waterhandling

Water handling, or waterhandling, refers to the management of water throughout its life cycle and in industrial contexts, including collection, storage, distribution, treatment, reuse, and waste management. It also covers the handling of produced water in sectors such as energy and mining. The goal is to meet quality standards, ensure reliability, protect public health and ecosystems, and minimize energy use and environmental impact.

Key components include intake and source assessment, storage facilities, distribution networks with pumps and valves, and treatment systems such as screening, filtration, disinfection, and chemical dosing. Monitoring and control systems, including sensors and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), support operational safety and compliance.

Applications vary by sector: municipal drinking water and wastewater; industrial process water, cooling water, boiler feedwater, and condensate management; desalination and water reuse; agricultural irrigation; produced water treatment in oil and gas; and emergency relief supply. Common technologies include physical processes (settling, filtration), chemical treatment (coagulation, chlorination), and advanced methods (membrane filtration, desalination, photocatalysis).

Challenges include contamination control, scaling and corrosion, energy demand, leakage, and regulatory compliance. Sustainable water handling emphasizes reducing losses, improving efficiency, expanding reuse, and integrating water management with energy and waste management to lower the overall environmental footprint.