River Source Water supply operations procedures

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We have a river source water supply serving 25,000 people with no operations procedures.  Everything is manually operated. CFU 15.000 litres. 3no.distribution tanks of @ each 150,000.

Can someone please help with suggestions for a good procedure to operate and maintain this system?

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6 Answers

  1. Well now; you said: ​water supply ​serving 25,000 ​people with no ​operations ​procedures. ​   That means you have no management procedures, and no point of reference if a valued operator dies, or is off sick.  If that happend, how do you run your plant with nothing written down.  You need maintence logs and procedures, as well as operating logs and standard operating procedures (SOPs).    Everyone knows, this is a lot of work; but it has to be done.  Start with what you know, and all of your workers know: write it down in a manual that is documented, dated, and signed by multiple personal with the approval of management.   There is nothing wrong with a manually operated system - until there is a problem.  Then you have nothing to support what your procedures should be, and nothing to support with what you should have done, and did you do it properly.  With potable water, you must have some type of testing. Are your tests documented for SOPs.  By that, I mean: are your own procedures written down and not just pointing to a manual by someone else.  Even a small test, such as a Hach test for hardness, must be written out.  How do you titrate? How do you calculate the results?  All of this must be written down.  Discussions may refer to other manuals.  But, your own SOPs will document  how the operators perform their work, and do they do it.  What do you do if an operators fails to do what was requested, and signs the log that says he did.   Wow, the answer: you can bring dicipline, lack of pay or termination.  "Oh, he wouldn't do that."   Yes, they do, and have.  But documentation helps to prevent it.  Once upon a time, a long time ago: one of our inspectors had an operator tell him that that a certain required procedure was not needed and that he usually omitted it.  That statement was written up on the inspection report: the operator signed it without reading the report.  When the report was read by management, the statement was made that they had been looking for a way to terminate that operator for five years: he was fired the same day.  

    Log books of what is done must be used, with dates, time and signatures. 

    The internet was suggested below.  Ok, use that for research and a guide point to what you want, but do not for a moment think that you can accept the net as the final word because if you use a blog like this one you run the risk of getting false information.  

    Lack of the proper procedures and proper maintenance - with documentation = is the primary difference between private and government installations. 

  2. Do consider slow sand filtration as your treatment option if you need a simple system and you are using river water that could have pathogenic organisms and some turbidity, but not too high (< 100 NTU).  You may also want to dose the storage reservoirs with some chlorine periodically (say 5ppm). 

    If you already have an existing mechanical or hydraulic treatment system, you should indicate what these processes are - there are many operational guides on the internet but often quite complex.  

  4. More information is needed about the treatment process. Can you provide a basic process flow sheet (or at least a verbal description)? Do you have flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection, or just an intake and chlorination? Once the information is available, I can provide suggestions, and I imagine many other people on the network can also help.

    1 Comment

    1. Manual treatment I mean CFU filters has failed to operate so operators only get Alum and hang it into the water for a while then water discharged to the consumers.

  5. Infinite Water have surface water/ ground water treatment plant which is very simple and the whole treatment process is fully automated and any one with basic knowledge can operate it and not require for re-mineralization. 

  6. Hi, when you say manual operation, do you mean , 

    1. no pumping involved.

    2. You supply untreated water directly to the people.

    3. Operating procedures depend on the system design and other specifications like distance from the source to destination, types of equipment used so a maintenance programm can be determined through the OEM or RCM.

     

    2 Comments

    1. Please describe the situation categorically, detailing the components of the water supply system, the quality of the raw water, and the treatment processes, if any. Then only can the situation be understood and corrective measures, if any may be suggested.

    2. I was recently posted there no proper procedures followed,There is pumping but with no records in place and the demand is high with the shortage of skilled personal who can work standard procedures of quality services so I was seeking your kind input to streamline the system form the intake to CFU to the consumers...kindly let me know.

      Thank you.