Water quality considerations in developing a new resource for water supply within the midlands of England

Increasing demand for limited water resources within the Midlands of England resulted in a lower quality river being considered for water supply in an area of high urban and rural population. A comprehensive water quality monitoring programme was undertaken on the river to compare its quality with other sources used for water supply. Concurrent with the monitoring programme a series of laboratory scale trials began to assess how the river water could be treated, and the costs involved. A major consideration was the need to provide treated water by the summer of 1997, which precluded a complete new water treatment process from being designed.

The paper outlines the results from the monitoring programme, including some of the problem parameters such as pesticides at over 10 ug/l, and how some of the sources of these pollutants were identified. It also describes the treatment trials and explains how a water treatment process was developed which utilises disused gravel workings to provide bankside storage and a combination of powdered and granular activated carbon to remove organic pollutants.