Methods and system for evaluating and maintaining disinfectant levels in a potable water supply

1. A method of determining a disinfectant composition of a municipal water supply from a water sample comprising:

a. obtaining a water sample from a water source at a sampling location, wherein:

i. the water sample is derived from a water treatment facility;

ii. a chlorine-containing material and an ammonia containing material are present in the water source; and

iii. the sampling location is located downstream from the water treatment facility;

b. adding an additional chlorine-containing material to the water sample in the presence of an oxidation reduction potential (ORP) measurement device;

c. generating a plurality of ORP measurements during addition of the additional chlorine-containing material to the water sample;

d. estimating a concentration of one or more of free ammonia, fully combined ammonia, monochloramine or a mixture of dichloramine and trichloramine in the water sample, wherein the estimation is derived from the relationship between the added additional chlorine-containing material and the plurality of ORP measurements; and

e. determining a disinfectant composition of the water source at the water sampling location based upon the concentration estimation,

wherein determining the disinfectant composition in step e comprises determining a free ammonia composition of the water supply and wherein at least a concentration of free ammonia in the water sample is estimated in step d.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentration is estimated from monitoring the rate of change of ORP measurement in millivolts as a function of the amount of additional chlorine-containing material added to the water sample.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentration is estimated by calculating a slope obtained by plotting the plurality of ORP measurements of the water sample versus the amount of additional chlorine-containing material added to the water sample.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the disinfectant composition is determined as a real-time measurement.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additional chlorine-containing material is added to the water sample in a known volume while generating the plurality of ORP measurements to determine the relationship between the added additional chlorine-containing material and the plurality of ORP measurements.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising comparing the plurality of ORP measurements obtained from the water sample located downstream from the water treatment facility to ORP measurements obtained from a water sample obtained at the water treatment facility to determine disinfection efficacy.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimation provides the concentration of both free ammonia and monochloramine in the water sample.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after determining the disinfectant composition of the water source, adding additional chlorine-containing materials and ammonia-containing materials to the water source to achieve a desired level of the disinfectant composition.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein an amount of the added chlorine-containing materials and ammonia-containing materials is independent of a concentration of the chlorine-containing materials and ammonia-containing materials.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a volume of the water sample obtained from the water source is known.

11. A method of determining free ammonia composition of a water supply comprising:

a. obtaining a water sample from the water supply at a sampling location;

b. adding a chlorine-containing material to the water sample in the presence of an oxidation reduction potential (ORP) measurement device;

c. generating a plurality of ORP measurements during addition of the chlorine-containing material to the water sample; and

d. estimating a concentration of free ammonia in the water sample, wherein the estimation is derived from the relationship between the added chlorine-containing material and the plurality of ORP measurements.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein a volume of the water sample obtained from the water supply is known.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the water sample is derived from a water treatment facility and the sampling location is located downstream from the water treatment facility.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising maintaining the concentration of free ammonia in the water supply within a range of greater than 0 mg/L and less than about 0.1 mg/L.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method of determining free ammonia composition is substantially free of a reagent other than chlorine and ammonia-containing materials.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the concentration of free ammonia is estimated from monitoring the rate of change of ORP measurement in millivolts as a function of the amount of chlorine-containing material added to the water sample.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising adding additional chlorine-containing materials when the estimated free ammonia concentration is above a desired free ammonia concentration range.