Resumen en español

Environmental phenomena cause a strong impact in the variation of the quality of sources for drinking water, demanding that potable water treatment processes respond to these changes and maintain quality standards in the production of safe drinking water. The historical analysis of river Cauca turbidity and behavior of clarified and filtrated water allowed evaluating the effect of increase in raw water turbidity over water treatment conventional processes of Puerto Mallarino plant at Cali (Colombia). It was determined that the high turbidity of the water of river affected the treatment efficiency and also the quality of treated water; filtration was the most vulnerable stage to these high turbidity events. A high linear correlation between maximum turbidity and chemical products dose (coagulant and disinfectant) was identified.