First published 30 years ago, this latest edition proves that there is still a market and need for the more concise text on water treatment principles and processes. As with the previous editions, the approach of this book is to adopt a relatively light touch on the principles of water treatment, with more emphasis on the engineering and application of those principles in a municipal water treatment context. The focus is on treatment practices found in Western Europe and North America, although there are occasional references to developing countries. This text therefore complements, rather than competes with, other modestly-sized water treatment texts that have appeared in recent years, and which focus more on the principles.
The third edition of this book first appeared in 2003, and represented a radical overhaul of the text. By the authors' own admission, the updating that has taken place in the move from third to fourth editions is far more modest. As might be expected, the book covers basic water quality issues and the legislation and standards pertaining to the production of potable water. There then follows an overview of water treatment processes, followed by a series of short but more detailed chapters on standard treatment processes, including the application of membranes. For this new edition, the authors have included two additional chapters, on private water supplies and water safety plans. The relatively recent advent of water safety plans is a significant event for the water industry, and so probably warrants a dedicated chapter to spell out the issues and implications for stakeholders. Whether the same is true for private water supplies is rather more debateable – it is a little unclear as to why a chapter was included on this, while additional text on water reuse, which is a topic of great interest to the community at the moment, was somewhat shoe-horned into the early overview chapter.
Nevertheless, this is a well-written and well-presented book. The accessibility of the text means that it will continue to attract students who are looking for an introduction to the subject and also practising engineers who need a straightforward reference text. As a result, it will continue to be of interest to a broad readership.
