Drinking Water Treatment Optimization Using the Pipe-Loop System: Demonstrationat Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

摘要

Army installations must comply with Federal and state regulations on potablewater quality which are becoming increasingly stringent. A problem facing installations is that while a water may leave the treatment plant at an acceptable quality, it may deteriorate before reaching the consumer. This degradation in quality is mainly due to introduction of metals (e.g., lead and copper) and other by-products of corrosion occurring along the distribution system. The U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory USACERL has developed a low-cost apparatus called the CERL Pipe-Loop System (CERL-PLS) for evaluating corrosion and techniques for its control in drinking water systems. Installations can use this system to optimize their water treatment practices and meet mandated drinking water standards. To maximize the CERL-PLS' performance, a standard protocol is needed for simulating water conditions during testing and monitoring. Moreover, in light of proposed new regulations that would lower the acceptable levels of copper and lead, the system required testing to determine if it could help installations develop successful treatment programs. A field test was conducted at the APG water treatment plant and experimental data were compared with water system survey data that had been measured previously. Results suggest that the method used to estimate water conditions for the simulation is adequate, but could be refined for better accuracy.