Evaluation of source water quality for selection of drinking water purification system

When renewing water purification facilities, it is important to select a suitable purification system that can accommodate the quality of the respective source water. The Japan Water Research Center has been collecting a large amount of water quality data from drinking-water utilities across Japan, categorising and analysing these data, and evaluating the suitability of water purification processes. Multivariate analyses such as hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were performed to investigate the relationships between the quality of source water used for water supply and various factors that affect the purification process. Based on these results, water sources throughout Japan were clearly categorised into four groups, and suitable water purification systems were identified for the different water quality groups. The results can serve as an important reference for water utilities during future facility renewal projects.