DRINKING WATER

SDCWA 1 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.

DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS

  • An Affordable Greywater Treatment And Reuse Solution For Commercial Properties

    The Boy Scouts of America wanted an environmentally friendly method for disposing of the greywater generated by their shower buildings. Here’s how Orenco’s AdvanTex Treatment Systems helped.

  • Utility Removes Burdensome Bulk Sodium Hypochlorite From Operations

    Historically, Lyon County Utilities, Nevada, applied 12.5% bulk sodium hypochlorite for disinfection at each of their well sites. Always looking to improve system efficiency, Lyon County staff reexamined on‐site hypochlorite generation to determine if the use of the 0.8% sodium hypochlorite solution could mitigate the challenges associated with dosing high strength sodium hypochlorite.

  • Halifax Water Uses Advanced Pressure Management To Reduce Leakages

    Halifax Water (HW) partnered with Mueller for a performance trial of advanced pressure management and the Sentryx™ Water Intelligence Platform.

  • Minimizing Disinfection Byproducts By Targeting Natural Organic Matter Precursors

    Water treatment plants (WTPs) need to lean less on the disinfection process strategies (i.e., chloramination) and instead focus on more comprehensive DBP solutions such as removing TOC. Here's why.

  • Helping Detroit Get The Lead Out

    Learn how the Kresge Foundation promotes efficient and equitable lead abatement efforts by supporting the use of BlueConduit's machine learning technology. 

  • How To Calculate Chlorine Demand When Treating Iron & Manganese With Solid Manganese Dioxide

    Most treatment systems for removing iron and manganese from groundwater sources use chlorine, oxygen or various other chemicals to oxidize the clear state of iron and manganese to an oxidized or solid form so the particles can then be filtered out. If complete oxidation occurs and if the oxidized floc is of suitable condition, a filtration system consisting of filter sand and anthracite is used.

  • The Science Of Mixing And Improving Water Quality In Water Storage Tanks

    Water storage tanks and reservoirs are a critical component of distribution systems, yet they can pose a significant challenge for water utilities as they often have a negative impact on water quality. Water quality problems can develop due to low turnover and/or inadequate mixing resulting in short-circuiting. While the benefits of maximizing tank turnover to minimize water age are generally understood, it is only recently that extensive research on mixing characteristics of storage tanks has been undertaken that has provided insight on what causes water quality problems and expertise in designing inlet/outlet pipe configurations, or mixing systems, to achieve complete mixing and maintain water quality.

  • Stormwater Modeling To Prepare For Biological And Radiological Emergencies

    Stormwater can transport pollutants, such as heavy metals, pathogens, and nutrients, which threaten the quality of rivers, lakes, and oceans. Many stormwater operators have not considered or planned for the challenges in predicting and mitigating transport of biological agents (e.g., anthrax-causing bacterium) or long-lasting radionuclides (e.g., cesium-137) that may result from a terrorist attack.

  • Why Should I Install A Water Storage Tank Mixer?

    Throughout my experience, I’ve tried countless ways to ensure my drinking water was of high quality. By far, the best, most efficient, and effective way I’ve found is by using an active water storage tank mixer.

  • How To Avoid System Downtime When Installing Flow Meters

    Water and wastewater utilities rely on accurate flow measurement for important process controls. These may include recycle streams, chemical dosing systems, and other operational functions. In addition, regulators require utilities to measure certain flows, such as treatment plant influent and effluent and potable water pumping. Accurate flow measurement is also important for monitoring and reducing unaccounted-for water.

DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES

DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS

Get benchtop lab accuracy in an easy-to-use, easy-to-maintain, wireless, handheld instrument designed for diverse, demanding, water quality testing applications. Select from a variety of pocket testers, each featuring simultaneous measurement of Temperature and one critical parameter:

Flanged pipe and fittings are key components in rigid piping systems, ideally suited for above-ground installations in water filtration plants, sewage disposal facilities, wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations, and industrial plants, per AWWA C115/A21.15 standards.

The Ultrameter II is a prime example of how high-tech engineering can greatly simplify and streamline a task. Whether in the lab, industrial plant, or in a remote field location, there are only a few simple steps to take a reading. 

Adjusting chemical dose based on flow or setting a fixed chemical dose can be very expensive. With a system that provides Real-Time Control, you can significantly lower chemical costs, quickly adjust for loading changes, and enjoy the peace of mind in knowing your effluent phosphorus levels are within permit range.

With 90 years of water treatment experience, Loprest has the expertise to design an effective treatment process for your water treatment challenges.  From basic filtration and ion exchange to multiple contaminant applications, challenge Loprest for an economic, effective solution of your water quality compliance issue.

The OPTIFLUX 5100 is an electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF) with a high-tech ceramic measuring tube for demanding process flows. It is particularly suited for applications in the chemical processing industry, the minerals and mining sector as well as in any other sectors of industry where highly aggressive or abrasive liquids occur. The EMF is the ideal solution for harsh process conditions with temperatures up to +180°C / +356°F, aggressive chemicals and solid content (up to 10%).

LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER

DRINKING WATER VIDEOS

On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, at 10:15 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a hearing entitled “Cyanotoxins in Drinking Water."

Rather drink sewage water than LA tap water any day.

Water utilities need reliable data to meet regulatory demands, manage operations, and deliver excellent customer service. Master Meter’s Allegro AMI and Allegro Mobile technologies offer smart, scalable solutions to support these needs. Allegro AMI provides hourly data on consumption, tampering, and leaks, automatically sent to the utility office.

Discover how integrated membrane system designs can maximize the operating stability of EDI systems and reduce mixed bed regeneration frequency.

Water and energy are inextricably linked, yet in our 20th-century water systems we use freshwater once then throw it away. With innovations designed to enhance desalination technologies, agricultural runoff, produced water from industry, and inland brackish groundwater that are now seen as untreatable could all be sources of clean, safe, and affordable water.

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:

  1. Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
  2. Drinking water treatment of source water
  3. 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.