Development and Application of a Hydrogeochemical Model for the Groundwater Treatment Process in Waterworks

Abstract

Drinking water quality is one of the most important factors affecting human health. The task of the waterworks is to purify raw water into drinking water. The quality of drinking water depends on two major factors: the raw water quality, and the treatment measures that are applied in the waterworks. Since the raw water quality develops over time, it must be determined whether the treatment measures currently used are also suitable when the raw water quality changes. For this reason, a hydrogeochemical model relevant to the drinking water quality during the treatment process was developed. By comparing the modeled results with the measured values, with the exception of chloride and sodium, all other relevant water quality parameters were consistent with one another. Therefore, the model proved to be plausible. This was also supported by the results of mass balance. The model can be used to forecast the development of drinking water quality, and can be applied as a tool to optimize the treatment measures if the raw water conditions change in the future.