Monitoring the quality of your wastewater and taking corrective action where necessary , protects the health and the safety of the people and the environment in your vicinity .

By Janice McNally

Starting a water monitoring

programme

First , the amount of water that flows through a wastewater system needs to be measured with a flow meter , to calculate the amount of water flowing through the system .

Water users can start monitoring the basic requirements of water quality ( see Table 1 ) and progress to adding more substances / tests to their monitoring schedule .

The most common , modern method municipalities use to test physical and chemical substances in water is photometric , using a modern electronic instrument known as a photometer . These have step-by-step instructions and can be performed by a layman . Many photometers can test for between three and 70 different substances . It is a good idea to purchase a photometer that has additional parameters , so your requirements can be met once the water programme develops . Should you wish to do additional tests , you can then purchase the chemical reagents where needed . Photometers are available in handheld , benchtop , and in-line versions . Larger district municipalities often have an in-house water testing laboratory with a bench-top photometer / spectrophotometer . Smaller handheld photometers are often used in the field and in rural areas . However , many municipalities still use the long-standing visual Lovibond ® comparator system .

Faecal contamination is also a vital substance to measure in wastewater . E . coli bacteria are the common microbiological parameter measured . A quick test to reveal the presence /

100 to 1 000 cubic metres pH Electrical conductivity ( mS / m ) Faecal coliforms ( per 100ml ) Chemical oxygen demand ( mg / l ) Ammonia as nitrogen ( mg / l ) Suspended solids ( mg / l ) Phosphate ( mg / l )

1 000 to 2 000 cubic metres pH Electrical conductivity ( mS / m ) Faecal coliforms ( per 100ml ) Chemical oxygen demand ( mg / l ) Ammonia as nitrogen ( mg / l ) Nitrate / nitrite as nitrogen ( mg / l ) Free chlorine ( mg / l ) Suspended solids ( mg / l ) Ortho-phosphate as phosphorus ( mg / l )

* Source : WISA ** Source : Water Quality Association ( www . wqa . org ) *** Source : US Environmental Protection Agency absence of bacteria in water can be performed using an ATP luminometer . More detailed investigations will require a test kit and incubation for 12 – 48 hours .

Some municipalities perform some of these basic tests themselves on a regular basis and contract out the less frequent testing to a water laboratory for analysis . Doing the analysis oneself ensures a faster response time . According to the Lovibond ® Tintometer ® White Paper , in-house water sampling contributes to huge savings in today ’ s industry .

Records of the water monitoring programme and corrective action taken need to be kept .

Corrective action plans need to be set up and put in motion by the addition of water treatment chemicals , so that clean water can be released back into the environment .

Remember the three R ’ s : Read , Record , and React . u

Water Quality Fact Sheet * – pH Water Quality Fact Sheet * – EC & TDS Water Quality Fact Sheet * – Faecal coliforms Water Quality Fact Sheet ** – Ammonia Water Quality Fact Sheet *** – Screening & grit removal Water Quality Fact Sheet *** – Phosphorus Water Quality Fact Sheet * – Nitrate & nitrite Water Quality Fact Sheet * – Free chlorine networking contributor innovations industry debate environment infrastructure municipalities

Water Sewage & Effluent January / February 2018 29