THE ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION
PROGRAM
v>EPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ET/
Battelle
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ETV Joint Verification Statement
TECHNOLOGY TYPE: MULTI-PARAMETER WATER MONITORS FOR
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
APPLICATION:
MONITORING DRINKING WATER QUALITY
TECHNOLOGY NAME: TitraSip™ SA
COMPANY: Man-Tech Associates Inc.
ADDRESS:
WEB SITE:
E-MAIL:
600 Main Street
Tonawanda, New York 14150
www.mantech-inc.com
rmenegotto @ mantech-inc.com
PHONE: 519-763-2145
FAX: 519-763-9995
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the Environmental Technology Verification (ETV)
Program to facilitate the deployment of innovative or improved environmental technologies through performance
verification and dissemination of information. The goal of the ETV Program is to further environmental protection
by accelerating the acceptance and use of improved and cost-effective technologies. ETV seeks to achieve this goal
by providing high-quality, peer-reviewed data on technology performance to those involved in the design,
distribution, financing, permitting, purchase, and use of environmental technologies. Information and ETV
documents are available at www.epa.gov/etv.
ETV works in partnership with recognized standards and testing organizations, with stakeholder groups
(consisting of buyers, vendor organizations, and permitters), and with individual technology developers. The
program evaluates the performance of innovative technologies by developing test plans that are responsive to the
needs of stakeholders, conducting field or laboratory tests (as appropriate), collecting and analyzing data, and pre-
paring peer-reviewed reports. All evaluations are conducted in accordance with rigorous quality assurance (QA)
protocols to ensure that data of known and adequate quality are generated and that the results are defensible.
The Advanced Monitoring Systems (AMS) Center, one of six technology areas under ETV, is operated by Battelle
in cooperation with EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory. The AMS Center evaluated the performance
of the Man-Tech Associates Inc. TitraSip™ SA (Stand-Alone) System in continuously measuring total chlorine,
temperature, conductivity, pH, total alkalinity, and turbidity in drinking water. This verification statement provides
a summary of the test results.
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VERIFICATION TEST DESCRIPTION
The performance of the TitraSip™ was assessed in terms of its accuracy, response to injected contaminants, inter-
unit reproducibility, ease of use, and data acquisition. The verification test was conducted between August 9 and
October 28, 2004, and consisted of three stages, each designed to evaluate a particular performance characteristic
of the TitraSip™. All three stages of the test were conducted using a recirculating pipe loop at the U.S. EPA's Test
and Evaluation Facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In the first stage of this verification test, the accuracy of the measurements made by the TitraSip™ units was
evaluated during nine, 4-hour periods of stable water quality conditions by comparing each TitraSip™ unit
measurement to a grab sample result generated each hour using a standard laboratory reference method and then
calculating the percent difference (%D). The second stage of the verification test involved evaluating the response
of the TitraSip™ units to changes in water quality parameters by injecting contaminants (nicotine, arsenic trioxide,
and aldicarb) into the pipe loop. Two injections of three contaminants were made into the recirculating pipe loop
containing finished Cincinnati drinking water. The response of each water quality parameter, whether it was an
increase, decrease, or no change, was documented and is reported here. In the first phase of Stage 3 of the
verification test, the performance of the TitraSip™ units was evaluated during 52 days of continuous operation,
throughout which references samples were collected once daily. The final phase of Stage 3 (which immediately
followed the first phase of Stage 3 and lasted approximately one week) consisted of a two-step evaluation of the
TitraSip™ performance to determine whether this length of operation would negatively impact the results from the
TitraSip™. First, as during Stage 1, a reference grab sample was collected every hour during a 4-hour analysis
period and analyzed using the standard reference methods. Again, this was done to define a formal time period of
stable water quality conditions over which the accuracy of the TitraSip™ could be evaluated. Second, to evaluate
the response of the TitraSip™ to contaminant injection after the extended deployment, the duplicate injection of
aldicarb, which was also included in the Stage 2 testing, was repeated. In addition, a pure E. coli culture, including
the E. coli and the growth medium, was included as a second injected contaminant during Stage 3. Inter-unit
reproducibility was assessed by comparing the results of two identical units operating simultaneously. Ease of use
was documented by technicians who operated and maintained the units, as well as the Battelle Verification Test
Coordinator.
QA oversight of verification testing was provided by Battelle and EPA. Battelle QA staff conducted a technical
systems audit, a performance evaluation audit, and a data quality audit of 10% of the test data.
This verification statement, the full report on which it is based, and the test/QA plan for this verification test are all
available at www.epa.gov/etv/centers/centerl.html.
TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION
The following description of the TitraSip™ was provided by the vendor and does not represent verified
information.
The TitraSip™ is designed for multi-parameter water quality testing. The system used for this verification test
analyzed pH (following EPA Method 150.1, including calibration buffers with pHs of 4, 7, and 10), conductivity
(following Standard Method [SM] 2510, which used a 1,413 microSiemens per centimeter standard for
calibration), total alkalinity (following SM 2320B), total chlorine (following SM 4500-C1 B, with a potentiometric
rather than a color, endpoint), temperature (following EPA Method 170.1), and turbidity (following SM 2130B,
including calibration solutions of 0, 10, and 100 nephelometric turbidity unit polymer standards). Additional water
quality parameters and modules (i.e., autosampler) maybe added. TitraSip™ collects a sample from a free-flowing
source (e.g., overfill cup) into the TitraSip™ Analysis Vessel and automatically completes analysis cycles at set
time intervals (in this case, once every 30 minutes) to complete the analysis for all six water quality parameters
without user intervention. The system includes a personal computer, software, interface, burets, turbidity module,
pump/valve system for adding calibrants and standards, electrodes, overfill sample cup, and TitraSip™ Analysis
Vessel. The system used for this verification test was positioned on a table top equipped with shelving for the
sampling and analysis equipment. The total system was 30 inches high and 36 inches wide, excluding the personal
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computer. Data are automatically collected at the conclusion of each cycle of sample analysis. The PC-Titrate
software controls all aspects of TitraSip™ operation. Data may be viewed directly on the personal computer as
they are acquired or they may be exported as a database or spreadsheet file. The cost of the TitraSip™ used for the
verification test was approximately $30,000. In addition, the calibration reagents cost approximately $220 per
month, preventive maintenance costs approximately $2,797 (parts only) per year, and electrode replacement costs
approximately $1,220 per year, assuming that new electrodes are needed every six months.
VERIFICATION OF PERFORMANCE
Evaluation Parameter
Stage 1—
Accuracy
Stage 2 —
Response to
Injected
Contaminants
Stage 3—
Accuracy During
Extended
Deployment
Stage 3—
Accuracy After
Extended
Deployment
Stage 3—
Response to
Injected
Contaminants
Injection
Summary
Inter-unit
Reproducibility
(Unit 2 vs. Unit 1)
Ease of Use and
Data Acquisition
Units 1 and 2, range
of %D (median)
Nicotine
Arsenic
trioxide
Aldicarb
Reference
TitraSip™
Reference
TitraSip™
Reference
TitraSip™
Units 1 and 2, range
of %D (median)
Unit 1, %D
Unit 2, %D
E. coli
Aldicarb
Reference
TitraSip™
Reference
TitraSip™
Total
Chlorine
-13.2 to
20.6 (7.5)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-18.0 to
30.0 (2.7)
1.0
0.0
-
-
-
-
Tem-
perature
-9.1 to
52.5 (-0.04)
NC
NC
NC
NC
NC
NC
-15.7 to
3.7 (-3.1)
-2.2
-1.9
NC
NC
NC
NC
Conductivity
37.9 to
94.3 (57.5)(a)
NC
NC
+
+(0
NC
NC
-2.8 to
5.2 (0.7)
0.3
1.1
+
+
NC
NC
pH
-2.2 to
5.4 (0.6)
NC
NC
+
+
NC
NC
-4.4 to
0.7 (-1.1)
-1.0
-2.1
-
-
-
-
Total
Alkalinity
3.2 to
30.4(11.5)
NC
NC
+
+
NC
NC
-16.5 to
14.4 (5.7)
-0.4
4.5
+
+
-
-
Turbidity
-65.2 to
0.6 (-45.2)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
-96.7 to 155.3
(-37.3)
35.3
41.2
+
(c)
+
(c)
For a reason that is not clear, aldicarb and total alkalinity altered the pH, as measured by the reference
method, during the Stage 3 injections, but not during the Stage 2 injections.
Slope (intercept)
r2
p-value
1.06(0.03)
0.958
0.481
1.06 (-1.22)
0.942
0.915
1.16 (-38.1)
0.896
0.110
0.94 (0.545)
0.981
0.851
0.79(18.1)
0.873
0.149
0.67 (0.104)
0.683
0.449
All sensors generated results that were similar and repeatable between the units.
The TitraSip™ units required daily calibration, which involved operator intervention. Initially, the sample
cell on Unit 1 did not drain completely between pH calibration solutions, but once the drain problem was
resolved, both units functioned properly. Monitor results were recorded once every 30 minutes, which is
the maxiumum data collection frequency.
(a) Calibration procedure for the conductivity meter was changed after Stage 1, resulting in much lower percent differences
throughout the remainder of the verification test.
(b) Relatively large uncertainties in the reference and continuous measurements made it difficult to determine a significant
change.
(c) Duplicate injection results did not agree.
+/- = Parameter measurement increased/decreased upon injection.
NC = No obvious change was noted through a visual inspection of the data.
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Original signed by Gregory A. Mack 10/17/05 Original signed by Andrew P. Avel 1/17/06
Gregory A. Mack Date Andrew P. Avel Date
Assistant Division Manager Acting Director
Energy, Transportation, and Environment Division National Homeland Security Research Center
Battelle U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
NOTICE: ETV verifications are based on an evaluation of technology performance under specific, predetermined
criteria and the appropriate quality assurance procedures. EPA and Battelle make no expressed or implied
warranties as to the performance of the technology and do not certify that a technology will always operate as
verified. The end user is solely responsible for complying with any and all applicable federal, state, and local
requirements. Mention of commercial product names does not imply endorsement.
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