Alum Dosing

Alum Dose

Alum dosing has been an important variable throughout flocculation history. It is considered an art form and is generally picked up through practice and experience. At the Cornell Water treatment plant the operators rely on past data and a streaming current director to establish their alum dosing. They also rely on some rules of thumb that are affected by the temperature and the turbidity of the water. It appears that the higher the temperature the less alum is needed. This data is displayed in Table 1.

Table 1. Rule of thumb data used by Cornell University's Water Treatment Plant Operators.

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