The Morgan Hill Earthquake of April 24, 1984—Effects on Facilities of the Santa Clara Valley Water District

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-656
Author(s):  
Robert E. Tepel

The Santa Clara Valley Water District (the District) is a public agency with flood control and water supply management authority in Santa Clara County, California. The District operates ten dams and reservoirs, two water treatment plants which supply potable water, 74 miles of large-diameter water distribution pipelines and 34 miles of small canals. Flood control facilities include 45 miles of streams channeled by levees and 17 miles of bayfront levees. Immediately after the earthquake, the District's Emergency Operations Center was activated. Major dams were inspected immediately by operations staff in accordance with standing instructions. The fundamental operations of the District were not interrupted by the earthquake in any significant way. Both water treatment plants operated continuously during and after the earthquake. Damage was limited to minor (functionally insignificant) surficial cracking at two embankment dams. Electronic distance measuring surveys indicated that a large existing landslide, on which one of the water treatment plants is located, moved as much as 13 mm as a result of the earthquake.

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 00077
Author(s):  
Agata Siedlecka ◽  
Katarzyna Piekarska

Antibiotic resistance of bacteria is regarded as a global health risk and should be monitored in all environments, including tap water distribution systems. In this study, tap water samples were collected from two water treatment plants and selected points-of-use from the water distribution network. The abundances of antibiotic resistant bacteria were determined via culture-dependent method and the presence of selected antibiotic resistance genes was detected via PCR. The influence of the distance of points-of-use from water treatment plants on bacterial loads and antibiotic resistance phenomenon was evaluated. The paper presents preliminary results of a large-scale study concerning spatial and seasonal variation in antibiotic resistance of bacteria dwelling in the tap water system in Wrocław.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Haarhoff ◽  
M. Kubare ◽  
B. Mamba ◽  
R. Krause ◽  
T. Nkambule ◽  
...  

Abstract. Organic pollution is a major concern during drinking water treatment. Major challenges attributed to organic pollution include the proliferation of pathogenic micro-organisms, prevalence of toxic and physiologically disruptive organic micropollutants, and quality deterioration in water distribution systems. A major component of organic pollution is natural organic matter (NOM). The operational mechanisms of most unit processes are well understood. However, their interaction with NOM is still the subject of scientific research. This paper takes the form of a metastudy to capture some of the experiences with NOM monitoring and analysis at a number of Southern African Water Treatment Plants. It is written from the perspective of practical process selection, to try and coax some pointers from the available data for the design of more detailed pilot work. NOM was tracked at six water treatment plants using dissolved organic carbon (DOC) measurements. Fractionation of the DOC based on biodegradability and molecular weight distribution was done at a water treatment plant in Namibia. A third fractionation technique using ion exchange resins was used to assess the impact of ozonation on DOC. DOC measurements alone did not give much insight into NOM evolution through the treatment train. The more detailed characterization techniques showed that different unit processes preferentially remove different NOM fractions. Therefore these techniques provide better information for process design and optimisation than the DOC measurement which is routinely done during full scale operation at these water treatment plants. Further work will focus on streamlining and improving the reproducibility of selected fractionation techniques, characterization of NOM from different water sources, and synthesis of the results into a systematic, practical guideline for process design and optimisation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Haarhoff ◽  
M. Kubare ◽  
B. Mamba ◽  
R. Krause ◽  
T. Nkambule ◽  
...  

Abstract. Organic pollution is a major concern during drinking water treatment. Major challenges attributed to organic pollution include the proliferation of pathogenic micro-organisms, prevalence of toxic and physiologically disruptive organic micro-pollutants, and quality deterioration in water distribution systems. A major component of organic pollution is natural organic matter (NOM). The operational mechanisms of most unit processes are well understood. However, their interaction with NOM is still the subject of scientific research. This paper takes the form of a meta-study to capture some of the experiences with NOM monitoring and analysis at a number of Southern African Water Treatment Plants. It is written from the perspective of practical process selection, to try and coax some pointers from the available data for the design of more detailed pilot work. NOM was tracked at six water treatment plants using dissolved organic carbon (DOC) measurements. Fractionation of the DOC based on biodegradability and molecular weight distribution was done at a water treatment plant in Namibia. A third fractionation technique using ion exchange resins was used to assess the impact of ozonation on DOC. DOC measurements alone did not give much insight into NOM evolution through the treatment train. The more detailed characterization techniques showed that different unit processes preferentially remove different NOM fractions. Therefore these techniques provide better information for process design and optimisation than the DOC measurement which is routinely done during full scale operation at these water treatment plants.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2A) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Muniz De Almeida Albuquerque

The water purification procedure aims to obtain a product appropriate for human consumption, minimizing the presence of contaminants and toxic substances present in the water. Among these contaminants, some radionuclides of natural origin, such as uranium, thorium and their descendants, have been identified. Studies have shown that the stages of purification are quite effective in removing the radionuclides contained in water. The removal is due to co-precipitation of the radionuclides with the suspended materials and the precipitated material is accumulated and characterized as a Technologically Concentrated Natural Occurrence Radioactive Material (TENORM) by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). This residue can present significant levels of radioactivity and, when discarded in the environment without any treatment, can generate a problem of environmental impact and a risk to the health of the population. In this way, some gamma emitters of the series of U, Th and the K-40 were determined in the residues generated at the Potable Water Treatment Plants – PWTPs in six municipalities of Pernambuco. The results obtain corroborate the classification of the residues generated in the PWTPs as concentrators of the radioactive components contained in the water supplied to the system and reinforce the need for the release to the environment, which is the usual way of disposal of this waste, to be carried out only after considering the radiological protection standards established.


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