Chlorine is essential to the disinfection of public water systems. It removes bacteria (e.g. E.coli), parasites, and other hazardous elements from our drinking water and protects it from recontamination during storage and distribution. In addition, it improves water quality by reducing unpleasant tastes and odors, oxidizes minerals and metals like arsenic for easier filtration, and treats and disinfects your water system throughout storage and distribution. While chlorine injection is essential for disinfection, some public water systems have higher than recommended levels—which can affect drinking water quality.
Reduce Your Chlorine Levels with Secondwind
“Most municipal water systems have chlorine levels above 1 ppm. Ours are often less than 1 ppm,” says Rich Laughton, public water systems operator at Secondwind Water Systems. Laughton points out that higher chlorine levels can give a bleach odor or taste to water. “With chlorination, the goal is to reach a level that effectively treats water and meets EPA regulations, without compromising aesthetic quality,” he adds.
Secondwind achieves lower chlorine levels because:
- The vast majority of our systems are not influenced by surface water.
- Our systems have less distribution piping to disinfect.
- Our systems have less storage to disinfect.
- We test regularly for chlorination disinfection byproducts and work to reduce their production.
Importance of Maintaining Your Chlorine Chemical Feed
To achieve appropriate chlorination levels in your public water supply, ongoing maintenance of your chlorine chemical feed is critical. To properly maintain your feed:
- Make sure your chlorine day tank is full.
- Regularly check the chlorine residual in disinfection to make sure it is consistent.
- Have Secondwind rebuild your diaphragm chemical feed pump once a year.
- Consider upgrading to a peristaltic chemical feed pump as they are very reliable, have a long life span, and require less maintenance.
Ongoing maintenance will:
- Prevent your chemical feed pump from losing prime.
- Reduce scaling and clogging in your feed pump.
- Extend the life of your chemical feed pump.
If your chemical feed pump is getting old, you should consider replacing it. Contact the Secondwind team to discuss your options.
Chlorine & Chemical Feed Systems – Secondwind Water
If you have questions about your chlorine and chemical feed system, the certified water supply experts at Secondwind Water Systems are here to help. Give us a call at 603.641.5767 to set up your free site analysis.
