Magnetic ion exchange (MIEX®) is a relatively new
water treatment technology currently used in only a few
treatment plants around the world. Because much of the
published data on MIEX is based on laboratory- or pilotscale
experiments, this first-of-its-kind study at the Wanneroo
Groundwater Treatment Plant in Perth, Western
Australia, was undertaken to obtain information on the
technology's performance at a large scale (110 ML/d of
the plant's total 225 ML/d capacity). At Wanneroo, the
MIEX process is followed by conventional alum coagulation
(MIEX-C), and this combined process operates in
parallel with an enhanced alum coagulation (EC) treatment
process. The study results demonstrated that the
MIEX-C process outperformed the EC process in reducing
organic carbon, ultraviolet-absorbing dissolved
organic carbon at 254 nm, chlorine demand, trihalomethane
formation potential, turbidity, and color. Water
utility managers can consider the promising results from
this study when deciding which technologies might best
suit their water treatment requirements. Includes 36 references, tables, figures.