Table Of Content“My water smells funny” D
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Every water utility complaint investigator has heard that line, time and again. Tastes and odors a
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in tap water are the leading source of customer complaints. Although common tastes and odors n
in tap water are harmless, many customers perceive them as an indication the water could be os Diagnosing
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This field guide provides all the information you need to diagnose and remove objectionable T
tastes and odors at the tap. With this handy book, you will be able to a
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• Determine the source and cause of any taste or odor: raw water source, treatment plant, te Taste and Odor
distribution system, or customer plumbing a
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• Provide good samples to your laboratory for testing d
• Know how to control tastes and odors and prevent them from occurring, no matter what O
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the cause o Problems
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• Make proper treatment choices to remove tastes and odors P
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2P-1.5M-20619-5/07-UG The Authoritative Resource on Safe Water®
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Chemical Feed Disinfection of Water Quality Pump
Field Guide Pipelines and Complaint Selection and
No. 20657 Storage Facilities Investigator’s Troubleshooting
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Gary A. Burlingame
No. 20619 No. 20574 No. 20677
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1P-C-20701-2/11-**
Diagnosing Taste and Odor Problems
Source Water and Treatment Field Guide
Edited by Gary A. Burlingame
Authors: Stephen D.J. Booth, Auguste Bruchet, Andrea M. Dietrich, Daniel L.
Gallagher, Djanette Khiari, I.H. (Mel) Suffet, and Sue B. Watson
20701 Taste and Odor.indb 1 1/24/2011 10:16:59 AM
Diagnosing Taste and Odor Problems—Source Water and Treatment Field Guide
Copyright © 2011 American Water Works Association
AWWA Publications Manager: Gay Porter De Nileon
Senior Technical Editor: Melissa Valentine
Production Editor: Cheryl Armstrong
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information or retrieval system, except in the form of brief excerpts or quota-
tions for review purposes, without the written permission of the publisher.
Disclaimer
The authors, contributors, editors, and publisher do not assume responsibility for
the validity of the content or any consequences of their use. In no event will AWWA
be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising
out of the use of information presented in this book. In particular, AWWA will not
be responsible for any costs, including, but not limited to, those incurred as a result
of lost revenue. In no event shall AWWA’s liability exceed the amount paid for the
purchase of this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Diagnosing taste and odor problems : source water and treatment field guide / edited
by Gary A. Burlingame ; authors: Stephen D.J. Booth ... [et al.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58321-824-2
1. Water--Purification--Taste and odor control. I. Booth, Stephen, 1969- II. Burl-
ingame, Gary A. III. American Water Works Association.
TD457.D53 2011
628.1’6--dc22
2010050078
ISBN # 1-58321-824-6
978-1-58321-824-2
6666 West Quincy Avenue
Denver, CO 80235-3098
303.794.7711
20701 Taste and Odor.indb 2 1/24/2011 10:16:59 AM
Table of Contents
Diagnosing Taste and Odor Problems i
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Chapter 1. Sources and Causes of Tastes and Odors 1
Categorizing Tastes & Odors 1
Chlorine—The Most Common Odor in Drinking Water 2
Tastes Caused by Different Source Waters 4
Odors Caused by Different Source Waters 5
Odors Caused by Treatment Processes 6
Chapter 2. Requesting Lab Tests During a T&O Problem 11
Tips on Sampling 11
Summary of T&O Test Methods 12
Testing for Chlorine or Chloramine 17
Testing for Inorganic Chemicals 18
Testing for Organic Chemicals 20
Testing for Bacteria 22
Testing for Algae and Cyanobacteria 22
Chapter 3. Tracking T&O in Source Water 29
Diagnosing T&O from Surface Water 29
Diagnosing T&O from Algae and Cyanobacteria 30
Diagnosing T&O from Spills and Discharges 32
Diagnosing T&O from Groundwater 33
Chapter 4. T&O Control and Prevention Options 35
Typical Treatments for T&O Control 35
Groundwater Options 35
Chlorine 36
Potassium Permanganate 36
Chlorine Dioxide 37
Ozone 37
Ultraviolet Light Irradiation 39
Advanced Oxidation Processes 39
Activated Carbon 39
Biologically Active Filtration 41
Membranes 41
Reverse Osmosis and Desalination 43
Nontreatment Options 44
iii
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Chapter 5. Making Treatment Decisions 45
Making Decisions Using Customer Complaint Data 45
Making Decisions Using Treatment Data 48
Sampling Through Treatment Processes 50
Anticipating a T&O Problem Using Early Warning 51
Bibliography 55
Appendix A 59
Appendix B 83
Index 103
iv
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List of Figures
Figure 1-1 Examples of algae growth as would appear in surface waters 7
Figure 1-2 Example of how odor quality (by Flavor Profile Analysis odor
intensity) can change through a treatment process 9
Figure 2-1 Various types of odor testing supplies 15
Figure 2-2 Actinomycetes growing on an agar plate 23
Figure 2-3 Cyanobacteria as viewed under a microscope 25
Figure 3-1 Example of sample site selection in Spain to track a chemical
discharge 33
Figure 4-1 Example of measured removal of MIB by ozonation at three
different spiked concentrations 38
Figure 4-2 Example of jar test results using powdered activated carbon in
water spiked with MIB and geosmin 40
Figure 4-3 The efficiency of membranes based on pore size and molecular
weight cutoff (MWCO) 42
Figure 5-1 The three-tiered approach to harnessing customer com-
plaints 46
Figure 5-2 Checksheet for recording water quality complaints 47
Figure 5-3 Example of a control chart for customer complaints 48
Figure 5-4 Example of diurnal changes in pH and dissolved oxygen as
caused by algal activity in a source water supply 53
Figure A-1 Model showing how cations, in comparison to saliva content,
affect the taste of water 77
Figure B-1 Process Schematic for Ozone, Biofiltration, and GAC 91
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List of Tables
Table 1-1 Example of Odor Description Categories from 1948 that provided
a basis for many subsequent schemes 2
Table 1-2 Broad Categories of Odors in Water 2
Table 1-3 Flavor Profile Analysis of Surface Water Source and Finished
Drinking Water 3
Table 2-4 USEPA Secondary Maximum Contaminant Levels (SMCL) for
Chemicals that can Affect the Taste of Drinking Water (EPA
1979) 19
Table 2-5 Organic Chemicals that can Cause Odors 20
Table 2-6 Critical Cell Densities for Selected Species of Odor Causing
Algae 27
Table 5-1 Correlation of customer complaints to the concentration of
geosmin during a geosmin earthy odor episode 49
Table 5-2 Dosages of Dechlorinating Agents 51
Table 5-3 Dechlorinating Agent Dosage Chart for Chlorine 52
Table A-1 Major anions and cations of artificial saliva 62
Table A-2 Cations and anions in water that can affect taste, and their
typical levels in natural freshwaters 65
Table A-3 USEPA SMCL for chemicals that can affect the taste of drinking
water 71
Table A-4 Levels of minerals in mineral waters 71
Table A-5 Minerals in common rock 72
Table A-6 Recipe for hard and soft natural waters and median levels of
minerals in 100 large cities in the United States 72
Table A-7 Change in minerals after desalination of seawater by reverse
osmosis 74
Table A-8 Effect of reverse osmosis on cations and anions in drinking water
without a negative impact on taste at room temperature 74
Table B-1 Water Quality Data 87
Table B-2 Triangle Test Results 87
Table B-3 Paired Comparison—Preference Test 87
Table B-4 Matching Objectives to the Test 95
Table B-5 Decision-making Summary: Sensory Test Resource and Skill
Level Requirements 97
Table B-6 Example for Customer Complaint Sample Evaluation: Comparison
of Resource Requirements and Skill Requirements for Available
Sensory Tests 98
vii
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the Water Research Foundation’s sup-
port of taste-and-odor control research since the early 1980s, with-
out which this book could not have been written. The authors thank
Dr. Andrew Whelton for his review.
This book is a companion book to the following AWWA
resources:
Algae: Source to Treatment (2010) AWWA Manual M57, 1st ed.
Taste and Odor: An Operator’s Toolbox (2001) DVD
Taste at the Tap – A Consumer’s Guide to Tap Water Flavor (2010)
by G.A. Burlingame
Water Quality Complaint Investigator’s Field Guide (2004)
W.C. Lauer
Nuisance Organisms: The Basic Facts (1997) DVD
Problem Organisms in Water: Identification and Treatment (2003)
AWWA Manual M7, 3rd ed.
ix
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