COAGULANT DOSE CONTROL BY CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS

SUCCESSFUL DRINKING WATER PURIFICATION REQUIRES PROPER COAGULATION, USUALLY WITH ALUM, FOR REMOVAL OF DISEASE TRANSMITTING ORGANISMS. THE GROWING NATIONAL NEED FOR IMPROVED PERFORMANCE OF PURIFICATION INVOLVING COAGULATION-FILTRATION COULD BEST BE HELPED BY USE OF AN AUTOMATED COAGULANT DOSE CONTROL INSTRUMENT. THE BEST TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE NOW IS STREAMING CURRENT DETECTORS. THEIR MAJOR SHORTCOMINGS--CONFUSION OVER WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEASURE AND THE NEED FOR FREQUENT CALIBRATION BY SKILLED PROFESSIONALS--ARE PROBABLY THE REASONS THEY HAVE BEEN USED IN ONLY ABOUT 1% OF THE PLANTS WHICH COULD BENEFIT FROM A RELIABLE INSTRUMENT. CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS (CZE), A NEW CHEMICAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE, OFFERS GREAT PROMISE AS A BASIS FOR AUTOMATED MEASUREMENT OF COLLOID PARTICLE CHARGE, ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY. THIS PROPOSAL WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING CZE AS THE BASIS OF A NEW COAGULANT DOSE CONTROL INSTRUMENT. THE GOAL IS TO EVALUATE THE TECHNICAL SUITABILITY OF CZE FOR COAGULANT DOSE CONTROL THROUGH TWO MAJOR ACTIVITIES: (1) IMPROVE THE DESIGN OF AN EXISTING HI LO TECH, LTD. INSTRUMENT, AND (2) PERFORM TESTS IN THE LABORATORY AND IN AN OPERATING WATER TREATMENT PLANT. SOME MAJOR QUESTIONS THAT WILL BE ADDRESSED ARE: (1) HOW CAN POTENTIAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS TUBE PLUGGING, FOULING, AND GAS BUBBLE FORMATION BE SOLVED, (2) WHAT IS A SUITABLE DETECTOR, (3) WHAT ARE APPROPRIATE ON-LINE CALIBRATING CHEMICALS, (4) WHAT ARE THE DESIGN FEATURES NECESSARY FOR A RELIABLE, AUTOMATED INSTRUMENT, AND (5) APPROXIMATELY WHAT WOULD AN INSTRUMENT COST?