| Abstract: | The use of synthetic pipes for drinking water distribution has increased. High desnity polyethylene (HPDE) is preferred because of its favorable mechanical properties, ease of handling during manufacturing, and low permeability to external contaminants. Off-flavor drinking water is a problem with plastic pipes. The compounds causing off-flavors are mainly carbonyl compounds. A combined zeolite called Abscents is used to eliminate odors and to remove odor-causing compounds. In this study, four different amounts of Abscents were added to raw HDPE pellets, and the influence on the off-flavor properties were analyzed. When the maximum amount of Abscents was added, almost all the carbonyl compounds disappeared, and the intensities of odors also decreased. The use of Abscents notably increased the acceptability of HDPE pipes. The system used for analysis of volatile organic compounds was a gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric/sniffing system. Purge and trap techniques were used to introduce the volatile, off-flavor components into the gas chromatograph. |
