State of California-Department of Public Health

Drinking Water Field Operations Branch, Santa osa

Daily Calculation of Chemical Dosages
(For solutions made with LIQUID CHEMICAL!
!he calculation of chemical dosages is important in order to track the effecti"eness of the chemical feed
processes# !o calculate a chemical dosage on a gi"en da$, $ou need to kno% the follo%ing&
'# (uantit$ of %ater produced that da$ )gallons*+++++ ,-uation '
O
Plant flo% rate )gpm*###########################################+++ #,-uation .
.# /mount of chemical solution in0ected that da$ )gallons*+,-uation '
O
Chemical feed rate )m12min*++++++++++++##,-uation .
3# Percent strength of the chemical# /n e4ample is 56#78 aluminum sulfate b$ %eight# !he percent
strength of sodium h$pochlorite )9aOCl* is b$ "olume )!rade 8* and not b$ %eight: e4amples
are 7#.78 and '.#78 sodium h$pochlorite b$ "olume#
5# Specific gra"it$ )Sp# ;#* of the chemical# Sp# ;# is the %eight of the chemical in relation to the
%eight of an e-ual "olume of %ater# /n e4ample is '#337 for aluminum sulfate# For 9aOCl, the
Sp# ;# is incorporated into the !rade 8# Hence, use ' for the Sp# ;# of 9aOCl for calculating
dose#
7# /#
<f the chemical is diluted prior to use& !he number of gallons of chemical and the number of
gallons of %ater used to make the solution are needed# For e4ample, if one gallon of chemical is
added to .5 gallons of %ater, the final mi4ture %ould contain .7 gallons of solution:
"he #ercent strength and #$ %$ of the solution must &e calculated using the following formulas'
Percent strength of the solution =
>)gallons of chemical added* ? )Sp#;#* ? )percent strength of the chemical*@
>gallons of %ater added A gallons of chemical added ? Sp# ;#@
%here Sp# ;# = specific gra"it$ of chemical
Specific gra"it$ of the solution =
>gallons of %ater added@ A >)gallons of chemical added* ? )Sp# ;# of the chemical*@
>gallons of %ater added A gallons of chemical added@
B#
<f the chemical is not diluted prior to use & !he percent strength and specific gra"it$ of the
solution is simpl$ the percent strength and specific gra"it$ of the chemical#
Chemical dosage is calculated using either of the following e(uations'
,-uation '
Dosage, mg21 = B,BB' ? )gallons of solution in0ected* ? )percent strength of solution* ? )specific gra"it$ of
solution*
)gallons of %ater produced*
,-uation .
Dosage, mg21 = )chemical feed rate, m12min* ? )percent strength of solution* ? )specific gra"it$ of solution*
)C#3D67* ? )plant flo% rate, gpm*
2"ar2%%%2apps2con"ersion2tmp2scratchE52..DC3C5FC#doc CB2C.
D3