Water Treatment & Distribution

In general, interpreting ATP data from water applications is quite straightforward since results simply represent the active microbiological content at any given location. However, the suggested guidelines vary depending on the application, as shown below:

NOTE: Control guidelines are provided as a suggested starting point; actual control targets should be established by comparing ATP tests to process performance in each application.

You can also use the following case studies to understand how ATP data can be used and related to conventional data and operating conditions for cause-and-effect analysis:

• Hospital Water Safety Audit Using ATP Measurements
• Public Building Water Safety Audit Using ATP Measurements
• Feed Water Delivery System Audit Using ATP Measurements
• Water Distribution System Audit
• Water Production System Continuous Improvement
• Water Treatment Process Audit

When performing trending and correlation analyses, it is recommended that data smoothing (moving averages) be used to remove noise. In general, select a smoothing period corresponding to a number of days between the hydraulic retention time of process being analyzed.