DRINKING WATER
Oak Park, Illinois: Turning Continuous Acoustic Data Into Measurable Water Savings
Aging underground infrastructure can cause severe, invisible non-revenue water losses. Implementing continuous acoustic loggers with AI-driven analytics isolates the precise signatures of subsurface leaks, allowing utilities to target hidden failures early and maximize capital efficiency.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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![getty-1370595598-water-utility-worker]( "From AMI To Operational Control: Why Performance, Control, And Confidence Matter")
From AMI To Operational Control: Why Performance, Control, And Confidence MatterModern infrastructure requires moving beyond data collection toward true operational control. Discover how focusing on performance, network priority, and engineered resilience allows utilities to manage leaks and emergencies with total confidence.
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Creating Reusable Water From Municipal Sewage
Al Shamal is the capital city of the municipality of Madinat ash Shamal in Qatar. With the majority of the town's population not yet connected to a sewer network, there was an immediate need to provide a wastewater treatment plant to treat wastewater generated from the towns' population and small industries. Ashghal, the Public Works Authority of Qatar and its end user, decided to install a tanker discharge facility with a compact sewage treatment plant to produce effluent suitable for reuse in irrigation.
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Ozone Vent Gas For Aeration At Wastewater Plant Expansion In China
The Jimo, China, municipal wastewater plant was originally designed to treat a combination of municipal and textile wastewater (120,000 m3/d) with Class IB effluent limits for BOD, COD, ESS, TN, NH3-N and TP.
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![GettyImages-1204813771 valve inspection]( "Beyond Non-Payment: 5 Emerging Use Cases For Remote Water Shutoff Valves")
Beyond Non-Payment: 5 Emerging Use Cases For Remote Water Shutoff ValvesRemote shutoff valves are evolving beyond non-payment management, helping utilities improve emergency response, conservation, compliance, operational efficiency, and long-term system resiliency.
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![GettyImages-1188858196]( "How To Handle Unexpected Contaminants In Water")
How To Handle Unexpected Contaminants In WaterRead why temporary water treatment system may encounter new or unexpected contaminants that did not initially show up in samples, and what businesses can do in response.
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![Success_Story-Rock_Falls_IL-4]( "10 Years After Installation, Insta-Valve 250 Helps Isolate Repair Area")
10 Years After Installation, Insta-Valve 250 Helps Isolate Repair AreaA previously installed Insta-Valve 250 insertion valve provided control for a fire pump removal without backflow between the water distribution piping and the water treatment facility.
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![terminal-island-wedeco]( "Innovative Water Reuse Solutions With Xylem's Advanced Treatment Technology")
Innovative Water Reuse Solutions With Xylem's Advanced Treatment TechnologyTransitioning to advanced purification methods like UV-hypochlorite oxidation allows municipalities to secure reliable, local water supplies. These strategies mitigate drought risks and protect coastal environments by transforming wastewater into a high-quality resource for reuse.
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![Meters]( "How Ultrasonic Clamp-On Meters Deliver Savings To Users")
How Ultrasonic Clamp-On Meters Deliver Savings To UsersUltrasonic clamp-on meters offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional electromagnetic meters (also called mag meters) and other metering technologies for non-billing applications.
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![ArsenicRemovalPeru]( "Drinking Water Treatment Plant (DWTP) Filtration System For Arsenic Removal")
Drinking Water Treatment Plant (DWTP) Filtration System For Arsenic RemovalThe existing water treatment at the Toquepala Mine in Peru included only chemical disinfection to provide the local population with water only for non-potable purposes. An alternative solution was essential.
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![Simpler_Smart_Water_iStock-491464602]( "Simpler “Smart Water”: A Paradigm Shift For AMI Deployment")
Simpler “Smart Water”: A Paradigm Shift For AMI DeploymentAs municipal water utilities face relentless financial pressure — with consumers who oppose rate increases at one end of the spectrum and a crisis of aging infrastructure at the other — “smart water” is becoming an imperative. Driving adoption of the technology on a widespread scale requires simplicity and cost certainty, both of which can be found in newer network as a service (NaaS) models for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI).
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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Advances In Paper-Based Devices For Water Quality Analysis2/22/2017
Water quality test strips have been around for decades. They are usually constructed from a porous media, including different types of paper, and undergo a color change when dipped into water containing the analyte of interest. These test strips have seen application in swimming pools, aquariums, hot tubs, remediation sites, and other commercial/environmental areas.
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Protection Of Membrane Systems Utilized For Municipal Water12/1/2020
As water scarcity issues around the world become more acute, more municipalities are having to turn to alternative water sources for potable water supplies. Also, many municipalities in coastal areas are seeing the quality of their water sources degrade as sea water intrusion occurs.
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Waste Technologies Transform Problems To Profit9/8/2015
Anaerobic digestion processes that radically improve the quality of wastewater while delivering green energy extracted from biological waste streams are emerging as a profitable way for agricultural and food processing industries cope with the twin impact of drought and pollution challenges.
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Pile Cloth Media Filtration Removes 97% Of Microplastics From Wastewater12/6/2023
Learn about filtering microplastics from industrial wastewater prior to discharge, and how this is one way to effectively reduce the volume of this waste material from entering our surface water.
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Immediate pH Correction For Fluctuating Flow2/19/2014
In a number of water, wastewater and industrial process applications, pH is one of the most critical and highly sensitive analytical measurements. Examples of critical pH applications include: Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems in which a controlled feed of caustic solution is typically added to the feed stream in order to convert a portion of dissolved carbon dioxide into bicarbonate precipitate allowing for removal by the RO membrane. By Rafik H. Bishara, Steve Jacobs, and Dan Bell
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The Process Of Deionizing Water10/29/2021
Years ago, high purity water was used only in limited applications. Today, deionized (Dl) water has become an essential ingredient in hundreds of applications including: medical, laboratory, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, electronics manufacturing, food processing, plating, countless industrial processes, and even the final rinse at the local car wash.
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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 And Activated Carbons For Better-Tasting Water12/18/2013
For many, access to good-tasting tap water is limited, and buying bottled water can be expensive. Simple pour-through jug filters offer a low-cost and effective alternative. Activated carbons, in conjunction with ion exchange products, produce drinking water that is absent of all industrial pesticides and contaminants.
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How To Read An Encoder9/13/2013
The HR-E LCD encoder has a 9-digit Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to show consumption, flow and alarm information. The display automatically toggles between 9-digit and 6-digit consumption, rate of flow and meter model.
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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
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.
For 80 years, positive displacement, reciprocating metering pumps such as Pulsafeeder’s Pulsa Series have led the industry. These hydraulic diaphragm pumps have been the benchmark for safety, reliability and accuracy. Today, with automatic degassing features like the HypoValve, API-675 compliance, and certified by WQA to “NSF/ANSI/CAN 61” and “NSF/ANSI 372”, the PulsaPro Series is a perfect fit for Water & Wastewater Treatment, Oil & Gas and Industrial applications.
Understand your pipe condition without impacting service using ePulse Optimize and ePulse Discovery.
The WATERFLUX ,3300 is an electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF) for demanding water applications and custody transfer operations (MID MI-001, OIML R49; MI-004). The high-end meter is particularly suitable for applications requiring high accuracy and extensive diagnostics. With its rectangular and reduced cross-section the EMF enables a stable measurement even at low flow rates. This way, the WATERFLUX ,3300 offers a much larger turndown ratio (1000:1) than mechanical flowmeters (e.g. turbine meters) in drinking water distribution networks.
Pilot tests conducted at numerous facilities demonstrate that Loprest treatment processes successfully reduce iron, manganese, arsenic, nitrate, and many other select contaminants in drinking water to well below the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL). Loprest can provide self-contained portable, free-standing pilot units or mobile, trailer-mounted units, depending on specific testing needs at each site.
De Nora offers reliable, robust and proven ozone solutions to ensure peace of mind, backed by extensive global experience.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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![Tax evasion, escaping the law-GettyImages-2160646350]( "AMI Adoption In Water Is Still Structurally Constrained")
Over the last two decades, utilities have increasingly viewed the transition from automated meter reading (AMR) to advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) as the next step in modernizing their operations. The benefits of moving toward a truly digital ecosystem are well-established, yet AMI continues to face a slow, asymmetric rollout in the water industry.
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![Faucet with water drop-GettyImages-183356556]( "Protecting The World's Most Essential Resource: How Utilities Can Navigate Growing Risks To Drinking Water Supply")
Protecting drinking water supply has become more complex, more urgent, and less predictable as utilities navigate a convergence of pressures, including climate variability, emerging contaminants, and accelerating population growth. Together, these trends are redefining what it means to deliver safe, reliable drinking water. Yet within this disruption lies a critical opportunity.
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![A depleted reservoir in the Yorkshire countryside-GettyImages-2222868312]( "UK Reservoirs, Water Shortages, And Legionella Risks")
Is there a clear link between a less plentiful water supply and an increase in Legionella in our domestic water systems?
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![Communication network, digital transformation-GettyImages-2162072598]( "AMI's Next Phase: Turning Meter Data Into Operational Value")
A recent series of workshops convened by The Water Research Foundation (WRF) underscores how utilities are beginning to use AMI data to support conservation, improve system performance, and move toward more proactive operations. The takeaway is straightforward: most utilities now have the data; the challenge is putting it to work.
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![GettyImages-2167814769]( "The Circular Dividend: Managing Water As A Strategic Boardroom Asset")
For decades, industrial operators have treated water through a transactional lens as a commodity utility expense to be bought, utilized, treated, and discharged. However, the operational realities of a water-stressed world require a profound organizational shift.
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![Futuristic digital geology terrain, digital data telemetry-GettyImages-2171946409]( "Why The Water Sector's AI Ambitions Depend On Better Connectivity")
For AI to deliver real operational value, it needs a constant flow of reliable operational data. AI systems are relentlessly data-hungry, and the more data, the better. Yet, accessing this data remains a major challenge in the utilities sector, with remote reservoirs, wastewater treatment works, and sprawling infrastructure often located a long way from traditional cellular networks.
DRINKING WATER VIDEOS
Stanford Earth’s Rosemary Knight recently spearheaded a project to map underground freshwater resources and forecast the intrusion of saltwater into aquifers beneath the California coastal town of Marina.
In this episode of The Water Online Show: On Location, our guest is Mike Blackburn from Hach. Mike dives into the benefits of panel-mounted solutions for water quality monitoring.
NASA scientists used tree rings to understand past droughts and climate models incorporating soil moisture data to estimate future drought risk in the 21st century.
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.