ABSTRACT
As a result of the regulations on DBPs, interest in NOM removal is increasing and many water treatment plants in developed countries have started to measure the concentration of TOC in their finished waters. Promulgation of the rules will substantially increase these efforts in other countries too. Since the cost of TOC [and DBPs] determination was high, it was decided to study the traditional analysis of COD as a surrogate measure to detect the organic constituents in raw water and the extent to which optimized coagulation with ferric chloride can increase COD removal. The two water samples studied belonged to Karaj and Jajrood Rivers. For both samples the observed values of COD removal by coagulation at lower pH [about 1-1.5 pH values less than the regular pH] were about 85-95 percent without making water turbidity unacceptable. In order to determine the effects of organic content on coagulation, synthetic samples were also prepared with much higher COD values. Again, considerable increases in COD removal have been observed for most of these samples only by decreasing 0.5-2 pH value. The results indicated that a modified coagulation process without need to much increasing the amount of coagulant can be developed for these water samples