Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Water treatment is only a part of the solution. Transporting or storing water can also intro-
duce contaminants. Additionally, water treatment solutions require skill, maintenance,
and consumable supplies that might make them impractical or prohibitively expensive in
actual use. In rural, remote, and crisis situations, these needs are ampliied. Following a
hurricane, earthquake, regional conlict, or environmental disaster, clean water becomes
an immediate issue after basic triage. In each large-scale disaster—tsunamis, hurricanes/
cyclones, earthquakes, etc.—water supply has become critical by day 3 of the crisis, and
often remains so for months or years after the acute crisis is over.
24.3 Developed-World Water Problems
A December 2009, New York Times investigative series titled “Toxic Waters” began “The
35-year-old federal law regulating tap water is so out of date that the water Americans
drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks—and still be legal” [6]. Gasoline
additives, pharmaceuticals, gas-fracking chemicals, industrial solvents, pesticides, and
many other contaminants have been reported in numerous research papers to be present
in municipal water, surface water, and groundwater in both developed and undeveloped
countries. Many of these contaminants are man-made chemical compounds that require
new technology to remove, including methyl tert -butyl ether and other petrochemical
products, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides,
cleaning solvents, textile dyes, and endocrine-disrupting compounds. Therefore, the com-
pelling, unmet market need is for water treatment solutions that address these man-made
chemical contaminants, while also treating microorganisms and other toxic compounds
such as heavy metals that might be in water.
In industrial nations, point source or decentralized water puriication systems are also
used to further purify municipal water or groundwater to remove residual contaminants
that could affect processes or products.
• Industrial users—Laboratories, food processing lines, water bottling plants, etc.,
purify water to remove contaminants that could destabilize production processes,
to ensure consistent product quality, or to minimize risk associated with process
waste.
• Institutional, commercial, and residential users of drinking water—Government
facilities, schools, homes, restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, etc., purify water to
ensure drinking water safety and quality.
Currently, multistage systems incorporating ilters, RO, and ultraviolet (UV) sterilization
processes are used for these point source solutions. These systems are almost always
customized for the individual application or customer, so system integrators and value-
added resellers are used to specify and install what should/could be an appliance.
Current trends in contaminant monitoring, government regulations, and health aware-
ness are expanding the need for these decentralized point source drinking water solution
as shown in Figure 24.4.
Therefore, a low-cost, low-maintenance, water puriication system is needed to purify
water to meet the WHO Guidelines, both disinfecting and detoxifying the water, and to
provide safe drinking water for anyone, anywhere in the world.
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