AWWA JAW64846

With increasingly stringent environmental regulations to comply with, many small utilities are facing severe operational challenges due to lack of expertise and resources. This article addresses these challenges by illustrating an advanced automatic water treatment technology, the artificial neural network (ANN), suitable for small water utilities to deliver high-quality drinking water. ANN control technology has matured through recent research and development. In addition, the combination of ANN control technology with remote monitoring technology creates an even more powerful tool for small water utilities to share water treatment expertise through centralized technical support. ANN process control technology is capable of producing stable and robust real-time control in a full-scale water treatment plant. Small utility managers now have an additional option with which to optimize their water treatment process, reduce chemical cost, and expertly run plant operations to comply with stringent regulations. Includes 11 references, tables, figures.