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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GeoTree - First Aqueduct Water Pipeline Rehabilitated With GeoSpray Geopolymer For SDCWA
Critical water tunnels require efficient structural renewal to meet strict shutdown schedules. Certified geopolymer mortar provides a cost-effective, high-strength solution that eliminates groundwater infiltration and improves water quality while ensuring a 70-year service life for essential aqueduct systems.
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Shifting To Cellular Solutions Underpins Long-Term Resiliency And Stability
System longevity is a growing concern for water utilities of all sizes and locations. One of the biggest obstacles in achieving this goal is the use of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that leverages fixed network communications. Not only do fixed networks require significant expertise to build and manage, but a shrinking workforce is also making it difficult to replace institutional knowledge when those experts retire. Additionally, emerging cybersecurity threats are making fixed networks a heavy load for utilities to bear.
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How Advanced Pressure Monitoring Bolsters Risk Mitigation And Asset Management
Properly executing pressure management can attack pipeline failures on two fronts: by avoiding high pressures that exacerbate the problem and by providing the operational awareness needed for managing the most vulnerable spots. The insight provided by newer solutions helps accomplish this by going beyond advanced metering infrastructure as part of the building blocks for a smart utility network.
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Who Turned Up The Heat? What You Need To Know About Biofilms And Heat Transfer
Whether you work at an oil refinery, power plant, or in an office building, chances are you owe your comfort to a cooling tower.
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A Pilot Study Involving Three Different Treatment Media (Loprest)
As part of a feasibility study for arsenic treatment at an elementary school in California, a pilot study was conducted to test the performance of three different treatment media: (1) greensand and anthracite, (2) standard sand and anthracite, and (3) manganese dioxide.
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Iron And Manganese Removal Without Chlorine
Iron or manganese removal commonly involves injecting chlorine or potassium permanganate, followed by filtration with sand or coated greensand media. Chlorine can affect the taste and odor of the water as well as involve high levels of maintenance and costs.
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Thermo Orion pH Electrode Provides Reliable Measurements,Cost Savings In Steam Cycle Applications
A steam generating plant requires very clean water and carefully controlled chemistry for proper operation of a boiler that runs at high temperatures and pressures.
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QUA UF Membranes Provide Pretreatment for Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) System
Hinduja National Power Corporation Ltd. (HNPCL) constructed a 1040 MW coal fired power plant at Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. The power generated from the plant is intended to supply to Andhra Pradesh, as well as to other states through interstate transmission system.
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4 Ways To Unlock The Hidden Potential Of Water Utilities
Learn how water utilities can reach their full potential by becoming more resilient, transparent, efficient, and sustainable.
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El Paso Water Reduces Unknown Service Lines By 90% Using Predictive Modeling
Discover how El Paso Water partnered with 120Water to reduce their unknown service lines by 90% and save more than $150K in avoided field work costs. A hybrid verification approach can often reduce the number of digs a system needs to do.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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Veterinary Drug Residue Analysis Using The AutoMate-Q40: An Automated Solution To QuEChERS10/1/2014
QuEChERS is a Quick-Easy-Cheap-Effective-Rugged-Safe extraction method that has been developed for the determination of pesticide residues in agricultural commodities.
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Determination Of Pesticide Residues In Tea4/10/2015
In 2012, Americans consumed well over 79 billion servings of tea, which is just over 3.60 billion gallons.
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ASM-10-HP Application Note3/12/2026
ResinTech ASM-10-HP is a strongly basic hybrid anion exchange resin specially formulated to selectively remove arsenic.
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Industry-Specific Applications For UV Technology6/17/2024
In Microelectronics, Aquafine UV systems provide a synergistic approach towards the reduction of trace organics and microbial contamination for ultrapure water.
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Panametrics Technology Helps Track Potable Water Leaks4/22/2022
Concerned about the volume of water leakages throughout their network, a Swedish water authority turned to Panametrics flowmeters to map their municipal water network -- enabling quick leak identification and fixes.
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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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Activated Carbon And Adsorption Of Trichloroethylene (TCE) And Tetrachloroethylene (PCE)12/30/2013
Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) are two of the most common solvents that contaminate groundwater supplies in the United States. Both solvents see frequent use in the extraction of fat, in the textile industry, in the production of various pharmaceutical and chemical products. TCE is also used as a degreaser from fabricated metal parts, and PCE serves as a component of aerosol dry-cleaning solvents.
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The Role Of Zeta Potential In Water Treatment Process Control5/27/2020
Physical processes such as sedimentation, flotation and filtration remain at the heart of most process trains for the treatment of water and wastewater flows.
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FLEX-TEND® Flexible Expansion Joints, Features And Specifications12/3/2020
FLEX-TEND® flexible expansion joints are designed to protect structures and pipelines from differential movement whether this movement is earthquake induced or the gradual motion of soil subsidence. This bulletin offers a concise listing and discussion of the important features and materials of the double and single ball assemblies.
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LC-MS Analysis Of 33 PFAS Compounds In 5 Minutes11/4/2021
In response to environmental testing demands for faster LC-MS analyses, the new Ascentis® Express PFAS HPLC and delay columns allow the highly efficient separation of 33 PFAS compounds in 5 minutes with reduced background contamination.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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Expectations for transparency and reliability in water-metering infrastructure have risen. As a result, a fundamental question is emerging across the industry: if modern ultrasonic meters are already smart, why are we still adding intelligence outside the meter?
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Getting a second opinion is a time-tested piece of wisdom. During a recent project for a municipal water supply utility, we found that this advice also applies to modeling the effects storms have on the municipality’s reservoirs and dams, and the potential flooding impacts downstream of the dams.
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There is a noticeable shift in how monitoring data is being treated across the water sector. It is no longer something that sits quietly in the background of operations, collected for compliance, and reviewed periodically. It is being examined more closely, and more often, by a wider set of stakeholders.
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Ozone output doesn’t guarantee performance. Learn how mass transfer efficiency determines how much ozone dissolves, drives treatment results, and impacts energy use and system design.
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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.
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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.
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.