What is the primary focus during the drinking water treatment process?

The primary focus during the drinking water treatment process is the removal of harmful pollutants. This is essential because the main objective of water treatment is to ensure that the water is safe for human consumption. Harmful pollutants can include pathogens, chemicals, heavy metals, and other contaminants that can pose serious health risks.

During treatment, various processes such as coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection are employed specifically to eliminate these hazardous substances from the water. By focusing on pollutant removal, water treatment facilities can effectively protect public health and ensure that drinking water meets safety standards set by health authorities.

Maintaining original pH levels, increasing water hardness, and augmenting dissolved oxygen levels may be relevant considerations in certain contexts, but they do not address the primary necessity of making water safe to drink. These factors might be adjusted as part of broader water quality management, but the most critical aspect of treatment remains the elimination of harmful contaminants.