Reasonability of Using the Total Organic Carbon Content in Water Supply Sources and Potable Water as a Water Quality Indicator

Abstract

The results of monitoring the indicators characterizing the organic compounds in a water supply source and water purified by the technology applied at the Dnipro Water Station (DWS) in Kyiv, namely, total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), permanganate oxidability (PO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and color are reported. The interactions between these indicators are estimated by using the Pearson correlation coefficients. It is shown that the best correlation of integral indices is observed for TOC and COD in the water supply source. The dependence of biodegradable organic carbon on TOC in the initial water is described by a high-quality model. A direct dependence on TOC in the input Dnipro water is observed for the concentration of chlorinated disinfection products in the purified water. The reasonability of using the total organic carbon concentration as a water quality indicator in a water supply source and potable water before chlorination is substantiated. It is proposed to introduce the indicator “total organic carbon” into state normative documents for obligatory control and coordination with international water quality requirements.