Water treatment history

Clean and efficient heat exchangers are a prerequisite if the water treater wishes to retain business, and therefore some considerable effort must be made to properly understand not only the design characteristics of this equipment but also the current and previous water treatment history. 

Review water treatment program history, including corrosion monitoring results using metal coupons or Corrator probes (or similar ones). 

This is not to say that the most theoretical treatises were unwelcome or unenlightening, but they were most probably almost irrelevant for all practical purposes. Fortunately, the welcome and developing trend today is to provide textbooks and papers that balance detailed discussions on particular topics with case histories (complete with photographs) from real cooling systems and other areas of water treatment. 

NOTE In practice, when taking over a new water treatment program account, it is almost impossible for a field representative to know the full history and engineering details of the cooling system(s). As a consequence, a survey involves considerably more than merely filling in a standard company survey sheet. Some degree of investigation is required, relevant to the size and complexity of the plant. In addition, it is a fundamental principle that in the early days of a new account contract the water treatment company personnel will spend considerable time on-site so as to be fully conversant with the plant and operator practices. 

Unfortunately, not enough buyers or users undertake to be properly involved in a detailed water treatment survey of their own plant. Obviously, they cannot go around the site every week with a different service company representative, but once or twice per year can be quite instructive. It is also a fact of life that while most users of water treatment keep proper engineering and operational details on file, together with a history of water treatment programs supplied to site, some firms regularly fail to maintain adequate information. They may not know the answers to some of the questions raised or simply not consider water treatment to be that important. Consequently, buyers in such companies have little way of validating much of the survey data collected, which ultimately form the basis of a vendor s technical and commercial proposal. 

The record of COC, the history behind the COC obtained, and the potential for improving the future operating COC is often a vital key to technically improving the water treatment management (adding value) and thus also improving the performance-to-cost ratio (which, in turn, may be promoted as a benefit to enhance the chances of obtaining the prospective customer s account). 

Progress was not smooth mistakes were made, decisions took considerable time to be made, and the early trial results were not spectacular. In fact, this case history mirrors the kinds of real-life problems that water treatment buyers and sellers often experience, especially with large accounts. However, fortunately, most plant surveys are not this complicated, nor do they involve cooling systems anywhere near as large as this example. 

On July 7, 1855, Michael Faraday wrote to The Times of London to complain that the river Thames was a real sewer and that the whole of the river was an opaque pale brown fluid. He argued that [i]f we neglect this subject, we cannot expect to do so with impunity nor ought we to be surprised if, ere many years are over, a hot season give us sad proof of the folly of our carelessness (http //dbhs.wvusd.k 12.ca.us/Chem-History/Faraday-Letter.html, viewed 4/19/ 98). Society has made much progress since then, but many concerns remain. The use of charcoals and activated carbons in water treatment is probably one of the oldest chemical technologies, and a vast literature has accumulated on this subject [1-6]. 

Table 2 is a compilation of pHi./x- and pH EP values for several commercial activated carbons. It is seen, for example, that the values for Filtrasorb 400, a commonly used adsorbent in water treatment, vary by several pH units. This reinforces the point that was clearly illustrated in the important paper of Lau et al. [70] because of the large affinity of carbon for oxygen, the storage and thermal history of the adsorbent often has a large influence on its chemical surface properties (see al.so Fig. 25). 

L. K. Wang, Case history of Lenox, Pittsfield and Coxsackie water treatment plants. The... 

The history of SPE dates from more than fifty years ago, with granulated active carbons previously used in water treatment technologies. The pioneer work was conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service (Cincinnati, OH). After that, other approaches were investigated with petroleum pollutants, insecticides and VOCs. Disadvantages such as irreversible adsorption, analyte reactions on the activated carbon surface and low recoveries started research in new sorbent materials. See the historical review of SPE by I. Liska. ... 

Non Rare Earth SATs. Several candidates that meet these criteria have been found, and some of their applications are discussed by Kruger (5). Krugers discussion also contains an excellent accoimt of the early history of this field. In a series of experiments at the Pennsylvania State University, Jester and coworkers (6,7) have used Br" and I" to mimic the movement of soluble species in natural waters. In-EDTA complexes have been used by Behrens et al. (8) to monitor groundwater movement, while Dahl (9) has shown that In(N03)2 could be used to trace water stream patterns and pollutant dispersal in and around the harbor of a Norwegian town. Indium and scandium were used as stable activable tracers for monitoring in-plant movements of water in waste water treatment plants by Craft and Eicholz (10). The entire subject of industrial uses of activable tracers has been reviewed recently by Van Dalen and Wijkstra (II). 

Pile D at Hanfoid. Pile in For ound, Water Treatment Plant in Rear. Reprinted from Richard G. Hewlett and Oscar E. Anderson, Jr., The New World, 1939-1946, Volume I of. 4 History of the United States Atomic Energy Commission (University Park Pennsylvania State University Press, 1962). 

Access to clean water is essential to the workings of a stable, thriving society. We have seen in the previous section that disinfection of water is an important step in water treatment for human consumption. Water disinfection is one of flie greatest public health innovations in human history. It has dramatically decreased Ihe incidences of water-borne bacterial diseases such as cholera and typhus. But this great benefit comes at a price. 

For the history of Wakefield s water treatment efforts, see Smith (1910) Smith and Chaplin (1904) and Ingleson (1934), pp. 65-66. For numerous other examples of the ongoing efforts to monitor and minimize water plumbism, see Local Government Board (1908-1909), especially Appendix A, Number 10, titled Water Supplies Shewing Gapacity to Act on Lead. ... 

Oil and gas plants and gas industries use the same basic equipments (pumps, tanks, vessels columns etc.) because the basic physics and chemistry of hydrocarbon and gas processing is the same everywhere. Therefore the scenario types for various types of equipment might be categorized by risk analysis, accident history and operational experience. Accidents in oil and gas plants in one oil and gas operating company which includes six oil fields producing more than one million barrels of crude oil, 500 M ft gas, and 6500 barrels of liquified natural gas per day. Over a time period between 1985 to 2009 were assessed. This company has 7 operation units, 4 distillation plants, 10 gas compressor stations, 3 liquified gas plants, a gas refinery, and one water treatment plant. 

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