Providing safe drinking water is a growing challenge. While methods for the disinfection of bacteria, protozoa and viruses in drinking water are well established, there are certain chemical contaminants of concern resistant to traditional water treatment methods which are being detected in drinking water, and many have the potential to impact public health.
Advancements targeting the challenges related to a flooded meter pit environment have occurred slowly over the years, with limited success.
As oil prices remain high, we are in the midst of a nation-wide initiative to seek renewable sources of energy to increase energy efficiency and energy security. Renewable energy accounted for 13.2% of the domestically produced electricity in 2012. Among the sources of renewable energy is the production of biogas from landfill gas (LFG) or digester gas. By Scott Rouse, VP Product Management, Sierra Instruments
This leading rod and wire mill requires water for cooling steel and tools in its manufacturing process. Water used for cooling becomes contaminated with metals and lubricants and was therefore being disposed of as waste.
In Canada and the western United States, long treated water transmission lines are frequently utilized to convey potable water to rural communities. These long transmission lines combined with chlorine for water disinfection can often create the requisite conditions for the formation of undesirable disinfection-byproducts (DBPs). One of the most common DBPs is a family of volatile compounds called Trihalomethanes (THMs) which are regulated in Canada to a level of 100 ppb (part-per-billion) annual average and in the US to a level of 80 ppb.
From the largest metropolitan water treatment plant (WTP) or wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operations to the smallest rural systems, the goals are essentially the same — achieve regulatory compliance and the most efficient results at the lowest practical cost. The most feasible (i.e., affordable) control solutions vary by process, plant size, and budgetary limitations. Here are several high-level guidelines to achieving a common strategy that works across virtually all applications: good data, properly analyzed, yields good results.
The desert community of Scottsdale, Arizona had no natural surface water sources and a decreasing groundwater supply. Scottsdale had historically treated and disposed of its wastewater.
The City of San Angelo, TX selected WRT’s Z-88 Radium Removal treatment system for reducing high levels of radium in their wells. The city’s Phase I treatment plan was fulfilled in 2014 with the installation of the first Z-88 Radium Removal treatment system. This large treatment facility has been reducing the levels of radium below the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) since it’s inception.
For many years, Huber Heights, OH, searched for an effective and affordable way to eliminate gaseous chlorine (Cl2) use at its 4.46 MGD Needmore Road Water Treatment Plant. An innovative dry calcium hypochlorite makeup and delivery system now provides a safer disinfection method for operators and the community.
This paper presents a practical guide to obtaining a representative sample of filter media at the point of manufacture and on the job site as well as providing insight into selecting a media testing laboratory and the pitfalls of the various tests performed on those samples...
Electrodeionization (EDI) is widely used in many industrial water treatment systems throughout the world. In order to maximize the operating stability and life expectancy of an EDI system they were often designed with double pass RO using caustic injection pretreatment.
Hexanal is one of many well-documented aromatic components that contribute to flavor and aroma in common consumer food products containing omega-6 fatty acids. Hexanal content is also used to measure the oxidative status of foods rich in omega-6 fatty acids.
Today’s drinking water plants have many challenges to meet as they produce water for a fast-growing and increasingly demanding population.
As the world’s population continues to increase at a fast pace, more food and water will be needed to sustain humanity. In the past 50 years, we have tripled our need for water and food, and there are no signs of this trend slowing down. As a result of these conditions, smart, innovative agricultural practices are needed now more than ever. Technology can, and already does, aid agriculture in innumerable ways. One prominent part of agriculture that can use technological innovation to increase efficiency and effectiveness is irrigation.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) analysis is the test everyone loves to hate—and for compelling reasons.
ShenLan Environment Inc. located in Shanghai, China uses 3M™ Liqui-Cel™ Membrane Contactors in their boiler feed water treatment systems. These systems realize lower operating costs with the added benefit of reducing the chemicals added to the boiler feed water.
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).
The analysis of water for volatile organic compounds is important due to their toxicity. The current methods for this determination lack of sensitivity, selectivity or capability for automation. This paper presents the new ISO 17943 Standard using Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) and GC/MS. The sample preparation by SPME enables limits of detection and easy automation of the whole method. GC/MS provides the required sensitivity and selectivity. This ISO Standard was validated by an interlaboratory trial, which results confirm the outstanding performance for this method.
"The variable concentration of solids when purging lamella clarifiers creates problems with sludge dewatering. These problems are exacerbated when changing the flocculant. Read the full application note to learn how automatic control of purge cycles for clarifiers using the Sonatax sludge level probe resulted in reduced energy consumption and maintenance at the plant."
For both disinfection and TOC-reduction applications, NeoTech Aqua Solutions’ patented ReFleX™ UV chamber technology represents the state-of-the-art in high-efficiency UV systems by reflecting over 99% of the UV we generate back into the water.
Harmsco microfiber cartridges are designed for filter housings that utilize 2-1/2”, 2-3/4”, and 7-3/4” O.D. high flow cartridges.
Over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, about 60% of water makes up a human being. One single person consumes more than 30,000 gallons of fresh water a year on average.
De Nora Water Technologies’ SANILEC® 6 system generates sodium hypochlorite wherever and whenever disinfection is required. These lightweight, extremely portable systems are designed for use in rural or isolated locations where water purification, waste treatment or surface disinfection is required. SANILEC 6 systems are ideal for use in areas where chemical storage creates a risk or in areas where other disinfectant chemicals are in short supply.
Shelco's FA Filtration Series are ideal for all types of gases and compressed air filtration.
The AQUATek 100 is a purge and trap autosampler that automates the sample preparation steps for the analysis of liquid samples utilizing a fixed volume sample loop filled using a pressurization gas. Two independent volume programmable internal standards are then added to the sample and the entire aliquot is transferred to the Purge and Trap for compound concentration and subsequent separation and detection using a GC/GC-MS quantification system.
In water and wastewater treatment, chemistry is king. Treatment options are evaluated depending on the quality of water to be treated and the treatment application. Treatment systems including AOP systems, are designed to specifically target certain contaminants and remove or reduce them from the water. This takes places through the power of chemical reactions. Even biological treatments involve chemistry at their core.
A Q&A with scientist Jeff Urban, who explains forward osmosis and how Berkeley Lab is pushing the frontiers of this emerging technology
In February 2019, De Nora announced the acquisition of MIOX® Corporation, an Albuquerque-based electrochemical expert. Five months later, Bryan Brownlie, Managing Director – De Nora Water Technologies Texas LLC, answers some of the key questions we have been asked about the rationale for the acquisition and the changes that have happened since.
Advanced oxidation is a rather complex wastewater treatment process. The general concept of how the process works can be difficult to grasp at first, and the number of possible oxidation methods can seem daunting. Therefore, you turn to the internet for information, and try to analyze together all the information you find using various online resources. However, everything doesn’t always fit right, and you come up with ideas that may not be quite true.
Water utilities with highly successful monitoring programs tend to share a common trait: they have a well-defined plan for calibration that emphasizes frequency and tracking. However, when done properly, this process is time-consuming and often leads to unnecessary labor and downtime. The good news is that advanced metering technology is available for plants to get a better handle on the instrument’s performance with significantly less effort.
Digital devices provide two-way communication, so they can be programmed from the control room. However, the bigger benefit is that they can be part of a system offering assured interoperability to provide a seamless flow of information. This type of integration between key components of the water treatment and distribution process improves decision-making and overall equipment optimization.
Appearing on The Weather Channel's "Wake Up With Al" morning show, water expert Dan Theobald puts drinking water to the test by measuring total dissolved solids (TDS) in tap water samples from Brooklyn, Manhattan, and New Jersey, as well as bottled water samples.
The IQ SensorNet wastewater treatment process monitor is a powerful, modular system designed to be flexible enough to place anywhere in your wastewater treatment system and add to it at anytime.
EXO, a state-of-the art water quality monitoring platform, is designed to address the many challenges of collecting accurate field data in the natural environment.
The YSI Pro2030 DO/conductivity water quality meter is ideal for any field application. The instrument is rugged and extremely simple to use.
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 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.
