The world today has become alarmingly vulnerable to natural crises and industrial disasters and their consequences. A crisis is an event that inflicts significant human casualties and financial and environmental damage on society in a short period of time, such that addressing the effects of these events requires fundamental and extraordinary measures.

An oil refinery consists of several operating units and process units. An operating unit is a fundamental step in a process. Like the evolution of the planet, life, and technology, the oil refining industry has been developing with increasing complexity since its founding in 1859. An operating unit consists of physical and chemical processes. The main purpose of refinery units is to extract useful substances from crude oil.

Feedwaters to a refinery are usually treated before being used in various processes. The type of treatment depends on the quality of the source water and its end use in the refinery. Turbidity, sediment, and hardness are examples of source water characteristics that may require treatment.