Advanced Treatment

The changing landscape of constituents of emerging concern, microbials and pathogens, and disinfection byproducts in drinking water, as well as increasingly restrictive discharge limits for receiving waters and the need to diversify water supplies through potable reuse, have necessitated a shift beyond conventional treatment for both drinking water and wastewater utilities. 

Advanced treatment strategies are used by drinking water treatment plants and water resource recovery facilities to provide treatment to a higher level than conventional treatment. Drinking water plants may employ advanced treatment processes such as activated carbon adsorption, membrane treatment, ozone, ultraviolet (UV) disinfection, and biofiltration, ​​ or a combination thereof. Many similar advanced treatment strategies have also been added to water resource recovery facilities to further remove solids, organic materials, nutrients, and toxic materials—often with the goal of producing potable water through indirect or direct reuse.