ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Dissolved air flotation

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is like a big, bubbly bathtub for dirty water. Imagine taking a bath and adding lots of bubbles to the water. The bubbles stick to all the dirt and make it float to the top. That's kind of what DAF does, but for really big bathtubs of water at factories or sewage treatment plants.

First, the dirty water (which we call "feed water") is pumped into a big tank called a "DAF tank." Then, tiny bubbles are added to the water. These bubbles are really small, like the ones you might see in sparkling water or soda, and they're made by blowing air through water.

The bubbles are mixed into the feed water using a machine called a "pressurization system." This machine pushes air and water through a "venturi nozzle," which makes lots of tiny bubbles. The bubbles add air to the water, making it frothy and bubbly.

As the bubbly water moves through the DAF tank, the tiny bubbles attach to all the bits of dirt and junk in the water. Then, the dirty bubbles float to the top of the tank, kind of like a foam. A "skimming blade" scoops up the dirty bubbles and sends them to another tank or machine for further treatment.

The clean water sinks to the bottom of the tank and is pumped out for use. The process repeats as more feed water is added to the DAF tank.

DAF is a really cool way to treat dirty water because it doesn't use chemicals (like chlorine) to clean the water. It just uses air and tiny bubbles. Plus, the skimming blade can be adjusted to remove different kinds of dirt, so the DAF process can be customized to different types of feed water.