DRINKING WATER
AMERICAN And Partners Install Boltless Restrained Underwater Pipeline System In Ashland, Wisconsin
Beneath the waters of Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin, about 4,500 feet of 24-inch AMERICAN Flex-Ring Ductile Iron Pipe and a submerged timber crib intake structure were installed to ensure the city’s residents have quality drinking water for the next 100 years. The Ashland Water Intake Project began May 1, 2025, and is now complete.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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![GettyImages-1492286980_450_300]( "Four Tips For A Successful PFAS Removal Pilot Study")
Four Tips For A Successful PFAS Removal Pilot StudyFollow these key steps to conduct a successful pilot study to help remain below their target contaminant limits and cost-effectively comply with regulations.
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![Modern sewage treatment plant-GettyImages-1328743788]( "7 Challenges Municipal Water Treatment Professionals Are Facing And How To Solve Them")
7 Challenges Municipal Water Treatment Professionals Are Facing And How To Solve ThemSolutions that offer instant, chemical-free disinfection, manage costs, handle high organic loads, and control emerging contaminants are defining the path forward for water facilities.
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City Of Austin, Texas Installs A Total of 4,500 Pounds‐Per‐Day Of On‐ Site Hypochlorite Capacity Using the Microclor® OSHG System
With 100 years of service history, Austin Water has seen enormous change in its 540 square miles of service area. Planning for the next 100 years has city and utility planners considering a diversity of sources, system resilience, and sustainability while being mindful of conservation goals. In the city’s newest water treatment plant, WTP4, Austin Water was able to combine those planning elements into a state‐of‐the‐art treatment plant. The plant, which is located on Lake Travis, is capable of treating 50 million gallons a day (MGD) with the ability to expand to 300 MGD.
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Ultrasonic And Radar Level Technologies: Bringing Clarity To The Water And Wastewater Market
If your head spins after reading how amazing one level measurement technology is in comparison to another, understanding the key attributes of these technologies and their applicability to specific processes may help to clear the waters.
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Ultrasonic vs. Radar In The Water Industry
In recent years, the debate about which technology is best suited for level monitoring and open channel monitoring (OCM) applications has taken some traction. There are those who argue that ultrasonic level technology has been uncontested as the standard for level and OCM applications in the water industry. The counter-argument is that radar technology is more effective because it is more robust and accurate than ultrasonic technology.
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Dewatering Never Sounded So Good: Noise Management At Metropolitan Utility Repair Sites
When the jobsite is in an urban or metropolitan area measures must be taken to try to minimize the perception of nuisance or harm. Utility contractors face this situation often when they are called to make repairs.
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![The Digital Utility Potential Of Smart Water Metering.jpg]( "The Digital Utility - Potential Of Smart Water Metering")
The Digital Utility - Potential Of Smart Water MeteringUsing the latest and greatest technology has become commonplace. We use it every day to stay informed and connected. Today, utilities are leveraging digital technology by transforming tasks that were once manual to digital.
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![Resiliency_iStock-826151808.jpg]( "Appreciating The Importance Of Resiliency")
Appreciating The Importance Of ResiliencyAs essential services, water and wastewater utilities face a lot of pressure to maintain continuity despite a variety of challenges — stormy weather, natural disasters, and even global pandemics. In-plant instrumentation, SCADA systems, and remote sensors all have their roles. But for more holistic views and higher-level analyses of performance patterns, an operational intelligence system can help to maximize resiliency.
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![las-vegas-mccarthy-WTP]( "Liquid Oxygen Supply For Ozone Generation")
Liquid Oxygen Supply For Ozone GenerationLearn about a project to procure and fabricate large bore piping to reduce field installation.
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![Net_Zero_Leakage_iStock-1255413806]( "Finding A More Affordable Migration Path To Net Zero Leakage")
Finding A More Affordable Migration Path To Net Zero LeakageWhether decision-makers consider it ultimately attainable or not, there is something positive to be said about striving toward ‘net zero leakage’ in water distribution systems saddled with high non-revenue-water (NRW) losses. The key is taking affordable steps — like those described below — toward identifying and mitigating the most egregious water loss locations in a distribution system, based on readily accessible data.
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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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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Dosing Of Sodium Hypochlorite Solution For Drinking Water Disinfection9/22/2022
A water purveyor was in urgent need of a chemically resistant flow instrumentation with a long life of service that allowed reliable and long-term stable dosing of the sodium hypochlorite solution.
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Determination Of EN15662:2008 - Determination Of Pesticide Residue In Food Of Plant Origin, By An Automated QuEChERS Solution9/24/2014
Pesticide residue laboratories are required to undertake analyses of an ever increasing number of samples. The analyses typically involve use of multi-residue methods (both GC-MS and LC-MS) to test for over 500 pesticide residues.
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The Basics: ORP and Free Chlorine Monitoring5/13/2014
Oxidation Reduction Potential or Redox is the activity or strength of oxidizers and reducers in relation to their concentration. Oxidizers accept electrons, reducers lose electrons. Examples of oxidizers are: chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, bromine, ozone, and chlorine dioxide. Examples of reducers are sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfate and hydrogen sulfide. Like acidity and alkalinity, the increase of one is at the expense of the other.
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Take Control Of Your Water Distribution Network With Digitalization And Remote Monitoring5/19/2022
Any process plant constantly generates a high volume of status data. Today, this data can be extracted from the plant, stored, analyzed, and prepared to meet operator needs and lower marginal costs.
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Background And Summary Of Tests For The 2000PV Restraint4/13/2021
The 2000PV is a restraint for PVC pipe and the standardized mechanical joint. This product is the result of years of testing and evaluation and its performance has been proven by thousands of hours of proof tests, as well as third-party evaluations. This report describes the 2000PV through the 12" size.
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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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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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Flexible Expansion Joints Provide Protection For Pipelines Subject To Subtle Or Sudden Movement12/7/2020
Flex-Tend flexible expansion joints have a proven record of providing protection for pipelines subject to subtle or sudden movement. As with all products used in the water and wastewater industry, protection is optimized with the selection of the proper assembly incorporated into a sound design. This paper is intended to provide assistance in both of these areas.
DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS
Every drop costs you money The estimated cost associated with produced water treatment in the United States is approximately $18B. The cost of cleaning produced water is 300 times greater than municipal waste water and 3,000 times greater than irrigation water.
The DR6000™ is the industry’s most advanced laboratory spectrophotometer for water testing. It offers high-speed wavelength scanning across the UV and Visible Spectrum, and comes with over 250 pre-programmed methods including the most common water and environmental testing methods used today.
The J7000 Break Check Valve can be easily fitted to any Jones wet barrel hydrant.
The AquaDiamond® filter, a new horizontal configuration for the Cloth Media Filter, has been produced. It utilizes PA-13 pile cloth as its filter media.
The Smith & Loveless Duplex Gravity Filter (DGF) removes suspended solids and particles, improving effluent quality. The standard system is available in sizes to fit any application, providing up to 200 square feet (18.6 square meters) of effective filtration area per unit. Dual media filtration increases filtration depth and limits the head loss problems associated with single-media designs.
The AFC SEMPER® RPM featuring "Lift & Shift" capability is an ideal solution for pressure monitoring, transient analysis, fire flow testing, customer pressure concerns, and hydraulic model calibration. This flexible installation method allows the use of a smaller number of units to cover a large area with the advantage allowing utilities to move their RTU’s quickly and easily without having to reconfigure the application or retrofit existing assets.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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![LakeSuperior_Getty-1405284925]( "PFAS Are Turning Up In The Great Lakes, Putting Water Supplies At Risk — Here's How They Get There")
No matter where you live in the U.S., you have likely seen headlines about PFAS being detected in everything from drinking water to fish to milk to human bodies. Now, PFAS are posing a threat to the Great Lakes, one of America’s most vital water resources.
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![tractor_sludge_Getty-2155530305]( "Why Too Much Phosphorus In America's Farmland Is Polluting The Country's Water")
When people think about agricultural pollution, they often picture what is easy to see: fertilizer spreaders crossing fields or muddy runoff after a heavy storm. However, a much more significant threat is quietly and invisibly building in the ground. -
![EnvironmentPeople_004]( "Water In 2026: The Nexus Of Policy, Technology, And Resilience")
As water systems become more circular and complex, understanding and managing the subsurface — the hidden half of the water cycle — is becoming a critical enabler of resilience. This article explores the key trends shaping this new reality, from tackling “forever chemicals” to the water strategies redefining heavy industry. -
![Cutting Red Tape-GettyImages-502421630]( "How The NEPA Rollback Will Impact Water And Wastewater Industries")
The White House has finalized plans to roll back rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), narrowing its focus and limiting what the current administration claims are needless delays for federal approval of water, energy, and other infrastructure plans. For water and wastewater utilities, the changes could speed up permitting for critical projects, although experts warn the tradeoffs could do more harm than good. -
![Ultraviolet lamps for water disinfection-GettyImages-1271779123]( "Setting Global Standards: Inside North America's Only Full-Scale UV Disinfection Validation Facility")
Setting Global Standards: Inside North America's Only Full-Scale UV Disinfection Validation FacilityPortland's industry-leading facility reaches 100 reactor validations in 23 years. -
![Water analysis, purification, filtration, treatment, quality monitoring, contamination detection-GettyImages-2234293664]( "Why Haven't Field Tests For Lead In Water Gone Mainstream?")
Given the maturation of sensor technology, the scientific and operational hurdles to portable lead analysis are somewhat surprising — but surmountable.
DRINKING WATER VIDEOS
RIP Kitty Hach-Darrow (October 20, 1922 - June 4, 2020), co-founder of Hach Company
As aquatic invasive species continue to overwhelm hydropower, industrial, and municipal systems worldwide, this webinar explores why traditional filtration and chemicals are falling short—and how a dual-barrier UV approach is emerging as a proven, chemical-free alternative backed by global field results.
See how SIWA MDM Event and Data Action Management (EDAM) helps utilities detect anomalies and identify service points with potential issues. With EDAM, utilities can define a set of conditions or rules that SIWA MDM meter data management uses to analyze data and events such as water leaks and missing reads.
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.