Treating High-Turbidity Water Using Full-Scale Floc Blanket Clarifiers

Dynamic responses of the blanket in full-scale flat-bottom type floc blanket clarifiers at the PingTsan Water Works, Taiwan Water Supply Corporation, were monitored given a step-change in coagulant (polyaluminum chloride, PACl) dosage. The blankets in the clarifiers were easily washed out using the conventional coagulation-clarification process (the “single-stage process”), seriously threatening drinking water quality. Consequently, the PingTsan Water Works included a pretreatment stage before the single-stage process to enhance treatment efficiency. The performance of this full-scale “two-stage process” for treating high-turbidity storm water was monitored on November 9 to 10, 2000. The two-stage process achieved a stable blanket and good quality clarified water that was insensitive to variation in raw water turbidity or PACl dose. Pilot tests were also conducted on October 6 to 7, 2001 to reveal performance differences between the single-stage and two-stage processes in dealing with high-turbidity water. The single-stage process yielded a blanket that was sensitive to PACl change. Not only was the produced blanket easily washed out when the PACl dose was step-decreased, it was also slow to recover when the chemical dosage was returned to its original value. The blanket yielded by the two-stage process was more robust to low coagulant dose, and recovered more easily when coagulant supply was increased. Applying the two-stage process to achieve the same effluent quality from single-stage process could significantly reduce total PACl dosage.