Enhanced Coagulation Impacts on Water Treatment Plant Infrastructure

New USEPA regulations require changes to water treatment that can accelerate infrastructure degradation. One recent regulation of particular concern in this regard is the Enhanced Coagulation Rule, which requires improved removal of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) from water supplies. One of the most common means of improving TOC removal is to enhance existing coagulation treatment processes by reducing coagulation pH or using higher coagulant doses. There is substantial concern that the lowered coagulation pHs and higher coagulant doses will significantly accelerate degradation of infrastructure. The goal of this research was to concisely describe what is known about accelerated degradation of infrastructure from conditions brought about during enhanced coagulation. It was anticipated that such an effort would allow utilities to decrease damage by learning from the experiences of others, reviewing of the literature, and executing some new experiments. Originally published by AwwaRF for its subscribers in 2004.