Taste and odor problems in drinking water are the
main cause of consumer complaints. However,
one common practice, chlorine disinfection,
can actually create additional taste and odor issues.
Not only does the chlorine have a strong, distinctive
smell, but it masks other odor-producing chemicals. As
the water makes its way from the treatment plant to the
consumer, the chlorine level drops, and the previously
masked odors become noticeable.
Two chemicals that chlorine masks are geosmin and
2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB), which cause earthy-musty
tastes in finished water, even at extremely low concentrations
(nanogram-per-litre levels).
Little technical data have been published on the
sensory interactions between chlorine and odor
compounds. This study provides technically sound
proof that chlorine has a masking effect on geosmin
and 2-MIB and provides a means of reducing this
interference to better quantify these components.
This article provides a practical and relatively easy
way to reduce chlorine in odor samples, allowing
odor testers to more easily characterize a water
sample's odor profile. Water utilities can use this
information in their daily odor evaluations to identify
problems and remedy them before a full-scale
odor event occurs. Includes 23 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 95 - No. 3 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 810 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 03/01/2003 |
