TY - JOUR
T1 - Potential impacts of changing supply-water quality on drinking water distribution
T2 - A review
AU - Liu, Gang
AU - Zhang, Ya
AU - Knibbe, Willem Jan
AU - Feng, Cuijie
AU - Liu, Wentso
AU - Medema, Gertjan
AU - van der Meer, Walter
PY - 2017/6
Y1 - 2017/6
N2 - Driven by the development of water purification technologies and water quality regulations, the use of better source water and/or upgraded water treatment processes to improve drinking water quality have become common practices worldwide. However, even though these elements lead to improved water quality, the water quality may be impacted during its distribution through piped networks due to the processes such as pipe material release, biofilm formation and detachment, accumulation and resuspension of loose deposits. Irregular changes in supply-water quality may cause physiochemical and microbiological de-stabilization of pipe material, biofilms and loose deposits in the distribution system that have been established over decades and may harbor components that cause health or esthetical issues (brown water). Even though it is clearly relevant to customers’ health (e.g., recent Flint water crisis), until now, switching of supply-water quality is done without any systematic evaluation. This article reviews the contaminants that develop in the water distribution system and their characteristics, as well as the possible transition effects during the switching of treated water quality by destabilization and the release of pipe material and contaminants into the water and the subsequent risks. At the end of this article, a framework is proposed for the evaluation of potential transition effects.
AB - Driven by the development of water purification technologies and water quality regulations, the use of better source water and/or upgraded water treatment processes to improve drinking water quality have become common practices worldwide. However, even though these elements lead to improved water quality, the water quality may be impacted during its distribution through piped networks due to the processes such as pipe material release, biofilm formation and detachment, accumulation and resuspension of loose deposits. Irregular changes in supply-water quality may cause physiochemical and microbiological de-stabilization of pipe material, biofilms and loose deposits in the distribution system that have been established over decades and may harbor components that cause health or esthetical issues (brown water). Even though it is clearly relevant to customers’ health (e.g., recent Flint water crisis), until now, switching of supply-water quality is done without any systematic evaluation. This article reviews the contaminants that develop in the water distribution system and their characteristics, as well as the possible transition effects during the switching of treated water quality by destabilization and the release of pipe material and contaminants into the water and the subsequent risks. At the end of this article, a framework is proposed for the evaluation of potential transition effects.
KW - Destabilization
KW - Drinking water distribution
KW - Evaluation framework
KW - Transition effects
KW - Water quality switching
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85015375330&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2017.03.031
DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2017.03.031
M3 - Review article
C2 - 28329709
AN - SCOPUS:85015375330
SN - 0043-1354
VL - 116
SP - 135
EP - 148
JO - Water research
JF - Water research
ER -