The true hero of the water treatment process is the water treatment scale. When chemicals are added to water, they are not just added randomly. They must be added in precise amounts. The people who are performing the process need to know how much chemical material they are working with. One way that they can accomplish this is by keeping the chemical tanks on platform scales.

Municipal drinking water undergoes purification to remove algae, bacteria, fungi, viruses, some minerals, as well as man-made pollutants like fertilizers. These are some of the various processes that are used to achieve this end.

Screening: This is often the first step taken in purifying water that has been gathered from the surface of the Earth (as opposed to groundwater). Basically the water is passed through a screen filter that removes large debris like sticks, leaves, and trash.

Pre-conditioning: This is a process in which sodium carbonate is added to the water in order to precipitate the calcium carbonate in the water. Both the sodium carbonate and calcium carbonate can then be removed from the water by passing it through a filter. Special water treatment scales must be used to determine the amounts of sodium carbonate.

pH Adjustment: Making sure that water has the proper pH for its intended use is very important. Water that is intended for consumption needs to have a pH of approximately 7, which is neither acidic nor alkaline. If the water is too acidic or too alkaline for consumption, then chemicals are added until the water is brought to an acceptable pH level.

Flocculation: Everybody likes to drink clear water. Flocculation makes this possible. Flocculation is a process of clarifying, or clearing up, water. In this process chemicals are added to the water that cause muddying particles to precipitate, so that they can be filtered out.

Sedimentation: When water is being treated, it is often kept moving around at fairly high speeds so that it does not grow stagnant. When water goes through the sedimentation process, it is allowed to sit in a tank where it is moved at a relatively low speed. This allows for all of precipitation to settle to the bottle of the tank.

Filtration: Water is passed through filters in order to remove any particles that may not have yet settled to the bottom. There are many different forms of filtration, including slow sand filters, lava filters, and membrane filters. Ultimately they all serve the purpose of removing unwanted particles from water. At this point, water treatment scales will weigh the materials removed, to ensure that it is free of contaminants.