In the cooperation with the architectural company JinJan, s. r. o., and thanks to the financial support of the Prague City Hall and companies Pražská vodohospodářská společnost, a. s., Pražské vodovody a kanalizace, a. s., and Veolia Czech Republic, a. s., a model of a drinking water treatment plant is being constructed at the Institute of Hydrodynamics. An enlarged version (1:5) of the model will be installed next year in an exhibition area under the project Hydropolis Praha in the former water facility at Vinohrady where it will serve as an educative model for the public.
The model is designed as interactive and therefore will enable to observe the effects of various technological parameters on the drinking water treatment process. The adjustable parameters will be, e.g., coagulant dosage, coagulation pH, intensity of mixing, etc. To illustrate, visitors will be able to dose different amounts of coagulants to a coagulation tank, and it will be possible to control the intensity of mixing so as to reach the formation of aggregates comprising the impurities to be removed. Those will subsequently settle in a lamellar sedimentation tank. Residual aggregates after sedimentation will be captured by sand filters, while their pressure profile will be monitored and the filtration and washing cycles will rotate as desired. Micropollutants such as pesticides or pharmaceuticals will be then removed by granular activated carbon filtration. Finally, water will be disinfected, similar to the real drinking water treatment; it will be possible to regulate the intensity of UV irradiation, or the ozone and chlorine doses.
In general, the model will enable everyone to better understand how drinking water is produced.