The purposes of the sedimentation process are to remove suspended solids, or particles, which are denser, or heavier, than water and reduce the load on the filters. The suspended solids may be in their natural state, such as bacteria, clays or silts, modified or preconditioned by prior treatment in the coagulation-flocculation process to form floc, or precipitated impurities, such as hardness and iron precipitates formed by the addition of chemicals |