Course: BFM 203 Water Treatment and Control

Lecture

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Drinking Water Monitoring

Drinking water regulations provide standards for required monitoring, but process control analysis samples must also be taken and evaluated for effective treatment. Lab tests are routinely performed on source water samples, process water samples, and finished water samples to monitor overall water quality and to evaluate process performance. Representative samples must be collected in order for test results to have any significant meaning. Samples must reflect actual water conditions. A "grab sample" is a single sample collected at a particular time and place. A composite sample is a collection of individual samples obtained at regular intervals. Each sample is combined with the others in proportion based on flow or time. The combined sample represents average conditions during the sampling period.