ABSTRACT

The aesthetic aspects of drinking water include: taste, odor, color, turbidity, salinity, hardness, softness, and temperature. Aesthetic quality is a very important consideration for providers of drinking water because they are virtually the only identifiable quality characteristics that consumers can observe and detect. Turbidity or cloudiness is caused by suspended particulates that diffuse light. The condition becomes noticeable in a glass of water at about 4 ntu. Water hardness is caused by divalent ions, primarily calcium and magnesium, but barium or strontium could factor in as well. Some have misinterpreted the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality turbidity recommendations to be primarily aesthetic issues. Cation exchange is the common home treatment choice, but municipal plants use lime or lime soda softening. Calcite filters and likely pH adjustment and added alkalinity can harden water to acceptable levels.