Abstract. Organic measurements, such as biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were developed decades ago in order to measure organics in water. Today, these time-consuming measurements are still used as parameters to check the water treatment quality; however, the time required to generate a result, ranging from hours to days, does not allow COD or BOD to be useful process control parameters. Online Organic Carbon Monitoring allows for effective process control because results are generated every few minutes. Though it does not replace BOD or COD measurements still required for compliance reporting, it drives smart, data-driven and rapid decision-making to improve process control and optimization or meet compliances. Thanks to the smart interpretation of generated data and the capability to now take real-time actions, municipal drinking water and wastewater treatment facility operators can positively impact their OPEX efficiencies and their capabilities to meet regulatory requirements. This paper describes how three municipal wastewater and drinking water plants gained process insights, and determined optimization opportunities thanks to the implementation of online TOC monitoring.
Online Total Organic Carbon (TOC) monitoring for water and wastewater treatment plants processes and operations optimization
