DRINKING WATER
4 Essential Truths About Carbon Reactivation
Long-standing myths about GAC reactivation are being increasingly challenged, revealing performance, cost, and sustainability benefits many utilities may have overlooked.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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![CaseStudy_AMATARO-1]( "Low-Fouling RO Tech Keeps Replacement Costs Down At Wastewater Reuse Plants")
Low-Fouling RO Tech Keeps Replacement Costs Down At Wastewater Reuse PlantsBy using Toray's low-fouling polyamide composite membranes, the WTPs at the AMATA estates operated the RO systems for more than five years before requiring replacement of the RO elements. This low rate of replacement has considerably helped the end-user save operational and capital costs and is noted as one of the most successful wastewater reuse plants in Thailand.
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![First-Time Customer Praises AMERICAN Flow Control’s Valves With ALPHA Ends For Quick Install And Time Saved]( "First-Time Customer Praises AMERICAN Flow Control's Valves With ALPHA Ends For Quick Install And Time Saved")
First-Time Customer Praises AMERICAN Flow Control's Valves With ALPHA Ends For Quick Install And Time SavedThe estimated 100-year-old small diameter water mains coming westward out of Manning, South Carolina, were beginning to show their age. So when it was determined the South Carolina Department of Transportation would soon be resurfacing SC Highway 261, the city knew it was the optimal time to replace these aging smaller mains. The mains serviced the Clarendon County Courthouse, City Hall, the elementary, middle and high schools and about 60 businesses along SC Highway 261.
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![MammothLakesCaseStudyPhoto.jpg]( "Chemical Dosing Pump Assists In Arsenic Removal In Groundwater Wells")
Chemical Dosing Pump Assists In Arsenic Removal In Groundwater WellsMammoth Community Water District developed two ground water and one surface water treatment stations to purify the drinking water. This is how they did it.
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Chemical Feeders: A Guide To Successful Start-Up And Operation
Disinfection is essential to municipal water treatment — for both producing a quality product and meeting environmental discharge limits — but the dosing process can be expensive and tedious if not administered efficiently. By carefully evaluating key factors in equipment selection and operation, water and wastewater management professionals can ensure their systems are running as efficiently and effectively as possible.
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![cottage-grove-MN]( "Cottage Grove Municipal Treatment System Removes PFAS Compounds From Well Water Using Granular Activated Carbon")
Cottage Grove Municipal Treatment System Removes PFAS Compounds From Well Water Using Granular Activated CarbonLocated in the Twin Cities metro area, the city of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, needed to increase the capacity of its drinking water system. To meet demands for compliant water two additional wells were equipped with treatment systems designed to reduce PFAS.
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![Water Acquisition Challenges For Industrial Plants]( "Water Acquisition Challenges For Industrial Plants")
Water Acquisition Challenges For Industrial PlantsWater is becoming more complex for industry. Its cost as a component of production is on the rise, and greater regulatory scrutiny continues to expand post-process wastewater treatment. Against a backdrop of growing water scarcity, industrial leaders are focusing more time and energy into leveraging water acquisition and usage to their competitive advantage. The days when access to water was taken for granted are over. In fact, by 2030 global water demand is projected to exceed available water by 40 percent.
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![SaintPaul]( "Saint Paul Regional Water Services Upgrades To Corrosion-Resistant Zinc-Coated Ductile Iron Water Main")
Saint Paul Regional Water Services Upgrades To Corrosion-Resistant Zinc-Coated Ductile Iron Water MainIt is no secret that a large portion of the drinking water infrastructure in the U.S. is near or past its intended design life. Our nation’s water infrastructure needs an overhaul, and the cost of doing so is climbing rapidly. ASCE’s 2017 Infrastructure Report Card graded the nation’s drinking water infrastructure a D. According to AWWA, an estimated $1 trillion is necessary to maintain and expand drinking water service to meet demands over the next 25 years.
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![GettyImages-2194923210_450_300]( "Ozone Vs. UV-AOP: Choosing The Right Path For Advanced Water Treatment")
Ozone Vs. UV-AOP: Choosing The Right Path For Advanced Water TreatmentOzone and UV-AOP each offer powerful contaminant removal for drinking water, wastewater, and reuse applications. Their unique strengths—and potential synergy—help utilities meet diverse treatment goals efficiently.
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![norwalk-CA]( "AqueoUS Vets® Custom GAC Systems Offer Comprehensive Solution For PFAS And VOC Compound Removal For Golden State Water Company")
AqueoUS Vets® Custom GAC Systems Offer Comprehensive Solution For PFAS And VOC Compound Removal For Golden State Water CompanyServing California for more than 90 years, Golden State Water Company (GSWC) provides water service to more than 1 million customers in over 80 communities, including the City of Norwalk.
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![Issaquah-System]( "What Is PFAS?")
What Is PFAS?PFOA (perfluorooctanic acid) and PFOS (perflurooctane sulfonate) are organic synthetic chemicals that have been used in manufacturing a multitude of industrial and consumer-based products including coatings, carpeting, and fire-fighting foams. Over several decades, they have contaminated the environment, specifically our drinking water sources, causing significant health concerns that recently prompted the EPA to take action.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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Application Note: Continuous Monitoring Of Drinking Water Provides Assurance Of Safety9/28/2005A water utility in Ohio wanted to learn more about the variability of water quality parameters such as pH, ORP, turbidity, and chlorine. Previously, most of these parameters had been measured by spot sampling protocols with only a few measurements during a daily period. In order to more accurately assess the water variability, the utility used a YSI 6920DW Drinking Water Multiprobe
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LC-MS Analysis Of PFAS Compounds In EPA 533 After Supelclean™ ENVI-WAX SPE Cleanup8/29/2022
This application note demonstrates the extraction and subsequent analysis of 25 related analytes from water using Supelco SPE cartridges.
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Automatic Rinse Tank Controls10/29/2021
Proper rinsing is one of the most important steps in quality manufacturing or metal finishing. Plenty of low cost, good quality water for rinsing has been available in the past, so rinse water conservation has been largely ignored.
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The Importance Of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) In The Water Analysis Sector3/6/2026
A high standard of living involves a high demand for water and, at the same time, causes much greater pollution of this essential element for life. The resultant interference in the natural cycle can often overwhelm natural processes of recovery, so that there is a build-up of anthropogenous additives such as pesticides, effluents and garbage, which contaminate drinking water supplies.
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Removal Of PFCs With Activated Carbon12/30/2013
In recent years, various perflorinated chemicals (PFCs) have come under increasing scrutiny due to their presence in the environment, in animals, and in human blood samples. There are two major classes of PFCs: perfluoroalkyl sulfonates such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and long chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylates such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA).
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Determination Of Pesticide Residues In Honey, By An Automated QuEChERS Solution9/17/2014
The QuEChERS (Quick-Easy-Cheap-Effective-Rugged-Safe) sample extraction method was developed for the determination of pesticide residues in agricultural commodities.
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Application Note: Simultaneous Determination Of Total Bound Nitrogen (TNb) And Total Organic Carbon (TOC) In Aqueous Samples5/31/2011Total bound nitrogen (TNb) consists of dissolved ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, amines, and other organic nitrogen-containing compounds. TNb measurements represent an alternative to Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) analysis for rapid screening of industrial wastewater, drinking water,agricultural run-off, and surface waters. By OI Analytical
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Application Note: Busseron Creek Watershed Partnership Addresses Concerns In A Rural Watershed1/20/2010As with other watershed organizations, the Busseron Creek Watershed Partnership (BCWP) exists because of surface water quality degradation. In this case, those waters drain 163,231 acres of a watershed that crosses the boundaries of Vigo, Clay, Green, and Sullivan counties in West- Central Indiana. By YSI
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Ion Exchange Resins Reduce Pollution From Refineries12/23/2013
A single operational oil and gas refinery produces millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater a year, leading to environmental pollution concerns. Ion exchange resins are a metal- and ion-removal solution to help clean this wastewater for plant reuse or safe disposal. This application guide explains how resins can be used to demineralize refinery water in process, boiler, and cooling water applications.
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Analyzing Total Organic Carbon In Sea Water4/2/2015
The analysis of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in seawater can be both challenging and expensive. The concentration of organic carbon in seawater is of considerable interest. The effect this matrix can have on TOC analyzers can lead to rapid consumable turnover, costly maintenance and repairs.
DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS
The new SITRANS FMT020 transmitter is a high performance, robust, intelligent product, designed for a wide range of applications requiring highly accurate and reliable flow measurement of conductive fluids.
The OPTIFLUX 2050 is an electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF) for basic water and wastewater applications. It is suitable for all cost-effective measurements where extremely high accuracy, extensive diagnostics or a wide range of communication options are not a priority. The EMF has a wide diameter range (DN25…1200 / 1…48") and all drinking water approvals. The extra isolation of the electronic device and housing makes this EMF particularly suitable for use in areas with extreme humidity.
The Series 1900 is designed for restraining push-on bell and spigot AWWA C909 PVC Pipe. The harness consists of two split serrated restraints one on the spigot end and another behind the bell harnessed together by an array of thrust rods. The Restraint harness is rated to the full pressure of the pipe.
The Series NXT3000 High Capacity Gas Feed System is a family of vacuum-operated, solution-feed, gas dispensing components including a vacuum regulator, meter assembly and ejector to meet customer needs for feeding chlorine, sulfur dioxide, ammonia or carbon dioxide gas. The Series NXT3000 is a versatile, high quality system which operates at sonic conditions eliminating the need for differential pressure regulation across the rate control valve.
Meeting the demand for clean water has never been more challenging. Communities around the world are facing a growing water stress – an insufficient supply, in terms of water quality or water quantity – and often both. Many are turning to potable reuse and drinking water remediation to meet these demands. The TrojanUVFlex®AOP can be part of the solution. This UV advanced oxidation system destroys a range of chemical contaminants while simultaneously providing final treatment, helping municipalities relying on lower quality water sources to continue producing high-quality potable drinking water.
The EX-TEND® 200 joint is designed for pipelines that are subjected to expansion and contraction forces and is self restrained at full expansion.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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![Cahaba River-GettyImages-2152826831]( "What Is The Future Of Source Water Protection?")
Water utility managers and municipal leaders have long struggled amid the convergence of several threats to public water supplies. During a recent Water Online Live event, I sat with a panel of industry experts to examine the transition from reactive crisis management to a proactive, adaptive resilience framework. -
![Bacteria, Medical research, healthcare-GettyImages-2161239007]( "The Hidden Legionella Risk In Closed-Loop Systems")
For a long time, it’s been assumed that closed-loop water systems — those commonly found in building heating systems, air-conditioning units, and cooling systems — are at a low risk for Legionella. However, there are many reasons why closed-loop systems can actually inadvertently promote the risk of Legionella. -
![Avoid pitfall Planning, obstacle avoidance-GettyImages-2167644498]( "Common AMI Implementation Mistakes And How To Avoid Them")
The journey from manual water-meter reads to a fully integrated digital ecosystem is long and complex. To help utilities along, the Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN) released the global Smart Metering Playbook, which includes both implementation best practices and common pitfalls. Here are five common advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) rollout mistakes from the Playbook, along with examples of how to overcome them.
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![pregnant_water-Getty-2207189112]( "Drinking Water Contaminated With 'Forever Chemicals' During Pregnancy Linked To An Increased Risk Of Childhood Asthma")
While most of us are routinely exposed to low levels of PFAS, some communities are exposed to far higher levels from nearby pollution sources. A new study shows that in one of these at-risk communities, children were more likely to develop asthma if their mothers were exposed to very high PFAS levels during pregnancy.
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![wastewater ecological damage-GettyImages-2231956262]( "The Pragmatic Shift In Source Water Protection: Moving From Symptom Management To Root-Cause Accountability")
A shift in how we approach source water protection is long overdue. Currently, we are trapped in a cycle of escalating costs, forced to treat symptoms like algae and invasive weeds expediently with chemicals while the underlying risk in the reservoir compounds. True risk management requires breaking this cycle. -
![River water pollution, Ecological-GettyImages-1215336784]( "The AWWA Said $2.4 Trillion. It Missed The Compound Interest.")
Einstein once said of compound interest, "He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn't, pays it." The same logic of compounding applies to the organic sediment accumulating on the floor of your drinking water reservoir. The longer you wait to address it, the more exponentially expensive it becomes to fix.
DRINKING WATER VIDEOS
See how SIWA MDM user experience is easy with various billing tiles and screens to help optimize the billing processes. Quickly see billing readiness, request activity in a highly configurable dashboard.
Discover how specialized restrained joints facilitate efficient horizontal directional drilling and bridge piping through a simplified, tool-free assembly process that ensures long-term reliability.
ABOUT DRINKING WATER
In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:
- Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
- Drinking water treatment of source water
- Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers
Drinking Water Sources
Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater.
Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.
Drinking Water Treatment
Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.
There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.
The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.
The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.
During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.
Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.
Drinking Water Distribution
Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.
A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.
Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.