Water Hardness Levels
The hardness of the water
produced by the City of Melbourne averages 85 mg/L or 5 grains per
gallon. The
American Water Works Association has developed a generalized
water hardness scale that rates very soft water as between 0 and 25
mg/L, soft water as between 25 and 75 mg/L, moderately hard as
between 75 and 150 mg/L, hard water as being between 150 and 300
mg/L, and very hard water as being above 300 mg/L.
The hardness level after softening should not fall below
50 mg/L, or three grains per gallon. To convert milligrams
per liter to grains per gallon multiply by 0.06.
Adjusting for Softer Water
If your home water softening system is causing
the water to become too soft, leaching of copper pipes in
your home plumbing could occur, which would result in sinks
and tubs developing a green or blue coloration.
Those with water softeners should monitor results. Very excessive softening could cause corrosion
of your plumbing, which would allow copper to enter your
home’s water supply.
Copper is an essential nutrient required by the body in very
small amounts, too much copper can potentially cause adverse
health effects. Water delivered by Melbourne contains trace
copper amounts that are below the level determined as safe
by the federal Environmental
Protection Agency.
A
chemical coagulant is added to the raw water as it enters a coagulation tank.
The coagulant destabilizes the suspended solids and with proper mixing early
stage floc formation begins. The coagulated water then flows over a weir
into the injection tank where polymer and microsand are added to further enhance
floc formation. Next, the water passes through the underflow passage into
the maturation tank where the majority of ballasted floc formation occurs.
After the water leaves the maturation tank, it enters the settling tank where
the floc rapidly settles and is removed from the treated water via lamellar
settling. Clarified water exits the system via a series of collection
troughs or weirs for subsequent filtration, disinfection and delivery to the
distribution network.
