Chemical Dosages

Objective
In this lesson we will answer the following questions:
How do you calculate chemical feed rate for wet and dry chemicals?
How do you calculate how many chemicals to order?

Reading Assignment
Read online lesson.

Lecture
Introduction
You have a sore throat and go to the doctor, who diagnoses you with strep throat.
He gives you an antibiotic and tells you to take one pill three times a day.
Treatment of water in the treatment plant follows a similar process to your
treatment at a doctor's office. The water is tested to determine what sort and
amount of treatment will be required. Then chemicals are added to the water in a
set amount per day.
The following table compares the two processes:
Doctor

Testing

Treatment Plant

Tests are done to determine your

Tests are done to determine the water's
state of health. Examples: Looking pH, turbidity, total alkalinity,
in your eyes and ears, feeling your temperature, and coliform

lymph nodes, etc.

bacteria. Examples: Jar test, pH test,

etc.

Diagnosis

Your illness and any medication

which should be used to treat it are
determined. Example: Strep throat
is treated with antibiotics.

Characteristics of the water which will

require treatment are
determined. Example: The water is
determined to be extremely turbid, so
extra coagulants will have to be used.

Volume to be
treated

The doctor measures your weight

to determine how many pills to
give you. Example: You weight
150 pounds.

The flow of water through the plant

determines the volume of water to be
treated. Example: The flow of the plant
is 3 MGD.

Chemical
The doctor determines how much
concentration medicine is needed to treat the
illness. Example: The doctor
decides you should take 200 mg of
antibiotics per 100 pounds of your
body weight.

Water tests determine the dosage of

chemical which should be used to treat
the water most effectively. Example:
In order to treat the turbidity, alum
should be fed into the water at a
concentration of 40 mg per gallon of
water.

Chemical feed The doctor tells you how many

rate
pills to take per day based on your
weight and on the strength of the
pills. Example: The doctor tells
you to take 300 mg of antibiotics
per day.

You set the feed rate of the chemical

feeder based on the flow and
dose. Example: The alum feed rate is
set at 120,000,000 mg per day.

In this lesson, we will be concerned with three steps in this five step process determining the volume to be treated (the flow of the water plant), the chemical
concentration (the dose), and the chemical feed rate. Each of these three factors is
explained briefly below:
The flow is the rate at which water is moving through the
treatment plant, commonly given in MGD. The flow is
measured with a flow meter, such as a Parshall flume or a
pressure differential meter. An increase in flow means more
water is being treated, so more chemical must be added to the

water to keep the concentration of chemical in the water at the

appropriate level.
The dosage is the required concentration of the chemical
within the water, commonly given in mg/L. Tests of water
characteristics determine the required dosage of each
chemical. A higher dose means that more chemical is getting
into the water.
The chemical feed is the amount of chemical you add to the
water, commonly given in lbs/day. The chemical feed rate is
typically set on a chemical feeder of some sort so that the
chemical is automatically added to the water throughout the
day. A higher chemical feed rate means that chemicals are
being added to the water more quickly.

Dry Chemical Feed Rate

Determining chemical feed rate of a dry chemical is as simple as suggested in the
example in the last section. There, we found the feed rate by multiplying the flow
of the plant by the required dosage:

Chemical feed = 3 MGD 40 mg/gal

Chemical feed = 120,000,000 mg/day
However, since using a feed rate of several million milligrams per day is unwieldy,
we usually report the feed rate in pounds per day. In addition, the required
concentration of the chemical is usually given as mg/L rather than mg/gal, so we
must convert from liters to gallons. As a result of these two changes, we add one
more element to our equation to change the units, resulting in the following
formula:
Chemical feed (lbs/day) =
Flow (MGD) Dosage (mg/L) 8.34 (lbs/gal)
.

Let's consider a water treatment plant with a flow of 15 MGD. We want to add alum to the
water at a dosage of 18 mg/L. What should the setting on the alum feeder be?
In order to find the answer, we make the following calculations:
Chemical feed = 15 MGD 18 mg/L 8.34 lbs/gal
Chemical feed = 2,252 lbs/day
And determine the alum feeder should be set to a rate of 2,252 lbs/day.
If we need to set the chemical feeder rate to pounds per hour or to pounds per minute, we
merely convert units, as shown below:
2,252 lbs/day 1 day/24 hr = 93.8 lbs/hr
93.8 lbs/hr 1 hr/60 min = 1.56 lbs/min

Liquid Chemical Feed Rate

The situation becomes a little more complicated when liquids are being fed instead
of dry chemicals. In most cases, these liquids are not pure chemicals, but are a
mixture of a dry chemical with water. Since the chemical is not as concentrated in
the liquid as it was in the dry form, a greater volume of the liquid chemical must be
added to treat the raw water.
The formula we use to determine the chemical feed rate of liquid chemicals is
shown below:

You will notice that the formula is very similar to that used for dry chemicals, with
the addition of four numerical terms used to convert units. The only additional
element which requires explanation is the liquid concentration. The liquid
concentration, given in mg/mL, is the amount of dry chemical (in mg) mixed with
the amount of water (in mL):

So, if you added 230 mg of polymer to 100 mL of water, you would have a liquid polymer
solution with a concentration of 2.3 mg/mL.
We'll consider a situation in which the flow of the plant is 5 MGD and the alum dosage is 10
mg/L. The liquid alum has a concentration of 520 mg/mL. The chemical feeder setting
would be determined as follows:

The setting on the liquid alum feeder should be 252 mL/min.

Ordering Chemicals
As a water treatment plant operator, you will be expected to order chemicals for
your treatment plant. In order to do so, you will need to know how to calculate the
amount of chemicals you will use during a certain period of time. First, you should
calculate the chemical feed rate for an average day. Then you can determine the
amount of chemical you will use in a certain period of time using the following
formula:
Chemical used (lbs) = Chemical feed (lbs/day) Time (days)
So, if you use 100 pounds of alum per day, how much alum should you order to last you for
four weeks?
Chemical used = 100 lbs/day 28 days
Chemical used = 2,800 lbs
You should order 2,800 pounds of alum.

Review

The chemical feed rate is the rate at which chemicals are added to water in the
treatment plant. The chemical feed rate for dry chemicals is dependent on the flow
of the plant and on the required chemical dosage. For liquid chemicals, the
chemical feed rate is dependent on flow, dosage, and on the chemical's
concentration.
In order to order sufficient chemicals for use in the treatment plant, the operator
must be able to calculate the amount of chemicals used over time. This amount is
dependent on the average chemical feed rate and on the number of days the
chemical is required to last.

New Formulas Used

Dry chemical feed rate:
Chemical feed (lbs/day) =
Flow (MGD) Dosage (mg/L) 8.34 (lbs/gal)

Liquid chemical feed rate:

Liquid chemical concentration:

Amount of chemical used over time:

Chemical used (lbs) =
Chemical feed (lbs/day) Time (days)

Assignments
Answer the following questions in Math Set 2. You may take the assignment online
and submit your grade directly into the database for grading purposes.