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Reservoir
water can be used to supply water to our homes and factories.
Reservoirs are designed to store the rain that falls during
the wetter parts of the year, so that there is a continuous
supply of water for the drier periods.
  The
water from reservoirs must be cleaned before it is used. This
is done at a water treatment works. Chemicals are added to
help remove unwanted naturally occurring mineral
particles and harmful bacteria. Dirt and other small particles
are usually removed by filtering the water through beds of
sand and gravel, or by adding chemicals that cause the particles
to stick together so that they can be separated off from the
water.
Once the water is treated, it is
transferred to a service (or storage) reservoir ready for
distribution. Service reservoirs are covered reservoirs. In
the UK, there is a network of tens of thousands of kilometres
of underground pipes that carry billions of litres of clean
water every day to homes, offices, schools, factories and
hospitals.
Find
out more about water treatment and its distribution.
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