TABLE OF CONTENTS Water for human consumption has several names; some of these are drinking water, domestic water, fresh water, municipal water, and potable water. Almost all of this water originates from rainwater that falls into rivers, lakes, and streams. Some of this water seeps into underground sand and rock strata and develops aquifers that are the actual levels of this underground water.
Due to the need for more water near oceans, an increasing source of domestic water is desalination of seawater. This is a growing activity that is centered on a process known as reverse osmosis. Previous methods of producing drinking water, such as evaporation, were prohibitive since almost 1000 BTU of heat was required to produce one pound of fresh water. Most of this chapter will be devoted to water plants that utilize rainwater.
New standards for drinking water are appearing frequently. One new standard for the approval of pumps for is NSF International of Ann Harbor, MI that evaluates pumps a number of conditions including the leakage of metals such as lead into the water. The water system designer should be aware of this requirement for testing of water pumps used on drinking water. A number of states now require approval of drinking water pumps by NSF International.
Water plants...
