Improvement of Quality in Treated Water by the pH Adjustment of Raw Water

The purpose of the study is to find ways to decrease turbidity and residual aluminum by improving the efficiency of coagulation process through controlling the pH of the source water with CO2 when the pH increases by algal bloom or by the characteristics of the source water. Water quality parameters were monitored before and after CO2 addition in February, March, April, and December, when the pH of the source water is over 8.0 and constant regardless of day and night. Water quality parameters closely related with evaluation of treated drinking water quality were monitored in detail, e.g. aluminum, turbidity, particle counts, TOC, THMs, 2-MIB, and geosmin. According to the results, inorganic water quality parameters such as turbidity, particle counts, and aluminum were decreased due to improved efficiency of the coagulation process. It was concluded that the pH of the water in the arrival basin must be controlled below 7.4 by adding CO2 when the pH of the source water increasing. By controlling pH with CO2, the water quality could be maintained within the drinking water quality goal of Seoul City (<30 particle/mL of particle count, <0.05 NTU of turbidity and <0.02 mg/L of aluminum). The change of the pH could not affect the concentrations of DBP's (e.g., THMs, CH, and HAAs) and taste/odor causing compounds (e.g., 2-MIB and geosmin). 2-MIB and geosmin were affected more by their initial concentrations in the source water.