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REMOVING ESOTERIC CONTAMINANTS FROM DRINKING WATERS: IMPACTS OF TREATMENT IMPLEMENTATION
Citation:
SPETH, T. F. AND M. R. SCHOCK. REMOVING ESOTERIC CONTAMINANTS FROM DRINKING WATERS: IMPACTS OF TREATMENT IMPLEMENTATION . JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING DIVISION, ASCE. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Reston, VA, 133(7):665-669, (2007).
Impact/Purpose:
Adress Drinking water issues
Description:
At first blush, the production and distribution of drinking water seems to be a very straight forward process. There is a need to remove microbial agents and any anthropogenic or autochthonous contaminants that may be of health concern. Finally, a disinfectant is usually added to maintain a microbiologically-safe water throughout the distribution system. However, for those that design or operate drinking-water facilities, or conduct drinking water research, there are many subtle issues that arise in both individual processes and in the combined treatment train. To elucidate these issues, evaluation of the removal of a specific contaminant in a controlled setting can shed a great deal of light on treatment and what the implementation of the treatment entails for residual and distribution-system plans. In recent years, due to more sensitive analytics, the contaminant perchlorate has been found in a number of natural waters. Regardless of how perchlorate ended up in the environment, or its regulatory status, the unique chemistry of perchlorate offers an opportunity to look at the holistic approach to drinking water treatment for a class of contaminants generally not studied. These chemical characteristics suggest unique solutions to treatment that then have unusual implications upon implementation. The paper discusses perchlorate treatment technologies, and how installing such treatment may impact the whole of a community’s drinking water system.
