DRINKING WATER
Program Over Product: The Proven Path To Reducing Non‑Revenue Water
Stop treating non-revenue water as a series of isolated leaks. By adopting a structured, audit-based program, utilities gain the system-wide visibility needed to prioritize repairs, recover lost revenue, and transition from reactive maintenance to proactive infrastructure management.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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![CA-winery]( "Central California Winery Removes 1,2,3-TCP From Well Water Using Granular Activated Carbon")
Central California Winery Removes 1,2,3-TCP From Well Water Using Granular Activated CarbonNorth of Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley of California, a winery detected elevated levels of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP) in the water coming from its two main wells. A chlorinated hydrocarbon, 1,2,3- TCP is a chemical associated with old pesticide practices (particularly soil fumigants) and is a suspected human carcinogen.
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![pesticide_factsheet_hr-1]( "Pesticides - Emerging Contaminants")
Pesticides - Emerging ContaminantsThe use of pesticides to control unwanted pests dates back hundreds of years.
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![Increased_LCRR_Sampling_iStock-678558472]( "Preparing For Increased Sampling Frequency Mandated By LCR Revisions")
Preparing For Increased Sampling Frequency Mandated By LCR RevisionsThe proposed Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) announced by the U.S. EPA offer new hope for identifying and reducing sources of lead contamination in drinking water, albeit with new levels of testing required to pinpoint problem areas. Preparing for the new rules means taking active steps toward identifying both the technicalities and logistics of meeting them, as outlined in the links and bullet points below.
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![DEBWTP]( "Water Utility Selects WEDECO Advanced Treatment Technologies To Purify Urban Runoff")
Water Utility Selects WEDECO Advanced Treatment Technologies To Purify Urban RunoffIn February 2010, the Dempsey E. Benton Water Treatment Plant (DEBWTP) added 16 million gallons per day (MGD) of capacity to the water utility operated by the city of Raleigh, North Carolina.
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![nassau-county]( "World's Largest 1,4-Dioxane Treatment Initiative")
World's Largest 1,4-Dioxane Treatment InitiativeGroundwater on Long Island, New York, contains the contaminant 1,4-dioxane. Despite no federal regulation, local water providers and state authorities have taken action to address contamination, establishing a state-enforced maximum contaminant level.
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![GettyImages-2188554976_450_300]( "Why Planning Is The Hero Of AMI Deployment")
Why Planning Is The Hero Of AMI DeploymentThorough planning, accurate data, and strong communication are the keys to successful AMI deployments, preventing costly disruptions and ensuring technology delivers long-term operational and customer service value.
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Encore® 700 Chemical Feed Pumps Provide Reliable Service Over 20 Years In Santa Barbara, California
The 37 million gallon per day William B. Cater Water Treatment plant serves City of Santa Barbara with the majority of its drinking water while also supplying treated water to the districts of Montecito Water, Carpinteria Valley Water, Goleta Water, and La Cumbre Water.
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Antiscalant Impacts Water Reclamation Efforts
Water reuse efforts in the West Coast are a priority and have the Ground Water Replenishing System (GWRS) of the Orange County Water District (OCWD) utilizing new technologies for water conservation.
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![Cyanobacteria]( "A Multi-Barrier Approach To Complex Water And Wastewater Contaminant Removal")
A Multi-Barrier Approach To Complex Water And Wastewater Contaminant RemovalWith the issue of water safety in the headlines, even non-water professionals are familiar with common contaminants like lead and arsenic – but how can we address these public health hazards?
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![Getty-1652511983-supply-chain-management]( "Overcome The Supply Chain Disruptions")
Overcome The Supply Chain DisruptionsThe water utility industry is transitioning to wireless smart meters, creating opportunities for small to medium-sized utilities. Cloud-based applications offer automation, data management, and remote access, providing billing solutions, water usage monitoring, and safety tools.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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UV Technology Offers Solution For Emerging Water Crisis2/19/2014
Many are turning to UV as an effective barrier to enable the reuse of wastewater, for indirect reuse, and aquifer recharge.
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Operations And LRV Calculations At Southwest Pipeline Project Drinking Water Treatment Facility4/14/2016
This presentation will discuss the operation of a 4 MGD pressurized two-stage Ultrafiltration (UF) plant over a 14 month period at the Oliver-Mercer-North Dunn (OMND) Drinking Water Treatment Facility, North Dakota.
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Improved Determination Of Volatile Organic Compounds In Water By SPME And GC/MS6/21/2018
The analysis of water for volatile organic compounds is important due to their toxicity. The current methods for this determination lack of sensitivity, selectivity or capability for automation. This paper presents the new ISO 17943 Standard using Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) and GC/MS. The sample preparation by SPME enables limits of detection and easy automation of the whole method. GC/MS provides the required sensitivity and selectivity. This ISO Standard was validated by an interlaboratory trial, which results confirm the outstanding performance for this method.
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Drinking Water Testing By Ion Chromatography Using Ultrapure Water9/29/2022
This application note demonstrates the suitability of ultrapure water produced by a Milli-Q IQ 7000 water purification system for the IC analyses of inorganic ions and DBPs in drinking water.
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Application Note: YSI Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring And The IPSWATCH-EMPACT Program12/28/2005The Ipswich and Parker Rivers watersheds lie only a short distance north of Boston, MA. The first settlements in these watersheds began in the early 1600s. Since that time, residents have relied heavily on the natural resources of the Parker and Ipswich Rivers, their coastal estuaries and Plum Island Sound, which is known as the Great Marsh. This ecosystem has been designated and protected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
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Water Determination In Liquefied Petroleum Gas Using GC BID And Ionic Liquid Column Watercol™6/28/2018
Water in petrochemical feedstocks can cause problems for processors. Freezing of pipe lines and valves and poisoning of expensive catalysts are just a few examples.
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Leak Detection On Water Distribution Network Using Clamp-On Flowmeters5/22/2023
A global engineering company realized that their leak identification methods were time consuming and expensive, and so began to explore alternative solutions, such as ultrasonic flow meters.
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Temperature Monitoring For Water Treatment4/29/2024
Learn how to ensure compliance, monitor water temperature diligently, and implement robust measures to mitigate regulatory penalties.
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Flow Meter Enhances Chlorination System Performance For Municipal Water Department12/12/2017
The water municipality at a mid-size city in the Western region of the U.S. serving a population of about 180,000 people needed to address a chlorine disinfection system problem at one of its water treatment plants.
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The Basics: Keeping Our Water Clean Requires Monitoring4/30/2014
Keeping the water in our lakes, rivers, and streams clean requires monitoring of water quality at many points as it gradually makes its way from its source to our oceans. Over the years ever increasing environmental concerns and regulations have heightened the need for increased diligence and tighter restrictions on wastewater quality.
DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS
Calgon Carbon’s liquid-phase equipment systems provide utilities with compact, flexible, and cost-effective means to apply both granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange (IX) technologies to treat even the most difficult water treatment challenges.
Harmsco has developed a higher capacity filter housing that is BABA compliant, and it is available in a 3X, as well as a 5X model.
ADVANCE™ Series 200 gas feeders are designed for or automatic gas regulation. Automatic operation requires a simple addition of a motorized control valve.
The Series 2000PV MEGALUG Mechanical Joint Restraint is the fastest and most economical method of restraining PVC pipe to mechanical joints. It can be used with C900, C905 or IPS OD PVC pipe. For sizes 42 through 48 inch See Series 2200
The system of choice for meeting the rigid quality standards of the Recreational Water, Life Sciences, Pharmacy, Cosmetics and Food & Beverage markets. The Aquafine UV Logic Series uses one of the most advanced technologies, the low-pressure, high-output (LPHO) amalgam lamp.
AquaControl™ provides leak and burst protection, full submetered billing support, and remote water actuation through its smart connected valve. Aquana captures unit-level consumption, uses flow analysis and contact sensors to detect anomalies, and provides automated shutoff before serious damage occurs.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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![chemical element Chromium-GettyImages-1376151842]( "From Compliance To Circularity: Rethinking Chromium Management In Chrome Tanning")
In an industrial landscape increasingly shaped by lifecycle accountability, material traceability, and rising disposal costs, chromium recovery is not merely a technical alternative — it is a strategic upgrade, where wastewater can become a resource stream. -
![GettyImages-1180604487 drought]( "Extreme Weather Is Transforming The World's Rivers. We Need New Ways To Protect Them")
Around the world, rivers are no longer changing gradually. Rather, they are being increasingly transformed by extreme climatic events such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves. A newly published global review finds these events are pushing ecosystems beyond their limits and eroding biodiversity and core functions. -
![PFAS regulatory requirement-GettyImages-2220893562]( "EPA Seeks Court‑Ordered Removal Of 4 PFAS Limits")
The U.S. EPA is testing a new procedural strategy to remove four PFAS drinking‑water limits from ongoing litigation, asking the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to invalidate those limits on the grounds that the EPA itself committed a procedural misstep when issuing the 2024 PFAS rule. -
![Water Pipe Leak-GettyImages-2231516202]( "Study Reveals A Comprehensive Guide To IoT Integration For Non-Revenue Water Management")
A recent study argues that the traditional, manual approach to drinking-water distribution-network monitoring and leak prevention is no longer sustainable. Instead, utilities must embrace the Internet of Things (IoT) to transition from reactive repairs to proactive asset management. -
![oil refinery, chemical storage tanks-GettyImages-2255062009]( "Produced Water Treatment Market: The Next Big Wave In Industrial Sustainability")
With the rise of water scarcity, environmental regulations, and corporate sustainability mandates, produced water treatment has become a strategic imperative for industries far beyond oil and gas. It is one of the fastest-growing segments in the water treatment industry, which has emerged as an amalgamation of environmental stewardship, regulatory compliance, and technological innovation. -
![Water Pipe Leaks-GettyImages-511073228]( "Tackling The Trillion-Gallon Problem: Water Loss Reduction Initiatives Benefit Utilities And Consumers Alike")
In the U.S. alone, 2.7 trillion gallons of water are lost to non-revenue water (NRW) every year, costing water utilities more than $6.4 billion annually in unrealized revenue. Given the scale of the issue — volumes and dollars — NRW presents an opportunity for upscaling utility management.
DRINKING WATER VIDEOS
The Western Governors' Drought Forum webinar “Once Marginal, Now Crucial: The Growing Demand for Re-used, Produced, and Brackish Water” explores the technological and regulatory obstacles to utilizing re-used, produced, and brackish water.
V-Bio Polyethylene Encasement is the latest scientific advancement in corrosion control for ductile iron pipe. In this interview with Water Online, Maury Gaston of American Ductile Iron Pipe and American SpiralWeld Pipe talks about the many benefits of iron pipe and the company’s improved polyethylene encasement, including how its revolutionary formulation allows for complete confidence on the part of the owner, engineer and municipality that no matter how aggressive the soils, the rugged iron pipe installed will last for generations.
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.