(564f) In-Line Detection and Mitigation of Contaminants in a Model Water Distribution System

It is known that without food a person can live for few weeks, but without water human's expectation to live are only few days. This is just one of the main reasons why the protection of our water distribution system has to be one of the main concerns for USA and the rest of the world. We need to keep our water protected against intentional and criminal poisoning. USA needs reliable systems with the ability to detect water contamination before is too late. Research on detection, prevention and mitigation of contamination of water distribution systems in a small scale is currently being performed at the Integrated Water Security Laboratory ERDC-CERL Champaign, IL. In order to prove the reliability of our in line detection-mitigation model water distribution system, different kinds of experimentation have been performed. Our researches are based on replicate different water conditions around the world and simulate possible water contamination, to be detected by an early warning system ? HACH HST Guardian Blue?and then treated by high quality-unique filtration system based on Teslin®--a synthetic printing medium manufactured by PPG Industries?membranes . The results have shown that the integrated system is able to detect water contamination in a short period time. At this stage the Teslin membranes appear to be highly resistant to surface and pore fouling, further membrane functionalization it is currently performed in order to improve the membrane action.