Physical and compositional characteristics of drinking water storage tank sediment

Thirty-one drinking water storage tank sediment samples were collected in 13 states, 17 distribution systems, and 29 tanks over the course of 4 years. Sediment samples were characterized for elemental composition and physical properties, which were found to be inconsistent both between samples of the same distribution system and across geographical regions. Differences between samples from the same tank also indicated spatial differences in sediment composition within storage tanks. Color was found to qualitatively trend toward darker or lighter depending on the concentration of a few elements (iron, aluminum, calcium, and magnesium). Particle shape varied between samples though uniformity increased as the particle size decreased. The average sediment particle density in this study (1.99 g/cm³) was lower than the density of a widely used sediment resuspension model silica sand (2.65 g/cm³), possibly resulting in underestimation of resuspension in models. This study suggests that sediment properties are highly site and storage tank specific, necessitating individual characterization to achieve greatest accuracy in storage tank suspension and draining model inputs.