DRINKING WATER
Pitot Testing: The Gold Standard For Wholesale And Production Meter Accuracy Evaluation
For most water utilities, master and production meters represent the system's financial and operational truth. These meters quantify the volume of water entering the distribution network, support water accountability programs, validate NRW calculations, and influence everything from treatment costs to rate structures.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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![GettyImages-167623357_450_300]( "Determining The Right Solution For Your Next Potable Water Project")
Determining The Right Solution For Your Next Potable Water ProjectInsertion valves are a go-to solution for public water systems for planned, routine, or emergency maintenance and repairs. This article discusses which features should be considered when choosing an insertion valve.
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![GettyImages-1328094196_450_300]( "Verizon And Itron Work Together, Developing Future-Ready Water Solutions Using Cellular Technology")
Verizon And Itron Work Together, Developing Future-Ready Water Solutions Using Cellular TechnologyA cellular-based approach to AMI is helping utilities modernize faster, reduce complexity, and build future-ready networks that support reliable data access, flexibility, and long-term resilience.
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How To Conduct A Pilot Test For Iron & Manganese Removal From Groundwater Using Manganese Dioxide Filter Media
There are various treatment processes that are used to remove iron and manganese from ground water for potable water supplies. While there are various less common treatment methods used (such as ion exchange and ultra-filtration), most treatment systems for iron oxidize the ferrous state of iron to a ferric state so the solid particles can then be filtered out.
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![iStock-483284074]( "Village Blue Lake Pontchartrain Offers New Orleanians Insights Into Local Water Quality")
Village Blue Lake Pontchartrain Offers New Orleanians Insights Into Local Water QualityWater quality monitoring can be a powerful tool to help inform policies and environmental restoration efforts, and to keep local water bodies healthy. EPA recently launched a water quality monitoring project in New Orleans that’s helping the community learn more about Lake Pontchartrain’s water quality and its greater connection to the Mississippi River.
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![Harmsco At Work: World Class Water Features]( "Harmsco At Work: World Class Water Features …")
Harmsco At Work: World Class Water Features …The facility’s Management Team set a goal to reduce their maintenance and operating expenses by greater than 25%. The Management Team researched filtration options available and determined that the Harmsco® Hurricane® Filtration System would meet or exceed their requirements.
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![geren-island]( "City Of Salem Chooses Ozone To Treat Cyanotoxins In Raw Water")
City Of Salem Chooses Ozone To Treat Cyanotoxins In Raw WaterIn this case study, discover why the City of Salem's Geren Island Water Treatment Plant chose ozone as the best option to effectively treat cyanotoxins in their raw water.
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Town Of Kittery, Maine Relies On Lime Feeders For pH Control For More Than 25 years
The Francis L. Hatch water filtration plant is in the coastal town in York county Maine and has an average capacity of 2.6 MGD. This is a surface water plant that utilizes hydrated or “slaked” lime (calcium hydroxide) to maintain the pH level around 7.0. For over 25 years, the district has used two of the UGSI Chemical Feed model 32‐055 Feeders to mix dry hydrated lime with water to create a lime slurry solution that can then be added to the finished water treatment.
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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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KETOS Provides Real-Time Lab Accurate Results For Effluent Water
A leading provider of water and wastewater treatment solution for industrial, municipal, and recreational customers faced a number of issues with the safe treatment and disposal of coal ash and residual ash in ponds. Frequent testing at multiple locations was needed to ensure water safety and compliance.
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![iStock-1186157611.jpg]( "GAO Report Promotes New Way To Advance LSL Remediation")
GAO Report Promotes New Way To Advance LSL RemediationIn a report released just days before the U.S. EPA issued its final revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided insights that water utilities can use to achieve better protections for water customers in neighborhoods at higher risk of lead exposure. Here is a peek into its four recommendations, which the GAO anticipated updating in response to the EPA final LCR revisions.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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Remote Monitoring And Maintenance Through Digitalization3/17/2020
Siemens offers to our customers the ability to make both process measurements, and to remotely monitor the activity and health of instrumentation, whether you have a SCADA, PLC or DCS system, or not. By utilizing Siemens’ ability to offer unparalleled flow, level, pressure, temperature, and weight measurement we can provide a broad range of process measurements and offer unequaled monitoring of the health and performance of those products.
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Improved Efficiencies In TOC Wastewater Analysis For Standard Method 5310B And EPA Method 41510/16/2014Total organic carbon (TOC) measurement is of vital importance to the operation of water treatment due to organic compounds comprising a large group of water pollutants. TOC has been around for many years, and although it is a relatively simple analysis in theory, operational efficiency is paramount.
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What Are You Doing To My Pipe: Can PVC Pipe Be Loaded?4/13/2021
The argument has been used that PVC pipe is delicate and can’t be subjected to any kind of loading. In EBAA's years of testing we have found that is not the case at all. PVC can take an extreme amount of strain.
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Determination Of Pesticide Residue In Vegetables9/10/2014
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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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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SensyMaster Thermal Mass Flowmeter8/3/2021
SensyMaster helps to improve the operating costs of the most cost intensive process in sewage plants: Aeration. High-measuring performance and state of the art technology helps customers increase plant efficiency.
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Free Chlorine Measurement In Drinking Water Treatment12/21/2005
Before water can be used as a safe and reliable source for drinking water, it must be properly treated. Since water is a universal solvent, it comes in contact with several different pathogens, some of which are potentially lethal, and inactivation is accomplished through chemical disinfection and mechanical filtration treatment. This treatment consists of coarse filtration to remove large objects and pre-treatment which includes disinfection using chlorine or ozone
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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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Solution For Algae Blooms12/17/2015
Harmsco® Filtration Products is pleased to offer a solution to the ever increasing blue-algae blooms in water sources. A multi-barrier approach is necessary to physically remove intact (algae and cyanobacteria) before they rupture in the treatment process and then remove extracellular cyanobacteria through adsorption.
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Bottled Water Industry: Liquid Analytical Solutions11/10/2013
Americans consume more than 9.1 billion gallons of bottled water annually - an average of twenty nine gallons per person every year.
DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS
Water Quality Monitoring Panels offer application specific Hach® sensor and electrode configurations in the convenience of one panel and are pre-engineered, ready to install, simple solutions - that are designed to work together.
The Singer In-Line Strainer is carefully designed to protect valves and regulators from pipeline debris, so utilities don’t have to worry about costly maintenance, downtime, and repairs. Manufactured in ductile iron with corrosion-resistant stainless-steel screen, the screen design provides a smooth laminar flow, which is ideal for locations ahead of automatic control valves.
DXmic Pro is the latest generation ground microphone from FCS. Building on the excellent reputation of the Xmic, the DXmic features touchscreen operation and a wealth of new innovative features. The DXmic has the highest sound quality and supports audio recordings, so playback of any leak noise can easily be accessed via USB. The device comes with a robust carry case that can also be used as a charging station.
The OPTIMASS 1400 is a cost-effective twin straight tube Coriolis mass flowmeter for a wide range of standard applications with gases and liquids (up to 170,000 kg/h or 6,235 lb/min). The meter features Entrained Gas Management (EGMTM) for liquid applications, providing reliable readings even in the event of gas entrainment of up to 100%. In this way, the Coriolis meter enables continuous and uninterrupted measurement of volume flow and mass, density and temperature – even at difficult process conditions with 2-phase flow.
Learn about KROHNE's ultrasonic clamp-on flowmeter for temporary flow measurement of liquids.
The Myron L® Company’s Ultrameter II™ 6PFCE delivers benchtop lab-accurate measurements in one compact, easy-to-use, easy-to-calibrate handheld device.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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![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.
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![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.
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![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. -
![Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA molecules-GettyImages-2179084012]( "Putting The National Toxicology Program's Fluoride Review In Context")
Despite renewed public concern over fluoride and cognition, the National Toxicology Program’s findings focus on high‑fluoride groundwater conditions — not the controlled levels used in U.S. drinking water systems. Understanding that distinction is critical for utilities navigating policy questions and community expectations. -
![regulation, compliance, risk management, guidelines-GettyImages-2253669656]( "Opinion: Why PFAS Policymakers Should Read Past The Abstract")
When it comes to drinking water, sound public policy requires sound scientific research. Publication in a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal helps establish legitimacy for scientific claims in public discourse. But science is a social process, scientific standards of evidence vary across disciplines, and peer review does not guarantee validity. For readers who stop at the abstract, these distinctions can be easy to miss. -
![brinewater_Getty-2234054563]( "Reclaiming Water From Contaminated Brine Can Increase Water Supply And Reduce Environmental Harm")
People around the globe are trying to figure out how to save, conserve, and reuse water in a variety of ways, including reusing treated sewage wastewater and removing valuable salts from seawater. But for all the clean water they may produce, those processes leave behind a type of liquid called brine. I’m working on getting the water out of that potential source, too.
DRINKING WATER VIDEOS
Water infrastructure projects often face extreme installation conditions, from deep-trench burials to exposed bridge crossings. Ensuring long-term reliability requires a material capable of withstanding environmental stressors that can compromise other piping options. Ductile iron pipe offers superior durability, maintaining its structural integrity regardless of temperature fluctuations or UV exposure. Watch the full video to explore these benefits in action.
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.