AWWA JAW57695

Taste and odor problems in drinking water are themain cause of consumer complaints. However,one common practice, chlorine disinfection,can actually create additional taste and odor issues.Not only does the chlorine have a strong, distinctivesmell, but it masks other odor-producing chemicals. Asthe water makes its way from the treatment plant to theconsumer, the chlorine level drops, and the previouslymasked odors become noticeable.Two chemicals that chlorine masks are geosmin and2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB), which cause earthy-mustytastes in finished water, even at extremely low concentrations(nanogram-per-litre levels).Little technical data have been published on thesensory interactions between chlorine and odorcompounds. This study provides technically soundproof that chlorine has a masking effect on geosminand 2-MIB and provides a means of reducing thisinterference to better quantify these components.This article provides a practical and relatively easyway to reduce chlorine in odor samples, allowingodor testers to more easily characterize a watersample's odor profile. Water utilities can use thisinformation in their daily odor evaluations to identifyproblems and remedy them before a full-scaleodor event occurs. Includes 23 references, tables, figures.

Product Details

Edition:

Vol. 95 - No. 3

Published:

03/01/2003

Number of Pages:

9

File Size:

1 file , 810 KB