Taste and odor control is a required component of surface water treatment.

Taste and odor control is a required component of surface water treatment.

• A. It is optional.
• B. It is achieved only after disinfection.
• C. It is achieved by filtration.
• D. It is a required component of surface water treatment.

Answer: (A)

Taste and odor control deals with aesthetics in drinking water, and its use is not automatically mandated for every surface water treatment plant. Whether it’s required depends on the quality of the source water and applicable regulations. If the water doesn’t exhibit taste or odor problems, a plant may rely on other treatment steps and still meet water quality goals, so this control can be considered optional rather than universally required. Taste and odor issues can be addressed through a variety of approaches (aeration, oxidation, activated carbon, or enhanced coagulation), not solely by filtration or by disinfection alone. The other statements are too narrow or incorrect for a blanket rule: it’s not confined to post-disinfection, it isn’t achieved only by filtration, and it isn’t universally a required component.

Taste and odor control deals with aesthetics in drinking water, and its use is not automatically mandated for every surface water treatment plant. Whether it’s required depends on the quality of the source water and applicable regulations. If the water doesn’t exhibit taste or odor problems, a plant may rely on other treatment steps and still meet water quality goals, so this control can be considered optional rather than universally required. Taste and odor issues can be addressed through a variety of approaches (aeration, oxidation, activated carbon, or enhanced coagulation), not solely by filtration or by disinfection alone. The other statements are too narrow or incorrect for a blanket rule: it’s not confined to post-disinfection, it isn’t achieved only by filtration, and it isn’t universally a required component.