance the plant efficiency and DBP’s formation drinking water (Eqs.
(2.4), (2.7)).
According to the surface water treatment regulations, all community
and noncommunist public water systems that use a surface water source 4. Conclusions
or groundwater, a direct influence of surface water must achieve a
minimum of 99.9% (3-log) removal and/or inactivation of Giardia cysts, The current capacity of the raw water pumps delivering water to the
and a minimum of 99.99% (4-log) removal and/or inactivation of vi­ treatment plant was 2851.2 m3/d. In contrast, the current maximum
ruses. However, the result obtained from the treatment plant simulated water demand of the town was 6584.16 m3/d. This shows that the
by WatPro shows that the results obtained are lower than the standard current raw water pump’s capacity did not satisfy the required peak

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D.G. Ebsa and W.T. Dibaba South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 85–92

daily water demand of the town. Apreutesei, R.E., Catrinescu, C., Teodosiu, C., 2008. Surfactant-modified natural zeolites
for environmental applications in water purification. Environ. Eng. Manag. J. 7 (2),
The major capability of the unit process of the treatment plant was
149–161. https://doi.org/10.30638/eemj.2008.025.
found. Except for the sedimentation and filtration basin (their capacity is Benson, N.U., Akintokun, O.A., Adedapo, A.E. (2017). Disinfection byproducts in
less than the current peak daily demand i.e. 3000 m3/d < 6584.16 m3/ drinking water and evaluation of potential health risks of long-term exposure in
d and 4354.56 m3/d < 6584.16 m3/d, the other units have enough ca­ Nigeria. 2017(Mcl).
Bhatt, B.V., Paneria, D.B. (2017). Modernization in water distribution system. New
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effective measurements of the disinfection operation are low and hence Study: Experimental Investigation By WaterGEMS Software For Redesign of Water
the treatment plant performs its service at a rate of 69.75%. This in­ Distribution System of Bhavani Mata ESR. Review Study: Experimental Investigation
By WaterGEMS Software For Redesign of Water Distribution System of Bhavani Mata
dicates that the existing treatment plant efficiency in the town is not in a ESR. Guru Gobind Singh College of Engineering and Research Center, pp. 604–608.
good performance to ensure the drinking water quality of the town Datturi, S., Steenbergen, F.Van, Beusekom, M.Van, Kebede, S., & Ababa, A. (2015).
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The disinfection by-product was formed in the water distribution Desta, W.M., Befkadu, A., 2020. Customer and model based performance evaluation of
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resources management: a critical review of the city blueprint approach. Water
the current water distribution network and treatment plant of Jimma Resour. Manag. 29 (15), 5649–5670. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-015-1139-z.
town are inefficient and do not provide adequate water to meet the Krueger, E.H., Borchardt, D., Jawitz, J.W., Rao, P.S.C., 2020. Balancing security,
needs of various demand categories of the town. This is a clue that the resilience, and sustainability of urban water supply systems in a desirable operating
space. Environ. Res. Lett. 15 (3) https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6c2d.
treatment bearings typical contribute a great deal to the formation of Loucks, D.P., van Beek, E., 2017. Water resource systems planning and management: an
disinfection by-products in drinking water due to the carefulness addi­ introduction to methods, models, and applications. Water Resour. Syst. Plann.
tion of chlorine, as well as the coagulation/sedimentation/flocculation Manag. Introd. Methods Mod. Appl. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44234-1.
Maiolo, M., Pantusa, D., 2019. Sustainable water management index, swam_index.
process and the timely maintenance or operation of residual chlorine in Cogent Eng. 6 (1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2019.1603817.
the distribution system as described in Figs. 1, 2, 6, 7. Mala-Jetmarova, H., Sultanova, N., Savic, D., 2018. Lost in optimisation of water
Furthermore, to study the possible causes of Total trihalomethanes distribution systems? A literature review of system design. Water (Switzerland) 10
(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/w10030307.
(TTHM), a full evaluation of the efficiency of water treatment plants, as Mavi, T., Vaidya, D.R., 2018. Study and design of 24 /7 water supply distribution system
well as operating practices of the water treatment processes and the by Watergems. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Math. 7 (3), 481–486.
piped distribution network, is advised Total trihalomethanes. Mehta, V.N. (2019). Design and analysis of rural water supply system using branch 3.0
and water gems v8i for Nava Shihora region 2. 02.
Mehta, V.N., Joshi, G.S., 2019. Design and analysis of rural water supply system using
loop 4.0 and water gems V8i for Nava Shihora zone 1. Int. J. Eng. Adv. Technol. 9
Declaration of Competing Interest (1), 2258–2266. https://doi.org/10.35940/ijeat.F9087.109119.
Muranho, J., Ferreira, A., Sousa, J., Gomes, A., Marques, A.S., 2014. Technical
performance evaluation of water distribution networks based on EPANET. Procedia
We the authors declare that we have no conflict of interest con­ Eng. 70, 1201–1210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.02.133.
cerning the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article and Onyango, M.S., Masukume, M., Ochieng, A., Otieno, F., 2010. Functionalised natural
zeolite and its potential for treating drinking water containing excess amount of
any financial interest.
nitrate. Water SA 36 (5), 655–662. https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v36i5.61999.
Popawala, R., Shah, N., 2011. Evaluation of sustainability index for urban water
Acknowledgment management system 4, 267–270.
Richter, B.D., Blount, M.E., Bottorff, C., Brooks, H.E., Demmerle, A., Gardner, B.L.,
Herrmann, H., Kremer, M., Kuehn, T.J., Kulow, E., Lewis, L., Lloyd, H.K., Madray, C.,
First, we might wish to thank Almighty God for providing us with Mauney, C.I., Mobley, B., Stenseth, S., Strick, A.W., 2018. Assessing the
healthiness, wisdom, and strength throughout our duty and for helping sustainability of urban water supply systems. J. Am. Water Works Assoc. 110 (2),
40–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/awwa.1002.
us to complete this study. We would like to thank, the JIT instructors Salunke, M.P.S., Dumane, M.M.M., Kamble, M.S.P., Nalvade, O.S., Pondkule, S.P.,
who gave the feedback and comments on this research. We favor Binayke, R.A., 2018. An overview: water distribution network by using water gems
thanking Jimma University Institute of technology, which sponsored software. J. Adv. Sch. Res. Allied Educ. (2), 28–31. https://doi.org/10.29070/15/
56757. XV.
funds for this research and support. Singh, K., Mahanta, S., 2021. Sustainable urban water management strategies. Water
Resour. Dev. Manag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1472-9_2 (Issue
February).
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