Ambatale Treatment Plant

Ambatale Water Treatment Complex is one of the major supply drinking

water to Greater Colombo area . There are two plants operated at Ambatala,
old treatment plant commissioned in 1966 & capacity of nearly 337,500
m3/day and new plant commissioned in 1994 & capacity is 180,000 m3/day.
The field visit was focus on old treatment plant.

From the Kelani River, Ambatale Water Treatment Plant gets its water supply.
Ambatale Treatment Plant , Pump from the Kelani River by the two 2 pump
houses on the left bank of the Kelani River. These pumps work 24 hours.
Therefore a large sum of money has to be spent on electricity.
T he water that is found in the rivers & reservoirs are usually not suitable for
drinking. The water in the Kelani River is polluted by the activities of man &
animals. The effluents of the industries situated along the river, domestic
wastes,storm water, and sewage-all enter the river through a system of
drains & waterways. Hence the river water is not suitable for drinking. The
steps of water treatment process are Screening & per sedimentation,
aeration, coagulation & flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, disinfection
and stabilization. Finally, treated water is stored in underground reservoir
and pumped into the transmission line.
Screening & Pre Sedimentation
Mechanical screening is done to trap and remove floating matters & other
large particles which can clog or damage plant structures. Pre-sedimentation
is done to remove silt, sand and other particles.
Aeration
Aeration process adding air (oxygen) into water. It manage to remove
oxidizes impurities such as iron and manganese, troublesome gasses like
H2S & NH3 and reduces certain types of tastes and odors. Cascade type
aerator is used in plant.
Coagulation & Flocculation

The chemicals use for Coagulation & Flocculation are Lime and Alum. Both
raw water quality and treated water qualities are checked by following
parameters as Conductivity, turbidity, pH and residual chlorine. Jar test,
marble test, chlorine demand test & residual alum test are doing to find out
the optimum dosage of chemicals. When chemicals are added to water, it
reacts with soil & clay particles, microorganisms &other substances. This is
called Coagulation. These particles associate with similar particles to form
big flocs. The process is called Flocculation. The flocks when it is heavy sink
to the bottom. The result is clear water at the top. At the Plant, these
dosages are added proportionately to water.
There is a laboratory to check the water quality; there both raw water quality
and treated water qualities are checked by following parameters as
Conductivity, turbidity, pH and residual chlorine. Jar test, marble test,
chlorine demand test & residual alum test are doing to find out the optimum
dosage of chemicals. 3 chemicals used for Ambatala water treatment plant
as follows:

For flocculation

For pH adjustment or correction

For pre treatment and disinfection : chlorine (Gas or liquid)

: Aluminium sulphate
: Calcium hydroxide (Lime)

Lime solution (Pre lime) is added for PH adjustment of the raw water in the
existing chamber to get optimum range of coagulation. Alum solution is
added in the new mixing chamber above the inlet weir for better mixing &
coagulation.The lime slurry flows into the distribution chamber by gravity
from tank.
Sedimentation
There are four types of settling tanks used; Centifloc, pretreator, pulsator
and pulsatube

Tank
Type

Sedimentation

Centiflo

Water

Tank
Capaci
ty
flows 7179

Output
capaci
ty

No.
Of
unit

Detentio
n time

Sludge
removal

13.5M

2.8 hrs

Accumulated

vertically
upward m3
through the sludge
blanket and flocs
are stick on it and
clarified water goes
up.

GD

Pretrea
tor

Water
flows 9462
vertically through m3
the sludge blanket
and flocs are stick
on it and clarified
water goes up,

13.5M
GD

3.7 hrs

Accumulated
excess sludge
is released by
an automatic
mechanical
de-sludging
system

13.5M
GD

2.36 hrs

No
mechanically
stirring
system,

excess sludge
is released by
an automatic
mechanical
de-sludging
system.

Sludge
recirculation
is
allowed in order to
get
optimum
flocculation
Pulsato
r

When the water 6012

with flocs going m3
downwards through
the blanket the floc
rest on it.

No sludge
recirculation.
Pulsatu
be

Pulsatube is flat
bottom
sludge
blanket
clarifiers,
floc settle on the
surface of tube.

Filtration

10
MDG

Sludge
is
removed
using pressure
gun

There are 20 filters existing at the plant, where 12 sand media filters & 8
Aquazur V filter .The sand filter have capacity of 16800 m3 per day. Effective
size of sand media is 0.9mm, uniformity co-efficient 1.5 and depth of sand
media is 0.9m.
As water go by the filter bed, the suspended particles contact and adsorbs
onto the surface of the individual filter grains or onto previously deposited
material. Water level is regulated by float control.
The deposits in filter beds are diluted by the back wash process. There is an
automatic sensor system for back wash processes. Filter backwash is taken
place once it reaches the predetermined water level or when water flow
stops, that is the time for backwash the filter tank. For backwash First air
scour is done; then water is sent upwards through the filter media. Sand in
filter bed is refilled once in 3 to 4 months time period.
Disinfection
Then post chlorination is done, in order to prevent the spread of waterborne
diseases, by providing protective residual within the distribution system to
guard against inadvertent bacterial contamination. Mostly liquid form Cl2 is
taped and vaporized to Cl2 gas. Then that Cl2 gas mix with water and feed it
to water on the line connecting the clear water tank.

Post lime
Post Lime addition is done for pH correction in order to avoid corrosion or
CaCO3 deposition. Lime is added after the chlorination process on the same
line connecting the clear water tank. It was observed that post chlorine and
lime is added at the same location.
Issues and Suggestions to be incorporated in augmentation
The Ambatala water treatment plant needs renovation and augmentations in
some areas. The following activites can be address to provide the quality
drinking water and safe the environment of surrounding area including Kalani
River.

1 Ambatala water treatment plant generated around 16000 m 3/day wastewater

and it is discharged to the Kelani River. The wastewater can be treated
before release to the river or the treated wastewater can be used for
gardening purpose.
2 At present this plant does not have sludge treatment facility. At the moment
the sludge also discharged to Kelani River. It could be treated in proper
manner and disposed in another place
3 The back wash system automated with pneumatically energized valves is not
reliable. The system and the backwash sequence could to be renovated.
4 Some filter beds are not working properly stagnating without filtering. These
will contribute to deterioration of final water quality. The plant could be
monitor and maintain properly in order to provide quality portable water.
5 The pulsator can be converted to pulsatube to further improve clarified water
quality and the capacity.
6 Post Chlorination is to be improved with the contact tank (20 minutes
contact) before pumping to the distribution line to ensure effective
disinfection.