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R
ecent research in the drinking water cium carbonate. Shifting all of the carbonate
field has re-emphasized the impor- species to the carbonate ion causes the pre- Vincent Hart, P.E. is a project manager in
tance of alkalinity in maintaining a sta- cipitation of calcium carbonate, which can the Charlotte, North Carolina, office of
ble finished water quality that minimizes cor- cause the following problems:
Elevated turbidities due to precipitation
Carollo Engineers. This article was pre-
rosion. With the focus on disinfection
Reduction of pipe diameter due to the dep-
sented as a technical paper at the Florida
byproduct precursor removal, the expense of
Section AWWA Fall Conference in
producing a stabilized finished water quality osition of calcium carbonate
Alkalinity reduction due to the precipita-
November 2007.
can be difficult to achieve cost-effectively.
Low alkalinity waters are particularly chal- tion of carbonate
lenging because minimal chemical addition
of “alkalinity adders” (lime, soda ash) can Alkalinity Effects Red Water
quickly increase the finished water pH with- Corrosion
out providing a significant increase in alka- To further demonstrate the alkalinity Nitrification
linity; or produce excessively high pHs, which effect on pH adjustment with acid, Table 1 Pitting and erosion of basins
contribute to the formation of THMs; or shows the amount of acid required to
result in depositing finished waters. decrease the pH of water from 8 to 7. As discussed in the September 2005
Low alkalinity situations can occur in raw AWWA Journal article (Imran, 2005) entitled
Defining Alkalinity waters across the United States. One area that “Red Water Release in Drinking Water
is not often recognized is the low alkalinity in Distribution Systems,” alkalinity was deter-
Alkalinity is defined as the capacity of finished waters that results from softening of mined to be the only significant variable that
water to neutralize acid. The most prevalent alkalinity-limited waters or from permeate of can be controlled effectively by chemical
form of alkalinity in drinking water systems nanofiltration or reverse osmosis membranes. addition that reduced the occurrence of red
includes portions of the carbonate system, water. This article recommended that an
which consists of the following three species: Problems Caused by Low Alkalinity
Carbonic acid (H2CO3)
alkalinity of greater than 80 milligrams per
Continued from page 17 two chemicals accomplish both goals, which created more flexibility in chemical addition
nitrifiers. The resulting corrosion may form are desirable when adding alkalinity (espe- and improved feed rate control.
pitting and tubercles that result in increases cially when the initial alkalinity is very low).
in surface area for biofilm to perpetuate. Also, The problem with soda ash is that it adds Carbon Dioxide
the rate of nitrification increases at lower pH. alkalinity in the form of carbonate ion (CO3-2) The original carbon dioxide systems uti-
and the corresponding increase in pH occurs lized gaseous carbon dioxide, which was bub-
How Does Alkalinity Change? very quickly before the alkalinity increases bled up through the water column. These
significantly (especially in low alkalinity feed systems required a minimum detention
The alkalinity in water changes through waters). Sodium bicarbonate provides the time of 30 minutes in order for the gaseous
a treatment process based on the consump- addition of alkalinity without a significantly carbon dioxide to dissolve into solution and
tive nature of the treatment chemicals that raising the pH, but the costs of sodium bicar- minimum water depths of 15 feet to provide
are utilized. Table 2 shows common water bonate are significant higher than other alka- adequate carbon dioxide transfer efficiency
treatment plant chemicals and their corre- linity adding chemicals. Table 4 lists the costs (60-85 percent).
sponding alkalinity consumption. of alkalinity-adding chemicals: Newer carbon dioxide systems dissolve
It should be noted that carbon dioxide carbon dioxide into a carrier water solution
does not decrease the alkalinity. It adds more Practical Uses of a to be added to the process stream. Dissolved
carbonic acid to the system, which in turn low- Carbon Dioxide Lime System carbon dioxide solutions can be added to
ers the pH because of the shifting of carbonate pipelines efficiently (>95 percent) and do not
species ratios. The addition of carbon dioxide The challenge with alkalinity addition is require 30 minutes of reaction time.
increases the overall carbonate in the system. to find a chemical that can shift the carbonate When carbon dioxide solution is added
This increase in the overall carbonate can assist species, add more carbonate to the system, to water with moderate pH changes (i.e.
in the overall increase in alkalinity if a shift in and remain cost effective. All three of these shifting the pH from 9.5 to 8.0) the required
the species occurs (towards carbonate ion). goals can not be accomplished with one reaction time is approximately 1.5 minutes.
chemical, so the use of multiple chemicals was When carbon dioxide solution is added to
What Are the Options examined. Table 5 lists the chemicals that can water with significant pH changes (i.e. shift-
add carbonate to the system and the chemi- ing from pH 11.0 to 8.0), the required reac-
for Alkalinity Addition? tion time is three minutes. The carbon diox-
cals that can shift the carbonate species.
The approach to the challenge of the alka- ide solution system provides increased treat-
The alkalinity of a utility’s water can be
linity addition dilemma is to use the two chem- ment flexibility by eliminating detention
increased by a variety of chemicals that are
icals (one from each list) with the lowest costs time requirements and basin depth (transfer
common to water treatment plants. Table 3
simultaneously. For the chemicals listed, carbon efficiency) requirements.
shows common water treatment plant chemi-
cals and how much alkalinity they contribute. dioxide ($70/ton) and quicklime ($110/ton)
would be the lowest combined chemical cost. Lime Systems
The single most important factor to
Advances in lime systems (both quick-
realize is that sodium hydroxide and lime
Advances in Lime lime and hydrated lime) have improved the
shift the species but they do not increase the
flexibility and control of lime addition. The
overall carbonate in the system. The addition & Carbon dioxide Systems
quicklime slaking technology 15 years ago
of sodium bicarbonate and soda ash will both
was difficult to control based on the lack of
shift the carbonate species and contribute to Over the past 10 years, advances in both
slaking temperature control. Changes in the
the overall carbonate in the system. These carbon dioxide and lime feed systems have
quality of lime or the temperature of the
water used in the slaking process would affect
the slaking temperature of traditional slakers.
The reactivity of slaked lime depends on
Table 4: Cost of Common Water Treatment Plant Alkalinity-Adding Chemicals the surface area of the lime. The surface area of
the slaked lime is almost completely depend-
ent upon the slaking temperature of the lime
slaking reaction. The optimal (and practical)
slaking temperature is 185 degrees Fahrenheit.
New lime slaking systems can maintain a
constant slaking temperature despite the
changing of other variables. This constant
slaking temperature allows these systems to