AWWA JAW64268

Magnetic ion exchange (MIEX®) is a relatively new water treatment technology currently used in only a few treatment plants around the world. Because much of the published data on MIEX is based on laboratory- or pilotscale experiments, this first-of-its-kind study at the Wanneroo Groundwater Treatment Plant in Perth, Western Australia, was undertaken to obtain information on the technology's performance at a large scale (110 ML/d of the plant's total 225 ML/d capacity). At Wanneroo, the MIEX process is followed by conventional alum coagulation (MIEX-C), and this combined process operates in parallel with an enhanced alum coagulation (EC) treatment process. The study results demonstrated that the MIEX-C process outperformed the EC process in reducing organic carbon, ultraviolet-absorbing dissolved organic carbon at 254 nm, chlorine demand, trihalomethane formation potential, turbidity, and color. Water utility managers can consider the promising results from this study when deciding which technologies might best suit their water treatment requirements. Includes 36 references, tables, figures.