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From cloud to glass

Explore the journey of water below.

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    Nimbostratus
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    Stratocumulus
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    Cumulus
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    Stratus
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    Cumulonimbus
  • Did you know there are five different types of clouds?

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  • RAIN WATER is part of the raw, natural water found in our environment. This includes groundwater and the water in our springs, rivers and lakes.

  • This RAW water must be abstracted, and then treated to become SAFE drinking water.

  • 80% from rivers
    & lakes

  • 20% from groundwater
    & springs

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  • Raw water is SCREENED to remove large items like sticks, fish and leaves.

  • The Ancient Greeks boiled and filtered their water through sand to purify it.

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  • The Egyptians discovered how to use coagulants. They even left pictures of their water treatment techniques on tomb walls.

  • COAGULANT is added to the water to bind fine particles together. These larger, heavy particles are called FLOCS.

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  • Slow sand filters began to be used to treat public water supplies in early 19th century London.

  • Sand and gravel FILTERS are used to remove the final particles.

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  • Disease carrying micro-organisms, which are too small for the eye to see, are killed during DISINFECTION.

  • It took until the 1850s to prove the connection between water quality and disease.

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  • Today a modern water treatment plant can be run by as few as two people.

  • After treatment and TESTING your drinking water is stored, ready to be piped to your home.

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  • How long does it take raw water to become drinking water in your taps?

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  • Everyday we treat a lot of water in over 1,000 water treatment plants throughout Ireland.

  • In fact we treat 1.7 billion litres of water per day - enough to fill 640 Olympic sized swimming pools.

  • LEARN MORE