Water Treatment Plant Performance Evaluations and Operations

Water treatment is a growing field in North America, with seventy US states and localities and ten Canadian provinces requiring certification for water treatment plant operators. This book provides a step-by-step look at the most current water treatment technologies, balancing academic theory and professional practice. A compilation of studies conducted over the past decade at the Bloomington, Illinois Water Treatment Plant, it presents studies that are useful as templates for comparable long-term studies at other water utilities. This is an unparalleled gathering of techniques, processes, and data, including test results for every potential taste and odor control method.

A guide for evaluating water treatment plant performance, improving analytical capabilities, and optimizing plant operations

Documenting a twelve-year cooperative effort between H₂O'C Engineering and the Bloomington, Illinois, Water Department, this book presents the results of a series of twenty-six on-site studies to systematically evaluate and improve unit processes, operations, and procedures at the Bloomington, Illinois, Water Treatment Plant. It provides guidelines for comparable long-term studies, illustrating how other water treatment plants might develop their own advanced analytic laboratory capabilities, assess treatment process performance, and improve their operations.

Using a case study approach, the authors address such issues as:

• Maintaining regulatory compliance

• Evaluating particle and organism removal performance

• Testing, evaluating, and enhancing filter operations

• Managing seasonal taste and odor problems resulting from algal blooms

• Improving lime softening performance, efficiency, and operations

• Quantifying GAC adsorption and microbial degradation of organic matter

• Developing a comprehensive plant operations manual

Following the experiences of the Bloomington Water Department, readers learn how to utilize basic tools and internal resources to reduce costs, improve operational efficiencies, meet evolving regulatory requirements, update emergency procedures, and document standard operational procedures and experiences.

Dr. John T. O'connor, PE, is the CEO of H₂O'C Engineering in Columbia, Missouri (www.h2oc.com). He earned his BS in civil engineering from The Cooper Union and his doctorate in engineering from The Johns Hopkins University. He has also served as the chief of the Illinois State Water Survey and as chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. O'Connor has authored over 100 technical publications related to water quality and treatment.

Tom O'connor, PE, is a principal of H₂O'C Engineering in Columbia, Missouri (www.h2oc.com). He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's in business administration from the University of Missouri; is an expert in environmental and energy issues; and specializes in the design, evaluation, optimization, and modeling of water and wastewater systems.

Rick Twait earned a bachelor's degree in environmental science from Bradley University and is Superintendent of Water Purification at the Bloomington, Illinois, Water Treatment Plant. He is an aquatic biologist, limnologist, and former researcher at the Illinois State Water Survey.