| Coagulation and Flocculation | Coagulants destabilize fine particles, while gentle mixing brings them together into larger flocs for separation. | Turbidity Suspended solids Natural organic matter Color | Municipal drinking-water treatment, surface-water clarification, and industrial process-water pretreatment. | Efficiently removes particles that do not settle readily and can reduce the load on downstream filters. | Requires accurate chemical dosing and pH control. Produces chemical sludge that must be thickened, dewatered, and disposed of properly. | Rapid mixing, flocculation, sedimentation, dissolved air flotation, or clarification followed by filtration. |
| Sedimentation and Clarification | Gravity separates denser suspended particles from water after adequate floc formation. | Settled solids Flocs Turbidity | Large-scale municipal treatment, wastewater treatment, and industrial water clarification. | Simple, energy-efficient, and suitable for treating large water flows. | Does not reliably remove dissolved salts, dissolved organic compounds, microorganisms, or very small colloids without additional treatment. | Coagulation and flocculation upstream; sand filtration or other polishing treatment downstream. |
| Multimedia Filtration | Water passes through layers of media with different densities and particle sizes to capture suspended matter throughout the filter bed. | Turbidity Suspended solids Iron particles Manganese particles | Municipal water, groundwater treatment, cooling-water pretreatment, and reverse-osmosis pretreatment. | Provides greater solids-loading capacity than a single-media filter and supports stable flow rates. | Requires periodic backwashing. Performance declines when oil, excessive organic matter, or heavy solids enter the filter. | Coagulation, clarification, oxidation, or cartridge filtration, depending on raw-water quality. |
| Activated Carbon Adsorption | Porous carbon adsorbs many dissolved organic compounds and certain chemicals onto its internal surface. | Chlorine Taste and odor compounds Pesticides Some VOCs | Drinking-water polishing, point-of-use systems, food and beverage water, and dechlorination before membrane treatment. | Improves taste and odor and can reduce a broad range of trace organic contaminants. | Does not remove most dissolved salts. Media can become exhausted and may support microbial growth if poorly maintained. | Particle filtration upstream; disinfection or ultraviolet treatment may be required downstream. |
| Ion Exchange | Functional groups on resin beads exchange unwanted ions in water for relatively harmless counter-ions. | Hardness ions Nitrate Specific metals Alkalinity-related ions | Water softening, boiler feedwater preparation, nitrate reduction, and production of demineralized water. | Highly selective and capable of achieving low concentrations of targeted ions. | Resin capacity is finite. Regeneration uses salt, acid, or alkali and creates a concentrated waste stream. Suspended solids and oxidants may damage some resins. | Pre-filtration, activated carbon dechlorination, pH adjustment, or reverse osmosis, depending on the resin type. |
| Ultrafiltration (UF) | A pressure-driven membrane process that retains suspended solids, colloids, bacteria, and many high-molecular-weight materials. | Bacteria Colloids Macromolecules Turbidity | Surface-water clarification, drinking-water treatment, wastewater reuse, and pretreatment for reverse osmosis. | Produces consistent filtrate quality and generally has lower energy demand than reverse osmosis. | Usually does not remove dissolved salts, hardness, or many small dissolved organic molecules. Membrane fouling requires cleaning and backwashing. | Screening, coagulation, cartridge filtration, periodic backwashing, and chemically enhanced cleaning. |
| Nanofiltration (NF) | A pressure-driven membrane process with tighter separation than UF; it partially rejects multivalent ions and many organic molecules. | Hardness Color Natural organic matter Some pesticides | Water softening, color removal, surface-water treatment, and selective reduction of dissolved contaminants. | Can reduce hardness and organic compounds at lower pressure than many reverse-osmosis systems. | Does not provide complete desalination. The concentrate stream requires management, and scaling or fouling can reduce performance. | Particle removal, activated carbon where needed, antiscalant dosing, and pH adjustment. |
| Reverse Osmosis (RO) | High pressure drives water through a semipermeable membrane while retaining most dissolved salts and many contaminants. | Dissolved salts Fluoride Heavy metals Nitrate Microorganisms | Desalination, drinking-water purification, laboratory water, pharmaceutical water, and industrial process water. | Provides broad contaminant reduction and can produce low-total-dissolved-solids water. | Consumes electrical energy, produces a concentrate stream, and requires effective pretreatment to control scaling, fouling, and membrane damage. | Multimedia filtration, activated carbon or dechlorination, cartridge filtration, antiscalant dosing, and post-treatment stabilization. |
| Distillation | Water is vaporized and then condensed, leaving behind many nonvolatile impurities. | Dissolved salts Heavy metals Microorganisms Nonvolatile contaminants | Laboratory water, specialized industrial processes, and applications requiring very low mineral content. | Can achieve high-quality water and provides effective microbial control through boiling and condensation. | Generally energy-intensive and slower than membrane processes. Volatile compounds may carry over unless additional controls are used. | Pre-filtration, degassing, activated carbon, or polishing treatment when volatile contaminants are a concern. |
| Ultraviolet (UV) Disinfection | Ultraviolet light damages the genetic material of microorganisms and prevents them from reproducing. | Bacteria Viruses Protozoa | Drinking-water disinfection, point-of-use treatment, food processing, aquaculture, and water reuse. | Does not add chemicals and leaves no disinfectant taste or residual by-products in the treated water. | Does not remove dissolved chemicals, particles, or salts. Effectiveness depends on UV dose, lamp condition, and water clarity; it provides no lasting residual protection. | Fine filtration to reduce turbidity and regular lamp-sleeve cleaning and replacement. |
| Chemical Disinfection | Oxidizing disinfectants inactivate microorganisms and may provide a residual throughout the distribution system. | Bacteria Viruses Some protozoa | Municipal drinking-water distribution, emergency water treatment, wastewater disinfection, and storage tanks. | Provides residual protection and is suitable for treating water after it leaves the treatment plant. | Requires controlled dosing and contact time. Some disinfectants can form disinfection by-products when reacting with natural organic matter. | Clarification and filtration before disinfection; dechlorination may be required for certain industrial or ecological applications. |
| Electrodeionization (EDI) | Ion-exchange membranes, resins, and an electric field continuously remove ions without chemical regeneration. | Dissolved ions Silica Low-conductivity polishing | Pharmaceutical manufacturing, laboratory systems, electronics production, and high-purity process water. | Produces consistent high-purity water and reduces the need to handle regeneration chemicals. | Requires relatively low-salt feedwater and careful pretreatment. It is not a substitute for primary desalination and can be affected by hardness, carbon dioxide, and organic fouling. | Reverse osmosis, carbon filtration, ultraviolet treatment, and fine filtration. |