Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) serves about 142,000 customers in Riverside County, CA. The EMWD service area is one of the largest for any water district in arid southern California. On the drinking water side, EMWD manages two water treatment plants and over 15 reservoirs. With 70% of the district’s water coming from the Metropolitan Water District with chloramine disinfection, EMWD has become reliant on chloramine disinfection to manage long transmission lines and longer detention times.
A study led by the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation set out to prove the growing evidence 'that our groundwater is fairly heavily contaminated with human pathogenic viruses.'
In January 2010, AdEdge Water Technologies, LLC was contacted by Aqua Utilities Florida to provide a hydrogen sulfide removal system for the Lake Josephine Community located in Highlands County, Florida.
The user population of a Central Texas resort system does not reach its peak until summer and the resultant levels of peak and low usage vary widely. This fluctuation impacts levels of disinfectant residual and, consequently, water quality — especially at the end of the line. Manual flushing of the utility's hydrants to maintain water quality has resulted in excessive time and labor as workers must access the outlying areas.
A Water Quality Specialist used the Hach SL1000 Parallel Portable Analyzer (PPA) to test 6 parameters simultaneously – all within about 8 minutes. Previously, the procedure took 20 minutes just for one parameter.
Best practices for OEMs to simplify and streamline their development, production, and ongoing support of high-performance filtration skids for water treatment facilities.
Bethpage Water District’s (New York) outdated water metering system led to customer service concerns, such as a slow response time for detecting leaks and insufficient data for billing inquiries. By installing new meters and advanced metering analytics software, the district increased visibility into its operations, resulting in greater revenue and improved customer service.
Now that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued its rule for cooling water intakes under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act, the race is on for more than 600 power plants and manufacturing facilities to comply. Right now, there is probably no better example in the water industry of how carefully choosing among compliance options can lead to millions of dollars in cost savings.
Smart defense benefits the entire team. Having an ffective, durable water pretreatment system in advance of reverse osmosis (RO) or ion exchange systems is the first, most critical line of defense ensuring smooth, more trouble-free performance downstream. Contributed By Eco-Tec
In California, water is precious, competition for water is fierce and conservation is critical. In the midst of the state’s worst drought to date, Governor Jerry Brown declared historic statewide mandatory water restrictions calling for a 25 percent reduction in water usage through February 2016.
Pressure reducing valves (PRVs) are used throughout water distribution systems to reduce pipeline pressure to a predetermined set point. This decreases water loss and prevents pipe breaks.
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.
In the fields of water and waste water technology, submersible pumps represent a viable economic and technical alternative to conventional, dry-installed pumps. In particular, they offer a number of handling advantages during maintenance and installation work, a factor of increasing importance in times of general staff cutbacks by operating companies.
The Real UV254 'P' series portable meters can be used to measure UV transmittance (UVT) in a number of situations, and are especially beneficially when working with small UV disinfection systems. The following cases outline two situations in which Real Tech's portable meters are invaluable.
Nitrate is present in high levels in wastewater due in part to the high nitrates present in human sewage but also from some types of industrial effluent entering the municipal sewer system.
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.
The analysis of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in seawater can be both challenging and expensive. The concentration of organic carbon in seawater is of considerable interest. The effect this matrix can have on TOC analyzers can lead to rapid consumable turnover, costly maintenance and repairs.
Now compatible with the Hach sc100 Controller, the FilterTrak 660 sc Nephelometer connects as a ‘plug and play’ sensor with the universal, dualchannel controller that features an inherent power supply.
Hach, the leader in water quality, has developed a customized solution for water quality testing that takes the guesswork out of your measurements.
Biological and chemical contamination in drinking water poses a significant public health risk and plant operators require a treatment system that allows them to produce a safe and reliable supply of clear, good-tasting and biologically-stable finished water with the lowest concentrations of non-desired substances.
The WEDECO Spektron series shines new light on the environmentally friendly process of using UV disinfection for drinking water. Featuring highly efficient ECORAY® UV lamp technology and advanced flow distribution, the Spektron series suits modern drinking water treatment plants, regardless of local pipe conditions, energy costs or local legal requirements.
The H2Zero Backwash Recycle Systems configuration can be designed for arsenic adsorption or iron & manganese oxidation & filtration systems. Whether backwashing is infrequent (every 45-60 days in the case of adsorption for "fluffing" the media beds or performed one or more times per week using AdEdge can customize a solution to fit your need.
Supplying drinking water to the population and treating wastewater are two very important global challenges. On a daily basis, system planners, designers and operators are required to keep the global increase in water consumption under control in the face of growing water shortages and the salination of fresh water resources. As industry experts for water applications, we offer powerful, innovative technical solutions to assist you.
Learn about the advantages and implementation of AMI from experts who are making “smarter water” a reality.
While several case studies demonstrate that participation in water quality trading markets can have dramatic economic benefits, relatively few communities participate. The U.S. EPA and USDA teamed up to find out why, hoping to increase participation.
The water sector is undergoing structural shifts that will demand changes to the way in which we operate if we are to meet our water challenges in the future. Water volatility is increasing.
Mobile-enabled geographic information systems (GIS) herald a new age for bacterial source tracking, allowing increased stakeholder involvement, more informed decision-making, and enhanced water quality.
Yes, America cleaned up at the Olympics this summer, but how does the U.S. fare on the world stage when it comes to water resiliency, efficiency, and quality?
I was at a funeral recently and when the internment got to the “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” part, specifically at “dust you are and to dust you shall return,” it occurred to me that nothing could be further from the truth.
"Wastewater Dan” talks with FOX 4 News Kansas City about drought conditions in California and procedures to conserve water in the home. He also demonstrates the use of a total dissolved solids (TDS) meter to test drinking water quality, and interprets the results.
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:
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.
