Hygienic Water Quality Research Articles

Purification of a contaminated thermal well at an oil drilling site

The thermal water from the well MT-4 in Northeast Slovenia contains many organic micropollutants of geogenic origin because of the nearby oil fields. Therefore, a special technological treatment was necessary to make the water suitable for bathing: consisting of flocculation, sand filtration, and adsorption on granular activated carbon. We managed to remove not only all potentially toxic organic substances, but also the mesophilic bacteria (CFU) as well as sulfite reducing bacteria. On the other hand, all the important physical chemical parameters of water remained practically unchanged. In this way a hygienic water quality for balneological purposes was obtained. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 14: 211–216, 1999

Enhanced surface water treatment by ultrafiltration

For capacity extension of one of the drinking water production plants of Amsterdam Water Supply, four treatment schemes applying ultrafiltration (UF) are considered. The main purposes of the UF process are phosphate removal, removal of suspended solids and colloidal matter, and hygienic water quality improvement. In the pilot plant investigation, water from the Bethunepolder has been treated with UF. The feed water shows very large and rapid water quality variations, making it a difficult source to treat with UF. Hydraulic performance as well as effluent water quality were studied. The results have shown that stable operation of the membranes is feasible and an excellent water quality can be produced. Phosphate was removed from average 60 μg/l P to 20 μg/l P in the ultrafiltrate. Iron and turbidity were almost completely removed, whereas a log-removal of at least 2.5 to 3.5 was reached for indicator organisms. It was concluded that UF is a powerful treatment process for extension of drinking water production at AWS and offers new opportunities for relatively small-scale, on-site production of household or industrial water.