Monitoring source water is crucial for industrial processes and making water suitable for human consumption
Water used for human consumption or industrial processes, must first be abstracted and treated to remove contaminants. Regardless of the source of the water, be it lake, river or borehole, monitoring is key to determining what level of treatment is needed. Raw water inlet monitoring at the entrance to the treatment plant is an ideal opportunity.
Monitoring water quality close to the inlet is ideal for planning water treatment regimes. When selecting a location for a raw water inlet monitoring point, consider the following:
Is the monitoring point easy to access?
A monitoring point is likely to include sensors for a number of different water quality parameters such as turbidity, pH and dissolved oxygen. The actual parameters being measured will be dependent on the water source and its surrounding environment. What’s important to remember though, is that easy access to the equipment is needed for maintenance and accessing the controller.
Is there time to react to changes in quality?
Continuous raw water inlet monitoring is better than spot sampling because of the real time value. Having the information on contaminants early in the process gives the facility time to react and modify treatment. By placing monitoring equipment close to the inlet, alarms can be triggered before the water hits a point in the process where it poses further contamination risk.
Abstracting water from natural resources requires a permit from the Environment Agency. Generally if you are abstracting more than 20 cubic metres a day, you’ll need a permit. You can find guidance from the Environment Agency here.
Naturally sourced water will differ in quality, in different weather conditions and at different times of the year. Continuously monitoring provides a complete picture of the water. If only discrete or spot sampling was undertaken, it would only provide a snapshot of that point in time. Knowing the quality of water gives you control over your treatment and processes. It will prevent costly over dosing and keep quality high.
An abstraction licence may state a maximum volume which can be abstracted from the source water. A water flow meter is ideal for this. Alternatively, the licence may state a minimum level the water source must not go below. This is more applicable for Borehole water abstraction and a water level sensor is ideal. Below is a selection of Detectronic flow meters suitable for raw water inlet monitoring. For a full selection, visit our products pages.
Clamp on flow meter
For applications that require closed pipe monitoring. This clamp on flow meter will only be suitable if the water contains less than 10% solids.
If you only need to measure the level of water, this is a great option. Ideal for use in open channels and boreholes.
Below is a selection of common water quality parameters that may be monitored at the inlet. For a complete selection of available sensors, visit our water quality monitoring pages
We are specialists in the design, manufacture and installation of ultrasonic wastewater flow and level monitoring equipment for the water industry. At Detectronic, we provide a range of wastewater management services to help you. Any of our products and services can be combined to create a package that’s tailored to your business and your end goals.
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