WATER QUALITY

WATER QUALITY
• Measure of how good the water is in terms of
supporting beneficial uses or meeting its
environmental values

• Potable water – suitable for drinking and

cooking purposes

• Potability – considers both safety of water in

terms of health and its acceptability to consumer
– taste, odor, color and other sensible qualities
WATER QUALITY TEST
• Conducted before deciding on source of water

• On-site (potable equipment) or sample taken to

laboratory for further analysis (preserving
original quality, at soonest time possible)

• Weather conditions, time of sampling, flow rate,

and physical appearance (color) of water should
be included in assessment report
WATER QUALITY TEST
• Important in selection of potential source of
supply

• Necessary when major developments or

environmental changes occur in vicinity that
might affect quality of water of an existing
source
SURFACE WATER
• Exposed to atmosphere and subject to surface
runoff

• Quality – determined by amount of pollutants

and contaminants picked up by water in course
of its travel

• Presumed to be unsafe for human consumption

without some form of treatment
GROUNDWATER
• Often free from organic matter and bacteria due
to filtering effect of soil

• Often contains minerals dissolved from soil

• Better in quality than surface water

COMPONENTS OF WATER QUALITY
• Chemical

• Physical

• Microbiological

*in accordance with Philippine National

Standards for Drinking Water (2007)
CHEMICAL ASPECTS
• Chemical contamination – due to natural
sources or certain industries and agricultural
practices; can cause acute or chronic health
effects
HARDNESS
• Due to calcium and magnesium carbonates and
bicarbonates (which can be removed by boiling)
and calcium and magnesium sulfate and chloride
(which can be removed by chemical precipitation
using lime and sodium carbonate)
▫ Calcium and magnesium sulfate – has laxative effect
▫ Hard water – makes lathering difficult (increase soap
consumption)
▫ Cause scaling in pots and kettles resulting in
reduction of thermal efficiency and restriction of flow
ALKALINITY AND ACIDITY,
CARBON DIOXIDE
• pH is below 7 (acidic)
• pH greater than 7 (alkaline)
• Acidic water- corrosive to metallic pipes
• Carbon dioxide- makes water corrosive due to
carbonic acid formation and presence of free
CO2
DISSOLVED OXYGEN
• Amount of oxygen that is dissolved in water and
is essential to healthy streams and lakes
• Indication of how polluted the water is and how
well water can support aquatic plant and animal
life
• Higher DO = better water quality
DISSOLVED OXYGEN
• Low DO levels may be found in areas where
organic material is decaying
• Low DO, when combined with toxic substances,
leads to stress responses in aquatic ecosystem
because toxicity of elements such as zinc, lead
and copper increases with low concentrations of
DO
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND
• Measures amount of oxygen consumed by
microorganisms in decomposing organic matter
in stream water
• Greater BOD, greater degree of organic pollution
• Greater BOD, more rapidly oxygen is depleted in
streams, aquatic organisms die
ORGANIC NITROGEN
• Constituent of all waste protein products from
sewage, kitchen wastes and all dead organic
matter
• All water high in organic nitrogen should be
suspected for possible contaminants (bacteria,
etc)
IRON AND MANGANESE
• Groundwater usually contains more of these two
minerals than surface water
• Stain clothing and plumbing fixtures
• Growth of iron bacteria cause strainers and
screens to clog and metallic conduits to rust
• Indicated by appearance of reddish brown or
black precipitate in water sample after shaking
TOXIC SUBSTANCES
• Constitute danger to health
• Includes arsenic, barium, cadmium, cyanide,
lead, selenium and silver
PHYSICAL ASPECTS
• Turbidity
• Color
• Odor
• Taste
TURBIDITY
• Measure of cloudiness or muddiness of water
• Caused by suspended matter in water like silt,
clay, organic matter or microorganisms
• Affects aesthetically and psychologically on
consumers but do not pose health risks
• Should always be low especially when
disinfection is practiced
• High turbidity inhibits effect of disinfection
COLOR
• Due to presence of colored substances (vegetable
matter and iron salt)
• Does not have detrimental effects on health
• Measured through visual comparison to distilled
water
• Can be caused by organic matter
ODOR
• Should be absent or very faint to be acceptable
for drinking
• Pure water- odorless
• Undesirable odor- indicates presence of
contaminants
• May result from biological activities and
industrial pollution
TASTE
• Pure water- tasteless
• Presence of undesirable taste indicates presence
of contaminants
• Decomposing organic matter, dissolved gases
may cause taste
• May indicate changes in water source or
treatment process
• Inorganic compounds (magnesium, calcium,
sodium, copper, iron and zinc) can be detected
by taste
MICROBIOLOGICAL ASPECTS
• Drinking water – must be free of pathogenic
microorganisms
• Should not contain bacteria indicating fecal
pollution indicated by coliform bacteria
• Pathogens can be removed by filtration or
disinfection
• Chlorine – usual disinfectant but no fully
effective against all organisms