Petroleum in Drinking Water

ASTM’s water committee (D19) has approved a new standard that will help ensure compliance with drinking water quality requirements, minimize environmental impact, and protect public health.

The new standard, published as D8431, is based on a proprietary spectroscopy technique. It will be used at treatment plants for drinking water as a first line of defense for detecting petroleum product spills, tracking attenuation over time, and preventing contaminant uptake.

According to ASTM International member Adam Gilmore, the new standard is faster and more streamlined than previous standards used for the same purpose. “Unlike previous standards, D8431 does not require solvents, and provides reliable identification of specific target contaminants and concentration prediction using multivariate models,” says Gilmore.