Acceptable level of oil and grease in potable water

[skc8002]

Dear All,

Could anyone tell me what is the acceptable level of oil and grease in potable water? The water in the question will be used for mixing the concrete. Per ASTMD3921 lab report gives a value < 1.0 mg/L. Is this acceptable for potable water? Appreciate your input.

Thanks
skc8002

 

[orenda1168]

skc8002:

There is no specific oil and grease EPA limitation for potable water, though there are a number of restricted compounds which may possibly (probably) be present in oil and grease contamination of the water.

To answer your question, I would think that potable water should have a zero (below detectable limits by oil and grease analytical methodology) oil and grease concentration, notwithstanding other restricted organics that might be present.

Orenda

 

[rconner]

I think you may have (perhaps unintentionally?) juxtaposed a couple sort of arguably separate technical questions in your inquiry -- it thus might help (for better response) to clarify with some more information. Will this "potable" water containing "oil and grease" only be used for mixing concrete (and for what concrete application/strength etc.), or will some of this water be drank by folks, and in what country/state/health jurisdiction etc.? While I suspect most texts/codes may say basically any water that is "potable" will normally work for mixing normal concrete for normal applications, I suspect at least vice versa may not necessarily be true in all areas around the world that might accept varied levels of impurities. At least in the past I believe some codes e.g. ACI 318 have even allowed some non-potable waters to be used for mixing some concretes for some applications, providing certain performance criteria can be satisfied with said water.

 

[sxchauhan]

Appreciate responses to my query.

The water in question shall be used for mixing concrete only. We have to follow BS codes on the project. BS spec/code requirement for mixing water is "no visible traces of oil and grease in mixing water". Folks on the site did oil and grease test per ASTMD3921 instead and got the result as < 1.0 mg/L. I couldn't find any quantification of "no visible traces" in litreture. Does <1.0 mg/L falls under "no visible taces" domain?

Other approach is that if the water could be accepted as potable, it should be good as mixing water. Thats why I asked for the acceptable level of oil and grease in potable water.

Regards,
skc8002

 

[rconner]

If you have a question as to whether the water in question (containing some oil and/or grease?) will adversely affect e.g. strength properties of the concrete, you might consider mixing samples with it, as well as with a control water that does not contain the oil/grease, and compare results. While <1 ppm certainly doesn't seem like much and hard to imagine a problem in concrete, I think whether or not you see oil or grease on the surface or container walls etc. in a water or wastewater sample in general could depend on the nature of the contaminant (types, miscibility etc.) as well as how long the sample sits in the container. Beyond this (and a little curious as to why this has come up), you might could use someone with more experience than I!

 

[bimr]

Potable water should have no detectable oil and grease. Oil and grease would not be able to travel through a water treatment plant.

Use your standard of no visible traces. If there are visible traces, have them run the water through a sand filter to remove the visible traces.