Operation Of Water Treatment Plants Research Articles

The potential for water recovery from urban waste water - The perspective of urban waste water treatment plant operators in Poland

Water recovery from waste water has become an essential element of the circular economy in the Baltic Sea region. However, there is little data on the possibility of using water recovered from urban waste water. A survey was conducted to learn the opinions of Poland waste water treatment plant operators. They were asked whether they recovered water for internal or external needs. Respondents indicated opportunities and barriers in this activity. The opinions of 107 operators show that work is underway on closing internal circuits in urban WWTPs. These solutions are technically relatively easy to implement and show measurable benefits (i.e., saving drinking water). However, water recovery for external purposes is rare and is at a very early stage. Despite this, the potential is significant, although many financial, organizational, technical, and mental barriers exist. The most critical challenge is the safe use of reclaimed water and the cost-effectiveness of the solutions. The survey also shows a need for education and involvement of the public.

Simulation and Modeling of Water Treatment Plant with GPS-X Software for Health and Water Quality

Background: Waterborne diseases are infectious in nature, significantly impacting global health related to water quality and disease prevalence globally. In this study, GPS-X was used to design and simulate water treatment plants to determine the effectiveness of different mechanisms in water treatment. Method: The GPS-X water treatment software was utilized to evaluate raw and treated water performance at the Al-Kadhmaya Water Treatment Plant. Three scenarios were designed to assess the impact of varying flow rates and water parameters such as pH, alkalinity, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), and total suspended solids (TSS) on the plant's performance. Results: The evaluation of the operational performance of the water treatment plant revealed that the concentrations of all contaminants in the effluent water consistently met the established Iraqi and WHO standards across all scenarios. This indicated the effectiveness of the plant's treatment processes in producing safe drinking water. The findings of this study held significance for water authorities, decision-makers in Iraq, and national and international environmental agencies, providing valuable information for improving water treatment practices and ensuring compliance with water quality standards. Conclusion: The study demonstrated the effectiveness of the GPS-X water treatment software in assessing the performance of the Al-Kadhmaya Water Treatment Plant. The results highlighted the plant's ability to consistently meet water quality standards, underscoring the importance of robust water treatment processes. These findings contributed to the body of knowledge regarding water treatment plant design and operation, offering insights that can inform decision-making processes to enhance water quality and ensure public health.

Unraveling the characteristics of dissolved organic matter removed by aluminum species based on FT-ICR MS analysis

Given the complexity of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and its interactions with coagulant chemicals, the mechanisms of DOM removal by aluminum (Al) coagulants remains a significant unknown. In this study, six test waters containing DOM with molecular weight (MW, <1 kDa, 1–10 kDa and >10 kDa) and hydrophobicity (hydrophilic, transphilic and hydrophobic) were prepared and coagulated with Al0, Al13 and Al30. The molecular-level characteristics of DOM molecules that were removed or resistant to removal by Al species were analyzed using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). The results showed that at the molecular level, saturated and reduced tannins and lignin-like compounds containing abundant carboxyl groups exhibited higher coagulation efficiency. Unsaturated and oxidized lipids, protein-like, and carbohydrates compounds were relatively resistant to Al coagulation due to their higher polarity and lower content of carboxyl groups. Al13 removed molecules across a wider range of molecular weights than Al0 and Al30, thus the DOC removal efficiency of Al13 was the highest. This study furthers the understanding of interactions between Al species and DOM, and provides scientific insights on the operation of water treatment plants to improve control of DOM.

Assessment of routine operation and maintenance work of a small community water treatment plant in North Guwahati, Assam, India

A water treatment plant's efficiency is reliant on its regular maintenance and operation. Many water treatment plants across the world are outsourced to private enterprises for day to day operation and maintenance. However, the impact of outsourcing may not always be profitable as design of faulty treatment units or carrying out improper routine operation and maintenance works by the private enterprise may ultimately affect the quality of potable water produced. The current study aims to evaluate the routine operation and maintenance tasks performed by an outsourced private enterprise at a small community water treatment facility in Assam. The performance monitoring of the treatment plant indicates that the plant is unable to produce potable water meeting national water quality standards. The turbidity of treated water is not able to meet the BIS acceptable limit of 1 NTU but it complies with the BIS permissible limit of 5 NTU. In general, the plant operators lack the skills required to operate the treatment plant effectively. Coagulant dosing is completely based on personal experience of plant operators instead of using jar test results. The backwashing of filter beds is carried out arbitrarily without considering the turbidity of filtered water. These factors have resulted in malfunctioning of the treatment units ultimately affecting the quality of potable water produced from the plant. The skill set of plant operators and chemist has been enhanced with bilingual stepwise instruction charts and on-hand training at the site. This aids in raising the standard of produced potable water. The turbidity of treated water is observed to be close to the BIS acceptable limit of 1 NTU.

Operators Need to Know the History of US Water Quality Regulation and Analysis: Part 2

Water treatment plant operators need to understand federal and state laws as well as the standards that apply to water treatment systems. They should also understand how drinking water regulations are administered and why compliance is essential to providing safe drinking water to the public.

Studying the impact of monitoring strategy on disinfection performance evaluation with computational fluid dynamics

ABSTRACT Disinfection is a critical process component of drinking water treatment to protect human health. The disinfection performance is highly dependent on the hydraulic efficiency of the disinfection contactor. Accurately evaluating the contactor hydraulic efficiency is important to water treatment plant designers and operators. Tracer analysis is the most used approach for evaluating hydraulic efficiency. Many factors that can impact tracer analysis have been well studied, while the monitoring strategy is not. This study investigates the impact of different monitoring strategies, including single-point, multiple-point, and surface-average monitoring, for hydraulic efficiency evaluation. It is found that: residence time distribution and characteristic times could vary significantly when monitoring two points near to each other, especially at a location with an uneven velocity distribution; the multi-point matrix monitoring approaches proposed in this study could be an alternative to accurately evaluate the contactor hydraulic performance even at the places with an uneven velocity distribution.

Review of climate change and drinking water supply systems: employee perspectives and potential tools for adaptation

Climate change (CC) causes extreme meteorological events such as floods, droughts, water scarcity, heat waves, wildfires, and extreme cold. CC may also damage public infrastructures such as drinking water systems (DWSs) and reduce water quality from source to tap. The objective of this review paper is to provide a critical analysis of (1) the impact of CC on the three components of the DWSs: source, treatment, and distribution; (2) the perspectives of DWS employees on CC impacts and adaptation solutions for maintaining water quality; and (3) decision support systems (DSSs) that could be used by DWS employees for CC adaptation. A bibliographic research was conducted using international databases and search engines. The search for scientific articles resulted in the selection of 5234 articles, 78 of which were analyzed in more detail for the elaboration of this scoping review. This review shows that the impacts of CC on water quality are significant, but DWS employees are not enthusiastic about developing adaption measures. This review also shows that DSSs can help DWS employees facilitate the CC adaptation process for the protection of source water, improve water treatment plant operations, and enhance routine management of water quality in the distribution system. Further research is needed to identify strategies that might increase the awareness of and interest in climate change impacts, adaptation, and the use of DSSs among DWS employees.

Groundwater treatment using polystyrene foam filters with upflow filtration

The groundwater is less susceptible to anthropogenic influence and the water quality of these sources is more stable. At the same time, the groundwater often has an increasing iron concentration. Despite the sufficient availability of proven methods for iron removal from water, it becomes necessary to search for more resource and energy saving technologies which is due to the constant rise in the cost of resources for the construction and operation of water treatment plants. The aeration methods for the iron removal from groundwater are often used, as cheaper ones. The polystyrene foam filters with upflow filtration are of particular interest, as the most reliable in operation among the developed types of filters with floating medium. A further reduction the cost of water is possible by using granules of foam polystyrene obtained by a production method, which ensures an increased grain size in comparison with the traditional method of their obtaining. The positive experience in such filters implementation allowed to recommend the placement of iron removal equipment in the existing water towers.

Using image texture to monitor the growth and settling of flocs

Abstract Currently, a reliable and easy-to-use method to monitor flocculation in the water treatment process is highly demanded, especially for small water purification stations. For this problem, in situ images were used to analyze the flocculation process under different conditions via jar tests. A texture feature of the gray level co-occurrence matrix was found to be helpful for monitoring the floc status, such as growth rate and settling velocity. To further verify this finding, we established the correlation between the texture time sequence curve (TTSC) and its corresponding floc status. The slope of the TTSC during the growth phase and during the settling phase can describe the growth rate and the settling velocity, respectively, i.e., the higher the slope, the higher the growth rate and settling velocity. In addition, significant differences between the TTSCs in various abnormal conditions and the normal condition of coagulation can be identified. By using the TTSC for detecting abnormal conditions, we again verified that the texture feature can reliably reflect the flocculation process. Our study helps to develop a low-cost, stable, and simple method for monitoring flocculation and detecting abnormal conditions, which can effectively be used in the operation and management of water treatment plants.

Data-driven Pump Performance Analysis Using Online Monitoring Data Accumulated with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System

Pump degradation has significant impacts on the operation of water treatment plants since pumps are widely used as basic facilities to supply and distribute water. The authors develop a method for quantifying pump performance to monitor pump degradation by using online monitoring data accumulated with a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. The developed method estimates the performance of each pump from the measured values at the confluence of pipes with the least-squares method and respective on-off signals. From the viewpoint of practicality, the usefulness of the developed method was evaluated.

Instrumentation and Innovation Continue to Evolve

Water treatment plant operators continue to find innovative ways to deliver high‐quality drinking water to their customers. New techniques add to the rich accumulation of knowledge first developed by their predecessors.

Water quality evaluation at Trusan Regional water treatment plant, Lawas, Sarawak

Lawas community mostly depends on the treated water supply from Trusan Regional water treatment plant (WTP) for daily activities. However, rural areas are still not fully covered within the treated water supply grid due to remote access. Therefore, it is significant to have a safe, reliable water supply for all communities to fulfil their basic survival needs. Thus, it is necessary to maintain the quality of the treated water supply. The present study attempts to evaluate the water quality supplied by the Trusan Regional WTP, Lawas, by analyzing the daily water quality data for 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 (January to April). Data were taken using the SCADA system, and the reading of water quality was detected and recorded automatically in the Daily Report on Water Quality book by the WTP operators. Based on Water Quality Index (WQI), the raw and treated water is recorded and analyzed based on five standard water parameters, which are pH (6.5–9.0), Turbidity (5 NTU), Colour (15 TCU), Residual Chlorine (0.2–5 PPM), and Residual Alum (0.2 PPM). The result shows that the quality of the water supply at Trusan Regional WTP is adequate, and the parameters have met the allowable WQI value.

Development of Interisland Freshwater Supply System with Micro Hydropower System

The supply of freshwater must be conducted with considerable technical considerations based on community socioeconomic conditions. Thus, the supply of freshwater does not make the community oppose the operation and maintenance. Limbo Island is one of the islands that do not have freshwater potential; hence, people have to fetch water from Taliabu Island, which is about 3 nautical miles away. For this reason, providing freshwater with environmentally friendly technology is necessary. Given technical and operational considerations, the drinking water supply in Limbo Island comprises a system of underwater pipelines with electrical technologies and energy sources that are environmentally friendly and have low operational costs. The system does not require an operator with expertise or special education, such that it can be operated by locals. The supply of freshwater for Limbo Island is constructed with an underwater piping system with a capacity of 30 L/s to serve some of the people of Taliabu and Limbo Islands. The pipe used for crossing the sea is high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe with a diameter of 110 mm and a nominal pressure specification of 20 bar; it has a thickness of 12 mm, with two pipes with a length of 5,800 m at the bottom of the sea. The flow system in the transmission and distribution pipe is run by gravity; thus, it does not require electrical energy. Electrical energy requirements are used for water treatment processes, such as for drive dozing pumps, mixers, compressors for pneumatic systems, lighting and other electrical needs. These requirements are met by the water energy that is processed through a micro hydropower of 12.5 kW. Micro hydropower strongly supports the operation of the water treatment plan, especially for those whose location is far from access to electrical energy by the electricity company, so that the water treatment plant operations can be carried out continuously and the operating costs are cheaper.

Restrictions in water treatment by conventional processes (coagulation, flocculation, and sand-filtration) following scenarios of dam failure

Dam failure events can result in a high suspended solids concentration in surface waters. To understand the impact of high suspended solids concentration on the treatment process of water treatment plants, this study investigated coagulation-flocculation stages using different coagulants (ferric chloride and a polymeric coagulant – CAT-FLOC 8799 Plus) and solids concentrations (2000–46,000 mg/L), and how they impacted on the mean diameter (d50), density (ρs), and settling velocity (vs) of the agglomerates formed. After the sedimentation process, the turbidity values varied between 201–26 NTU when FeCl3 was used as a coagulant, and 36–11 NTU when using the organic coagulant. The study reinforces the effect of particle diameter on sedimentation velocity, which is lower for cases involving smaller average diameters. Even so, solids removal was high regardless of the initial conditions and characteristics of the agglomerated particles, starting early in flocculators with removals >80 %. The results point to the need for frequent maintenance of these units to remove the sludge settled, which could compromise the operation of water treatment plants. In this sense, two alternatives were proposed as pre- and post-treatment. Under high total solids concentration (>20,000 mg/L), pre-treatment with thickeners becomes mandatory, and ultrafiltration comes as an additional barrier that will prevent high turbidity values in drinking water. In this study, the use of ultrafiltration membranes in partial or total replacement of sand filters showed stable performance (permeate flow: 130–136 L/m2h) with no tendency to fouling and guaranteeing a residual turbidity value <0.3 NTU. Future studies should prove the technical and operational feasibility of the strategies proposed, which until then showed promising results to guarantee the operation of water treatment plants in adverse scenarios.

Free Chlorine Residual Measurement and Manganese Interference: Is the DPD Method a Fair Judge?

Water treatment plant operators need to understand manganese's effects on the DPD method when measuring free chlorine.

Study of the Operation of an Industrial Water Treatment Plant of the Northern Soft Drink Company Fez, Morocco

Study of the Operation of an Industrial Water Treatment Plant of the Northern Soft Drink Company Fez, Morocco

Определение оптимальной конструкции очистного аппарата сточных вод после гидроабразивной резки

The analysis of flotation tanks and the composition of waste water after hydroabrasive cutting has been carried out. The most optimal design of the treatment unit for waste water treatment of a hydroabrasive machine was been determined. The results of studies aimed at determining the main parameters and the principle of operation of a waste water treatment plant for waste water treatment after the hydroabrasive cutting are presented.

Membrane technology as an emergency response against drinking water shortage in scenarios of dam failure

With dam failure events, there can be changes in water quality and difficulties in the operation of water treatment plants (WTPs) since they were not designed for water treatment under severe pollution conditions. To avoid that, it was investigated two strategies based on pre-oxidation, ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) integrated into a conventional treatment process (coagulation, flocculation, and sand filtration) or with each other, with the potential to reduce the risks of drinking water shortage and guarantee a safe drinking water supply. The study considered the context of the Velhas river basin (Brazil), where water quality is compromised by high turbidities (500–3000 NTU) and excessive arsenic (∼0.4 mg/L), iron (∼50 mg/L), and manganese (∼3 mg/L) levels. They were only partially removed by conventional treatments (removals: 74 ± 21%) and potability standards were only achieved after the membrane separation processes were considered (As: <0.01 mg/L, Mn: <0.1 mg/L, and Fe: <0.3 mg/L). The high water quality after RO enables its blend with the stream obtained after sand filters and would allow for greater flexibility during the operation of WTPs operation. Despite the susceptibility to fouling and most frequent maintenance, the pre-oxidation-UF-RO system would also guarantee a safe drinking water supply. The decision for the most adequate strategy was then based on a multicriteria analysis. A retrofit of conventional WTPs by their integration with UF-RO was classified as the best strategy for centralized facilities, whereas pre-oxidation-UF-RO better fits the reality of decentralized treatments given the lower costs and deployment time. The methodology based on multicriteria analysis and water treatment technologies, exemplified by membranes in this study, presented satisfactory results for different scenarios of critical treatment.

Reuse of aluminium-based water treatment sludge for phosphorus adsorption: Evaluating the factors affecting and correlation between adsorption and sludge properties

Equilibrium phosphorus (P) adsorption was investigated for nine aluminium-based water treatment sludges (WTS) from four water treatment plants in Victoria, Australia. Four WTS, one from each location, were characterised in-depth to unpack the P adsorption trends observed from the nine WTS. Morphology, surface area, porosity, mineralogy, and acid-digestible aluminium were measured. In a key finding resolving longstanding uncertainty on this topic, results indicate that the age of the sludge does not account for differences in P adsorption. However, there was a strong correlation between the acid-digestible Al content of the sludge, the surface area of the sludge and the P adsorption. Acid-digestible Al concentration may serve as a simple proxy to help identify WTS batches best suited to reuse for P adsorption. One of WTS was investigated in further detail to identify suitable conditions for use in adsorption. The highest P adsorption was observed at pH 4 (the lowest pH tested), with negligible release of Fe & Al at this pH. The second smallest fractions (1.18 mm) which showed the highest adsorption. We hypothesise that the smallest size fraction (0.6 mm) is composed of inert materials that do not participate in P adsorption. All WTS released organic content ranging from 1.63 mg/L to 9.7 mg/L into the solution in experiments and it was influenced by the pH and P concentration which supports that ligand exchange is the driving force. This study of provide useful information for water treatment plant operators to identify potential reuse applications for water treatment sludge. • Trends of P adsorption with WTS age do not correlate across multiple sites. • Acid digestible Al shows a strong correlation with surface area and P adsorption. • The particle size fraction less than 0.6 mm appears to be less active in P adsorption. • Organic release is influenced by pH and quantity of P adsorbed but not the sludge age.

Scientific substantiation of conceptual approaches to the development of a regulatory document on the quality of drinking water under condition of martial law

The purpose of the research was to scientifically substantiate the conceptual approaches to the development of normative document on drinking water quality in order to prevent morbidity and mortality in martial law during armed aggression in Ukraine and other emergencies. &#x0D; Materials and methods: descriptive, sanitary-chemical, normative-search, comparative analysis, expert assessments have been used. The paper analyzes the results of observations of efficiency and monitoring of water quality from water supply stations of Ukraine before and after the war, and compare assessment of the main provisions of regulations on drinking water quality of some countries, including those used in emergencies. &#x0D; Results. The research established that in wartime centralized drinking water supply companies are burdened by problems due to unguaranteed quality of source water, lack of stable conditions for the technological process of water treatment, operation or destruction of water treatment plants and networks etc. Current standards in Ukraine( DSanPiN 2.2.4-171-10 "Hygienic requirements for drinking water intended for human consumption") during martial law require significant changes: supplementation of safety and quality indicators due to the new risks of drinking water pollution; exclusion of certain safety and quality indicators at the expense of non-priority ones; establishment of temporary hygienic standards for tap water and water dispensing points and the procedure for their use; adjusting the frequency of production control of potable water; implementation preventive measures to reduce morbidity and mortality. Today the project of “DSanPiN "Safety indicators and some particular indicators of potable water quality during martial law and emergencies of another nature" (hereinafter - DSanPiN) has been scientifically substantiated and developed. According to the draft of this document, the quality of drinking water in terms of epidemic and radiation safety must meet the requirements of DSanPiN 2.2.4-171; in terms of physicochemical - see requirements of DSanPiN. The requirements of DSanPiN after their state registration will be applied during martial law and during emergencies of other nature in a particular area for a specified period as short as possible by the relevant regional or local commission for technogeneous environmental safety and emergencies.&#x0D; Conclusions. It is established that during the military emergency situation in Ukraine the current DSanPiN 2.2.4-171-10 "Hygienic requirements for potable water intended for human consumption" require significant changes in order to: supplement safety indicators due to the emergence of new risks of drinking water pollution; exclude certain indicators of safety and quality due to non-priority; establish temporary hygienic standards for potable tap water and bottling points in personal containers of consumers and the procedure for their use; adjust the frequency of production control of potable water quality; implement other preventive measures to reduce morbidity and mortality.. Nowadays the draft DSanPiN "Safety indicators and some indicators of potable water quality in martial law and emergencies of other nature" is scientifically substantiated and developed, and it was submitted to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine for state registration.