Diagnosing Taste and Odor Problems: Field Guide (AWWA Field Guides)

All water utilities experience taste and odor problems. This field guide provides all the information you need to identify and remove objectionable tastes and odors from drinking water and reduce customer compliants about T&O. Ideal for water treatment operators, this handy guide, you will be able to: determine the source and cause of any taste or odor: raw water source, treatment plant, distribution system, or customer plumbing. provide good samples to your laboratory for testing and know what to tell the lab; understand sensory terminology and the various sensory testing methods available; know how to control tastes and odors and prevent them from occurring, no matter what the cause; and make proper treatment choices to remove or prevent tastes and odors. Numerous research studies show that good-tasting tap water is not completely free of constituents; the right concentrations of certain minerals are necessary for a balanced taste, the most important of which are sodium, chloride, potassium, and sulfate.