KIT, WATER TREATMENT QUALITY MONITORING

Kit to perform the minimum required water analyses before and after treatment by means of a coagulant (aluminium or iron-based) and after chlorination.

The kit includes the equipment required:

• to determine the essential raw water characteristics that have an influence on the coagulation/flocculation process: turbidity, pH, conductivity, alkalinity, hardness
• to perform "jar tests" used to determine the correct dose of the chosen coagulant
• to do physical analyses (turbidity and pH) and chemical analyses (coagulant residuals - iron or aluminium), the sodium and the chlorine concentrations of the treated water

Packaging

Items of which transport is regulated are packaged separately and included in a "RTR" (regulated transport) module.

Remark

If coagulation/flocculation is done using PAX, only the "STANDARD ITEMS" module is needed.

Kit supplied with the user sheets of the different chemical analyses.

For more detailed information and instructions see also "Public Health Engineering in Precarious Situations", MSF, 2nd edition, 2010:

• Chapter 2 Narrative
• T.B. 2.13 Turbidity measurement
• T.B. 2.14 Coagulants / flocculants
• T.B. 2.15 Jar test for coagulants.

Before water treatment is started, the turbidity and the pH of the raw water should always be measured. The conductivity is important because it indicates the amount of ions in the water. A very low conductivity can cause problems to the coagulation/flocculation process, and thus might need to be increased a little (e.g. by adding some salt). A high conductivity shows that there are many ions in the water, which could give a salty taste to the water or even indicate that there is a serious chemical pollution. A low alkalinity can cause problems to the coagulation/ flocculation process as well; in this case, it can be helpful to add some lime to the raw water (consult your technical department first).

To determine the correct dose of coagulant to be added to the raw water, a "jar test" has to be performed with the beakers and syringes provided.

The temperature can have an influence on the chemical reactions of coagulation/flocculation and chlorination. Therefore the temperature has to be measured as well.

After the treatment process (assisted sedimentation, assisted rapid sand filtration), the treated water should be analysed for turbidity and for coagulant residuals as these might cause acceptance or public health problems.

The pH and the free residual chlorine concentration must always be measured (pool tester) for each disinfection with chlorine.

As malnourished children don't have sufficient renal capacity, there is a risk of salt accumulation in their blood if the concentration in their drinking water would be too high. So in this situation, it's important to verify the sodium content in the treated and chlorinated water.

Train the staff in proper operation of the analysis equipment and interpretation of the results.

Caution

Chemical analysis equipment expires rather quickly.