PURPOSE OF WATER TREATMENT
DOE-HDBK-1015/2-93
Principles of Water Treatment
CH-04
Rev. 0
Page 2
There are several processes used in reactor facilities to purify the water in the systems and
water used as makeup. Deaeration is used to strip dissolved gases, filtration is effective in the
removal of insoluble solid impurities, and ion exchange removes undesirable ions and replaces
them with acceptable ions. Typical ionized impurities found in water are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Typical Ionized Impurities in Water
Cations
Anions
Ca
NO
++
3
-
Mg
OH
++
-
Na
SO
+
4
--
K
Cl
+
-
Al
HCO
+++
3
-
Fe
HSiO
++
3
-
Cu
HCrO
++
3
-
Summary
The important information in this chapter is summarized below.
Purpose of Water Treatment Summary
There are three general reasons to treat water for its impurities:
1.
To minimize corrosion, which is enhanced by impurities
2.
To minimize radiation levels in the reactor facility
3.
To minimize fouling of heat transfer surfaces
