NAME OF THE LOCAL AREA
Chirita Lake
COUNTRY
Romania
CITY
Iasi
THEMATIC AREA
Geography, Chemistry, Biology
DESCRIPTION OF THE LOCAL AREA
Chiriţa Lake is an artificial lake, built on Chiriţa River.
Chiriţa lake is drinking water supply of Iasi. Chiriţa complex treatment treats water from the Prut River or lake Chiriţa with a capacity of 0.6 m³ / s - 1.15 m³ / s. Drainage basin from Chirita it is the main water resource of Iasi City.
Chiriţa lake, with an area of 78 hectares, is considered reserve and a natural monument.
The area is protected by law and bathing or fishing it is forbidden.
The Chirita Lake it is a very important fishy area with beautiful landscapes, it is protected by national law and both fishing and bathing are forbidden. The most important fish species who u can find in Chirita Lake are: Pike, zander and bass.
Chirita Water treatment Plant
The Water treatment plant Chirita it is situated in the East part of Iasi. The administration of the water treatment plan it is under S.C. Apavital S.A. It was built between 1968 and 1973 and recent rehabilitated. The alimentation with raw water it is made from Chirita Lake, natural because the lake it is up the hill and the water treatment plant is down the hill, and also from Prut River. The fact that Chirita Lake can be used as a natural pre- decantation tank for the Prut water.
The technological process is fully automated, controlled by a SCADA system (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), which controls the water treatment process and eliminates the risk of human error. Also, the system allows manual operation of the devices involved in the process.
How does the water treatment plant works?
Water Catching: The water is first filtered by a simple grid to stop the big waste (leaves, insects, particles bigger than one millimeter). Then, it passes through finer grids which retain smaller waste.
Coagulation, Flocculation and Decantation of Water: Very fine particles, suspended in the water, gather in the shape of flakes under the action of a coagulation agent. Such flakes, heavier than air, settle on the bottom of the tank and thus 90% of the suspended matters are removed.
First Filtration: The water passes over a sand filter by means of which the still visible and not yet settled matters are removed.
Ozonization: Water is treated with ozone which has an antibacterial and antivirus action.
At the same time, this gas, mixed with water, acts upon the organic matters by decomposing them. The ozone improves the water colour and taste.
Second Filtration: Water passes over an active coal filter which retains micropollutants and part of the organic matter decomposed by the ozone.
Water Chlorination: Chlorine is added on exit from the treatment plant and at various points of the distribution network in order to destroy bacteria and avoid their growth, and to maintain the water quality on its entire route through the network.
Water Storage and Distribution: Once become drinkable, water is conveyed through pipes or aqueducts towards the reservoirs. Such pipes and aqueducts are specifically designed for conveying the drinking water in maximum safety conditions. Drinking water storage is done in closed reservoirs (underground reservoirs or surface constructions). Drinking water is brought up
The water treatment process includes, among the classical phases, stages such as water ozonization and powdered activated carbon treatment.
The plant is equipped with a treatment facility that allows for water drinking as per the Romanian and European standards in force.