Anyone know the answers:

1) Water supplies suffering the most outbreaks were the non-community supplies such as cruise ships, resorts, summer camps, boarding schools, and other small private supplies.

2) At a pH of 8.5, it takes 3.0 mg/l of titratable chlorine. At a pH of 7.0 it only takes 1.0 mg/l (66% less).

3) Uniform corrosion, galvanic corrosion, pitting corrosion, concentration cell corrosion, tuberculation, crevice corrosion, erosion corrosion, cavitation corrosion, dealloying or selective corrosion, graphitization, stress corrosion, microbiologically induced corrosion, and stray-current corrosion.

10

The bidding process

When the least expensive product is bought by bid, what is purchased? Such decisions can and have resulted in a myriad of problems actually costing far more time and money instead of less. Listen to a typical war story:

A SeaQuest customer went to bid for phosphate corrosion control after successfully running on SeaQuest for one year because purchasing wished to save money. The bid was won by a competitor hereafter known as Product D. Their product, which was claimed to be the same and used at the same rate as SeaQuest, started treatment. Six months into treatment, manganese problems got so out of hand it caused the loss of much finished treated water which had to be wasted.

With no other alternative, the customer attempted to solve their manganese problems by increasing pH and pretreatment chlorine dioxide. All this ended up in increasing the THM levels to the point of exceeding limits. So, this bid process choosing the least expensive product actually increased costs to the customer from:

a) increased chlorine usage,

b) increased usage of pH control,

c) and increased water loss sent to waste.

Adding up all these losses versus adding up all the savings from the least expensive winning bid product, who was winner? Certainly not the bidding process.

Another war story:

A SeaQuest customer in New England went to bid after being on successful use of SeaQuest for over two years in order to cut treatment costs. Upon completion of the bidding process, again Product D won. After being on Product D for 9 months, the customer noted that their 90th percentile copper draw numbers were rising rapidly. On top of this, the system began experiencing calcium fallout in their aerators. Needless to say, it did not take too much to get them back on SeaQuest at the same pricing they were paying before going to bid. Will they go to bid again? No, they have been there...done that.

Editor’s Note:
We have attempted to provide our readers with topics we believe to be of interest based on numerous questions and responses which have been posted on the AWWA Discussion Forum, Water Technology Forum, and other drinking water forums. We welcome all responses, recommendations, and suggestions on related topics you wish to see discussed.

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