This work is focused on improvement of particle formation and separation processes in drinking water. These include the comparison of the dynamics of different coagulation reagents (aluminum sulphate and ferric sulphate) to find the optimal dose of coagulant. During centrifugation test is important to find such a setting centrifuge where we get the best results. In this work we studied the influence of the total mineralization at the optimum dose of coagulant.

Memoria para optar al título de Geógrafo / La presente investigación evalúa la calidad del agua potable para la ciudad de Antofagasta, Región de Antofagasta durante el periodo 2007 – 2016, en el contexto del suministro de distintos tipos de agua potable para la ciudad (desalada, de cordillera o una mezcla de ambas), en específico el suministro de agua potable desalada. Para esto se analizaron los datos de muestras para el periodo de estudio a través de la normativa chilena y fueron evaluados a partir de un índice global de calidad de agua potable. Además, se determinó la percepción de la población entorno a los distintos tipos agua potable de Antofagasta como herramienta complementaria a la evaluación de la calidad. Los resultados obtenidos revelaron que durante el periodo de estudio la calidad del agua potable para Antofagasta se encontró entre los márgenes aceptables de la normativa chilena y no presentó significativas diferencias a partir de los distintos tipos de agua, ya que cumple la normativa a grandes rasgos y presenta una cantidad menor de incumplimientos, pero presenta deficiencias en cuanto a los parámetros organolépticos (olor, sabor, color), lo cual se ve reflejado notoriamente en la percepción de los consumidores, además, se mantienen importantes interrogantes en cuanto a la capacidad de la normativa chilena de evaluar el agua potable desalada para la ciudad de Antofagasta, particularmente desde el contexto de salud de sus ciudadanos. / The present investigation evaluates the drinking water quality for the city of Antofagasta, region of Antofagasta during the period 2007 – 2016, under the context of different types of drinking water supplies, (desalinated, mountain or a mixture) specifically the desalinated drinking water. Water quality data for the study period was analyzed according to the Chilean drinking water guidelines, and then evaluated through a global drinking water quality index. The public perception to the different water supplies was also determined as a complementary tool for measuring water quality. The results showed that during the study period the drinking water quality for Antofagasta was acceptable in terms of the guidelines, because it did not manifest large differences regarding the types of water and had a few minor breaches. Yet it still showed deficiencies regarding organoleptic parameters (odor, taste, color), which was heavily reflected on consumers perception. Nonetheless, important questions remains regarding the capacity for the Chilean guidelines to evaluate desalinated water as drinking water for the city of Antofagasta, particularly from the city’s citizens context of health.

Throughout the past decade an increased amount of attention has been drawn to the water contamination problems that affect the world. As a result, a variety of purification methods targeted at communities in developing countries have surfaced and, although all have contributed to the effort of improving water quality, few have been accepted and sustained for long term usage. Case studies indicate that the most beneficial methods are those which use indigenous resources, as they are both abundant and readily accepted by the communities. In an attempt to make a contribution to the search for water purification methods that can serve in both developed and developing countries, two fractions of mucilage gum, a Gelling (GE) and a Non-Gelling (NE) Extract, were obtained from the Opuntia ficus-indica cactus and tested as a flocculating agent against sediment and bacteria suspended in surrogate ion-rich waters. Diatonic ions are known to influence both cell binding and mucilage properties, causing CaCl2 to be tested as a flocculating agent alone and in conjunction with mucilage. Column tests were utilized to determine the settling rates of contaminant removal from the waters and the precipitated flocs were then evaluated. In columns employing Kaolin as a model for sediment removal, settling rates as high as 13.2 cm/min were observed using GE versus a control (suspensions with no treatment) settling at 0.5 cm/min. B. cereus tests displayed flocculation initiation up to 10 minutes faster than columns treated with calcium chloride (CaCl2) when using less than 10 ppm (GE) and 5 ppm (NE) of mucilage in addition to CaCl2. B. cereus removal rates between 95 and 98% have been observed in high concentration tests (> 108 cells/mL). Tests on E. coli flocculation differed slightly from those seen using B. cereus with control columns requiring 5 to 10 minutes longer to begin flocculation and mucilage treated columns displaying signs of flocculation much earlier. Mucilage is an ideal material for water purification and contaminant flocculation because it grows abundantly, is inexpensive and offers communities a sustainable technology.

People all over the world still lack access to safe drinking water service. Those with access experience several issues during the first few years of installation that impede on their overall access. In order to improve water services, not only is a proper decision-making tool necessary, taking into account key factors that impact sustainable water service, but proper monitoring and evaluation is also important in ensuring service for the long term. There are several developed assessment tools used for monitoring and evaluation of water systems post-construction, applicable in various scenarios. However, there are only few tools available to facilitate the decision-making process for stakeholders implementing water systems in the field. Ideally, one tool could be used across various life-cycle stages, like planning (decision-making) and post-construction (monitoring and evaluation). Currently, several stakeholder groups are working in Panama to improve the access of safe drinking water for rural and indigenous populations living in mountainous areas, where spring-sourced gravity-fed community-managed systems are common. Effective sustainability assessment tools including Rural Water and Sanitation Information System, SIASAR in Spanish, provide useful frameworks to create a decision making tool for this development context. This research focused on developing a Decision-Making Tool using three key assessment tools (SIASAR, Peace Corps Panama WASH Index, & Schweitzer’s Sustainability Assessment Tool), field experience, and relevant literature incorporating technical, social, economic, and environmental factors. The Decision-Making Tool was developed to build or rehabilitate a rural spring-sourced gravity-fed community-managed water system and also serve as a practical monitoring and evaluation tool. The tool has a total of 10 indicators and 20 measures used to score various scenarios or alternatives as sustainability unlikely, sustainability possible, or sustainability likely. The tool was successfully applied as a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tool for the rural indigenous community of Quebrada Cacao in the province of Bocas del Toro in Panama. A total of 5 alternatives scenarios with estimated costs, labor expenditure and environmental impact were developed using EPANET and SimaPro to help improve the community’s rural spring-sourced gravity-fed community managed water system. Using analytical hierarchy process with weights set by three stakeholder groups in Panama (Quebrada Cacao’s water committee, Panama’s Ministry of Health, and Peace Corps Panama), these five alternative scenarios were scored using the Decision-Making Tool. As a result, a feasible alternative was recommended for the community of Quebrada Cacao using the developed Decision-Making Tool. The tool was also successfully applied as a monitoring and evaluation tool, providing a baseline to develop applicable alternatives to improve the community’s sustainability score. This Decision-Making Tool fulfills an important gap useful for both planning and monitoring and evaluation. It provides a successful tool for application in Panama for building or rehabilitating rural spring-sourced gravity-fed community managed water systems and for other countries with a similar context. Finally, the tool also considers technical, economic, social, and environmental factors, ensuring a more holistic definition of sustainability when building or rehabilitating these water systems. Overall, this Decision-Making Tool can help reduce the number of people without access to safe drinking water around the world and also help ensure systems function sustainably for the long term.

Severe storms can threaten the reliability and accessibility of drinking water supplies. The state of Florida is frequently impacted by hurricanes and is often struck more than once a year. An example of this can be found in 2017 when hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria caused much damage. Compromised utilities, well contamination, and shortages in bottled water and ice are just some of the problems that may threaten peoples’ drinking water. Faced with these issues, preparation and response efforts must be effective in order to promote human health. Recent events like Hurricane Irma caused shortages in potable water which suggest the need for improvements in these efforts. The purpose of this study was to review management policies (for both preparations and responses) in dealing with potable water paucity caused by Hurricane Irma. Current efforts for managing potable water supplies were researched across selected counties in Florida. The effectiveness and deficiencies of these policies were analyzed. A survey was utilized to gain an understanding of the effects of these policies from the people’s perspective. This study determined several issues with potable water management efforts in dealing with severe storms. These issues were: 1) Economic constraints preventing the obtainment of drinking water (particularly for the Hispanic ethnic group), 2) Lack of concern/care in keeping sanitary private well systems, 3) Policies to encourage locals to prepare to last three days without regular water supplies were inadequate since many people were left without water for far longer time periods, 4) Younger respondents experienced greater potable water shortages than the elderly, and 5) Many people who received emergency relief did not actually require aid. This study also identified potential improvements in both the short-term (emergency responses) and long-term (preparedness) management of drinking water in the face of hurricanes. Recommendations were made to address each of the found issues and ameliorate the management of potable water. These recommendations were: 1) To promote enforcement of anti-price gouging laws 2) Enhancing education on the importance of a sanitary well system. 3) Enhancing infrastructure and power by increasing redundancy, storage capacity, structural integrity, backup power and structural stability; and/or promote education informing locals to prepare for water shortages that last longer than three days 4) Encouraging younger residents to be more involved with their community elders 5) Relief efforts should be made more effective in reaching their targeted populations (those in true need of aid). The results of this research may be used to enhance potable water management plans to avoid suffering and loss of wellbeing in future hurricanes.

In the year 2000, 170 countries decided to stand together and solve some primary and common global problems like poor health, water, and sanitation. Obtaining access to safe drinking water is every individual’s right. The UN defines safe drinking water as “the water required for each personal or domestic use must be safe, therefore free from micro-organisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that constitute a threat to a person's health” (UNDESA, 2014). This thesis focuses on identifying the number of people who potentially receive spring water from a piped source in rural mountainous areas. There are three significant steps and data requirements which are necessary to meet this study’s objective. These are to: 1) obtain data classifying the various sources of drinking water in each country by specifying the percentage of population served by a particular water in rural and urban areas, 2) determine the number of countries which are undeveloped or developing, and 3) identify specific countries which are defined as mountainous (and thus likely to have spring fed piped water systems) based on elevation and slope in order to estimate the number of people living in mountainous areas. Results show that 183.54 (million) people were estimated to receive piped water from the springs in mountainous areas. Approximately, 34% of the population is from the Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia regions, and 33% reside in the Latin America and Caribbean Islands. These were followed by Western Asia and North Africa Regions with 15% and Central Asia and Southern Asia Regions with 14% of their population estimated to receive piped spring water.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to investigate the removability of microplastsic particles with different shapes (fragments, sphers, fibers) by standard water treatment process, such as coagulation, filtration and sedimentation. For the experimental purpose in this study, polyvinyl chloride with a size ≤ 50 μm and a density of 1.38 g/cm3 , was used as a representative of microplastics. The coagulation has been provided by ferric sulphate in pH range 5, 6, 7 and 8 and at a diferent dose of coagulant 20, 40, and 60 mg/l. The study results has shown, that the coagulation efficiency of polyvinyl chloride particles were affected by pH. The optimal value of pH has been 7 at the coagulant dose of 20, 40 and 60 mg/l. The presence of polyvinyl chloride shown a positive effect on coagulation. It has been reflected in a reduction of the residuals of iron concentration after coagulation, at pH 5-7. Solution with polyvinyl chloride contained 1,2 mg/l dissolved organic carbon. After fitlration the concentration decreased up to 70 % at pH 7 at dose of coagulant 40 and 60 mg/l. Experiments have shown that polyvinyl chloride particles are capable of faster sedimentation after coagulation. The flocs formed during coagulation interacted effectively with the polyvinyl chloride particles and facilitate their removal...

Excessive arsenic and boron concentrations determined in natural waters within the Department of Tacna in southern Peru are associated with active Andean volcanism, being further exacerbated by the ongoing mining activity in the area. Both arsenic and boron concentrations at five investigated sites significantly exceed the maximum permissible limits determined by the World Health Organisation and the Peruvian legislation for drinking water, thus affecting the health and wellbeing of the local population. Due to the remoteness of the area of interest, which lacks infrastructure, skilled human resources as well as capital, Photon Water Technology s.r.o. has come up with a solution based on the use of small water treatment plants operating on the principle of reverse osmosis in combination with a commercial remediation product Katalox Light® . This product enables the formation of alkaline conditions needed for proper complexation of boron into B(OH)4 - (aq), which is better remediated by the proposed technology. Reverse osmosis can remediate arsenic, although the efficiency of As removal depends on the chemical composition of natural waters at the investigated sites. Laboratory experiments have been focused to prove the viability of Katalox Light® for enhancing the rate of boron removal within the designed...

When microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes are applied for drinking water treatment/wastewater reuse, membrane fouling is an evitable problem, causing the loss of productivity over time. Polymeric membranes have been often reported to experience rapid and/or problematical fouling, restraining sustainable operation. Ceramic membranes can be effectively employed to treat impaired-quality source waters due to their inherent robustness in terms of physical and chemical stability. This research aimed to identify the effects of coagulation and/or ozonation on ceramic membrane filtration for seawater and wastewater (WW) effluent. Two different types of MF and UF ceramic membranes obtained by sintering (i.e., TAMI made of TiO2+ZrO2) and anodic oxidation process (i.e., AAO made of Al2O3) were employed for bench-scale tests. Precoagulation was shown to play an important role in both enhancing membrane filterability and natural organic matter (NOM) removal efficacy for treating a highorganic surface water. The most critical factors were found to be pH and coagulant dosage with the highest efficiency resulting under low pH and high coagulant dose. Due to the ozone-resistance nature of the ceramic membranes, preozonation allowed the ceramic membranes to be operated at higher flux, especially leading to significant flux improvement when treating seawater in the presence of calcium and magnesium. 4 Dissolved ozone in contact with the TAMI ceramic membrane surface accelerated the formation of hydroxyl (˙OH) radicals in WW effluent treatment. Flux restoration of both ceramic membranes, fouled with seawater and WW effluent, was efficiently achieved by high backwash (BW) pressure and ozone in chemically enhanced backwashing (CEB). Ceramic membranes exhibited a pH-dependent permeate flux while filtering WW effluent, showing reduced fouling with increased pH. On the other hand, for filtering seawater, differences in permeate flux between the two membranes was observed under basic pH conditions, showing that the TAMI membrane flux was stable regardless of changes in pH, while the AAO membrane flux was significantly decreased as pH increased to 10. Consequently, it is expected that ozone and/or coagulation prior to ceramic membrane filtration can play a significant role in treating impaired-quality source waters (e.g., seawater and WW effluent), leading to maintaining sustainable membrane flux in seawater pretreatment before reverse osmosis (RO) or water reuse applications.

Drinking water treatment is facing an adverse impact of algae especially when they extensively decay and release cellular organic matter (COM). As the character and consequently the removal efficacy of COM depends on the individual species, the thesis compares algal organic matter (AOM) derived from four common phytoplankton species: green alga Chlamydomonas geitleri, diatom Fragilaria crotonensis, and cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and Merismopedia tenuissima. To evaluate the differences between extracellular and cellular organic matter, we monitored the growth of those organisms and compared AOM obtained at different growth phases. As COM is not only difficult to coagulate, but also hinders the coagulation of other substances, the thesis investigates the effect of simultaneous coagulation of COM with other impurities present in surface waters: kaolin, humic substances (HS) or cyanobacterial cells of M. tenuissima. Coagulation behaviour was studied by the jar tests performed with single components and their mixtures with and without a coagulant (ferric or aluminium sulphate). Special emphasis was paid to proteinaceous COM of M. aeruginosa; to enhance the removability of proteinaceous matter we implemented pre-oxidation. Coagulation effectively removed turbidity (up to 99%) either of clay or...