The impact of rainstorm events on coagulation and clarifier performance in potable water treatment

This paper examines turbidity removal at a water treatment works in England that receives raw water which is difficult to treat during certain rainstorm events. Rainstorm events lead to elevated levels of turbidity and organic matter found in river waters. A robustness index based on settled turbidity was used to identify periods and events that adversely affected the treatment process. This coupled with raw water sampling data indicated that a change in nature and an increase in natural organic matter (NOM) concentrations occurred following rainstorm events. Experimental work investigated the effect of temperature and NOM on the coagulation process and the results show how increasing levels of NOM significantly impaired the coagulation of particulate material, leading to an increase in settled turbidity.