Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Microbiolog
ical Drinking Water Parameters
Scientists picture the primordial Earth as a planet washed by a hot sea
and bathed in an atmosphere containing water vapor, ammonia, meth-
ane and hydrogen. Testing this theory, Stanley Miller at the University of
Chicago duplicated these conditions in the laboratory. He distilled sea-
water in a special apparatus, passed the vapor with ammonia, methane
and hydrogen through an electrical discharge at frequent intervals, and
condensed the “rain” to return to the boiling seawater. Within a week,
the seawater had turned red. Analysis showed that it contained amino
acids, which are the building blocks of protein substances. Whether this
is what really happened early in the Earth's history is not important; the
experiment demonstrated that the basic ingredients of life could have
been made in some such fashion, setting the stage for life to come into
existence in the sea. The saline fluids in most living things may be an
inheritance from such early beginnings.
—Frank N. Kemmer (1979)
The subject of man's relationship to his environment is one that has been
uppermost in my own thoughts for many years. Contrary to the beliefs
that seem often to guide our actions, man does not live apart from the
world; he lives in the midst of a complex, dynamic interplay of physical,
chemical, and biological forces, and between himself and this environ-
ment there are continuing, never-ending interactions.…Unfortunately,
there is so much that could be said. I am afraid it is true that, since the
beginning of time, man has been a most untidy animal. But in the earlier
days this perhaps mattered less. When men were relatively few, their
settlements were scattered; their industries undeveloped; but now pollu-
tion has become one of the most vital problems of our society.
—Rachel Carson (1998)
Introduction
Drinking water practitioners are concerned with water supply and water
purification through a treatment process. In treating water, the primary
concern, of course, is producing potable water that is safe to drink (free of
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