ABSTRACT
Accurate measurements of chemical and physical parameters of water are critical to effective operation of any water treatment facility. Advances in technology allow affordable and accurate measurements of nearly every critical parameter. Management of each water system must determine the chemical and physical parameters that are critical to monitor. Examples of routine chemical measurements are Chlorine, Turbidity, pH, Fluoride, Alkalinity, Aluminum, Hardness, Iron, Nitrate, Nitrite, Dissolved Oxygen, Phosphate, Sulfate, Sulfide, and Temperature. Some or all of the chemicals may be present in a system’s drinking water. This is determined based upon source water assessments to establish baselines and sources of contaminants. Each system needs to determine which chemicals are present and which ones are critical for evaluating the facility’s treatment efficiency. With the flexibility and accuracy of these types of instruments, water systems can generally perform all of the chemical analysis on one instrument. Unfortunately, physical parameters typically require their own individual instrument for analysis.
