WORLD WATER DAY, WHY IT IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN EVER
Friday 22nd March marks World Water Day, an event strongly endorsed by the United Nations, in 1992 at the Rio de Janeiro Conference, to send an important message around the world: water is a precious commodity and as such must be managed responsibly.
Prismatech is aware of this: in the beverage industry, water is the most important resource, not only as the main ingredient of every preparation, but also when operating various machines, as a heating or cooling liquid, or for the washing and sanitising processes of equipment.
But Prismatech goes further: it has decided to make its know-how available to provide companies with highly efficient water treatment systems that reduce the environmental footprint of production activities and manage water resources in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
How is water made fit for human consumption?
To be suitable for human consumption, water must comply with several safety parameters that guarantee its wholesomeness. To ensure that the water is free of bacteria or contaminants, it must undergo a series of drinking water treatments, so that the consumer can be sure of using a product that is healthy from a physical-chemical-microbiological point of view.
What are the stages of water treatment?
- Raw water extraction and storage: raw water is extracted from its source and stored in dedicated tanks.
- Flocculation and clarification: particles and impurities are separated from the pre-treated water.
- Disinfection and chlorination (PURI-TECH): filtered water undergoes a disinfection treatment with the addition of chlorine or other chemicals, as appropriate, to kill the bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms present.
- Filtration, ultrafiltration and purification (FLUI-TECH): Clarified water is filtered through sediment filters – such as sand filters, activated carbon filters (ACF), dual media filters and cartridge filters – to remove any impurities still present, to reduce residual mineral salts and substances that can alter the smell and taste of water.
- Reverse osmosis (OSMO-TECH): disinfected water is demineralised and deionised by passing through a semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane at high pressure that blocks most of the remaining undesirable contaminants such as dissolved salts, bacteria and pyrogens.
- Final disinfection (PURI-TECH): water that has undergone reverse osmosis (RO) treatment is now called ‘permeate’ and, to ensure a safe, quality end product, the water can be subjected to additional disinfection treatments using ultraviolet (UV disinfection) or ozone to inactivate pathogenic microorganisms without altering its taste, colour and odour.
- Remineralisation (REMIN-TECH): treated water is safe and free of harmful substances, but sometimes some treatments may also remove beneficial minerals. For this reason, a remineralisation process may be necessary in which essential minerals are added to restore or improve the mineral composition and chemical balance, ensuring that it contains an adequate amount of minerals for better quality, taste or conductivity. This step is very important and can be customised (depending on the characteristics of the treated water, local nutritional requirements or the particular needs of beverage producers).
- Treated water storage: treated water is ready to be used directly or collected in storage tanks.
Prismatech machinery
Prismatech machinery, which is constantly updated to meet changing market demands and consumer tastes, offers versatile solutions for water production of water of different varieties and types, and always guarantees compliance with the highest standards of quality, safety and wholesomeness.
In addition, thanks to the possibility of product customisation, you can choose to make natural, sparkling, mineral, tonic, flavoured and even functional water.
No wonder water is known as ‘blue gold’, a true sip of vitality!
