Fortunately, the water level of the August flood in Switzerland receded 
    faster than in New Orleans. Even if some repairs to damaged buildings and 
    infrastructure facilities will still take months, the return to daily 
    routines has been rapid for most. For those still affected, we hope that 
    normalcy will return quickly with as little loss as possible.
We have been 
    alerted to reports about hazards to drinking water caused by unprocessed 
    waste water and pollution due to heating oil that has leaked into the lakes 
    from which many communities draw their drinking water. Those with foresight 
    have installed a measuring device at the water treatment input point that 
    continually checks for oil traces and organic contamination.
But it is not 
    only surface water that is affected. When there is flooding and raised 
    ground water levels, contamination that is not usually present may also be 
    evident in ground water, especially in bank filtrate. After the flooding in 
    1999, high bacterial counts were found in the ground water wells near the 
    Limmat River effluent in Zurich, even though the turbidity value had not 
    risen or risen very little. There was, however, a clear increase in the 
    spectral absorption coefficient, or UV absorption value, and returned to 
    normal only after several weeks. This was probably due to changes in the 
    microstructures of the bank sand layers that were disturbed by the increased 
    ground water currents. Particularly when it comes to ground water wells, a 
    UV absorption measurement can provide added certainty that water quality is 
    assured.
SIGRIST photometers reliably measure turbidity, coloration, UV 
    absorption, oil traces and particle count in drinking water and thereby help 
    to ensure unquestionable quality and optimal process handling during 
    treatment.
Products: AquaScat 
    WTM |
    AquaScat P |
    AquaScat HT |
    ColorPlus bypass |
    ColorPlus in-line | OilGuard