Potential impacts of changing supply-water quality on drinking water distribution: A review.
Driven by the development of water purification technologies and water quality regulations, the use of better source water and/or upgraded water treatment processes to improve drinking water quality have become common practices worldwide. However, even though these elements lead to improved water quality, the water quality may be impacted during its distribution through piped networks due to the processes such as pipe material release, biofilm formation and detachment, accumulation and resuspension of loose deposits. Irregular changes in supply-water quality may cause physiochemical and microbiological de-stabilization of pipe material, biofilms and loose deposits in the distribution system that have been established over decades and may harbor components that cause health or esthetical issues (brown water). Even though it is clearly relevant to customers' health (e.g., recent Flint water crisis), until now, switching of supply-water quality is done without any systematic evaluation. This article reviews the contaminants that develop in the water distribution system and their characteristics, as well as the possible transition effects during the switching of treated water quality by destabilization and the release of pipe material and contaminants into the water and the subsequent risks. At the end of this article, a framework is proposed for the evaluation of potential transition effects.
Oasen Drinkwater, PO BOX 122, 2800 AC, Gouda, The Netherlands; Sanitary Engineering, Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands. Electronic address: g.liu-1@tudelft.nl.
Gang
G
Liu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 205 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
Ya
Y
Zhang
Oasen Drinkwater, PO BOX 122, 2800 AC, Gouda, The Netherlands.
Willem-Jan
WJ
Knibbe
Sanitary Engineering, Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands.
Cuijie
C
Feng
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 205 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
Wentso
W
Liu
Sanitary Engineering, Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands; KWR Watercycle Research Institute, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.
Gertjan
G
Medema
Oasen Drinkwater, PO BOX 122, 2800 AC, Gouda, The Netherlands; Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Walter
W
van der Meer
D018441:Biofilms; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000382:microbiology*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification; D060753:Water Quality; D014881:Water Supply
D060766:Drinking Water
Destabilization; Drinking water distribution; Evaluation framework; Transition effects; Water quality switching