| Req ID | Category | Intent | Legal Status | Name | Subdomain(s) | Context | Conditions | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #Q001 | monitoring | operational | recommended | Boron Analysis Direction | drinking water | Analysis of boron should be carried out as directed by the responsible drinking water authority. | Standardized methods analysis | high |
| #Q002 | administrative | reporting | recommended | Laboratory Sampling Requirements Coordination | drinking water | Drinking water utilities should discuss sampling requirements with the accredited laboratory conducting the analysis to ensure that quality control procedures are met and that minimum reporting levels are low enough to ensure accurate monitoring at concentrations below the maximum acceptable concentration (MAC). | high | |
| #Q003 | operational | operational | recommended | Field Kit Quality Assurance Program | drinking water | To accurately measure boron using these units, utilities should develop a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program such as those outlined in Standard Method (SM) 3020 (APHA et al., 2017). | When using commercial online and portable test kits for quantifying dissolved boron | high |
| #Q004 | monitoring | operational | recommended | Field Kit Results Verification | drinking water | Periodic verification of results using an accredited laboratory is recommended. | When using commercial online and portable test kits | high |
| #Q005 | monitoring | operational | recommended | Dissolved Boron Sample Preparation | drinking water | To determine dissolved boron concentrations, samples should be filtered at the time of collection (not at the laboratory) and the filtrate should be acidified to pH < 2 with concentrated nitric acid. | When determining dissolved boron concentrations | high |
| #Q006 | design | treatment | recommended | Treatment Pilot Testing | drinking water | Pilot testing is recommended to ensure the source water can be successfully treated. | General treatment considerations | high |
| #Q007 | operational | operational | recommended | Treatment Waste Handling | drinking water | In addition, treatment plants should be aware that RO and IX generate liquid waste (for example, reject water or regeneration waste brine) that may require special handling and off-site disposal. | When using reverse osmosis (RO) or ion exchange (IX) treatment | high |
| #Q008 | design | treatment | recommended | Municipal Scale Pilot and Bench Testing | drinking water | Pilot- and bench-scale testing is recommended to ensure the source water can be successfully treated and to optimize operating conditions. | Municipal scale treatment implementation | high |
| #Q009 | treatment | treatment | mandatory | Reverse Osmosis Product Water Post-Treatment | drinking water | Therefore, the product water pH must be adjusted, and alkalinity may need to be increased to avoid corrosion issues in the distribution system such as the leaching of lead and copper (Schock and Lytle, 2011; U.S. EPA, 2012). | Following reverse osmosis (RO) treatment which removes alkalinity | high |
| #Q010 | monitoring | operational | mandatory | Blended Water Quality Characterization | drinking water | The characterization of the water quality must be carried out to ensure that changes in water quality resulting from blending are assessed and that potential impacts on the existing treatment processes and distribution system are determined. | When system design treats only a portion of the water for boron removal followed by blending with other water | high |
| #Q011 | monitoring | treatment | recommended | Residential Pre-Installation Testing | drinking water | Before a treatment unit is installed, the water should be tested to determine the general water chemistry and boron concentration in the source water. | At the residential scale prior to treatment unit installation | high |
| #Q012 | monitoring | treatment | recommended | Residential Unit Performance Verification | drinking water | To verify that a treatment unit is effective, water entering and leaving the treatment unit should be sampled periodically and submitted to an accredited laboratory for analysis. | At the residential scale after treatment unit installation | high |
| #Q013 | operational | treatment | recommended | Residential Unit Maintenance | drinking water | Consumers should verify the expected longevity of the components in the treatment unit according to the manufacturer's recommendations and service it when required. | At the residential scale | high |
| #Q014 | treatment | health | recommended | Residential Treatment Unit Certification | drinking water | Health Canada does not recommend specific brands of drinking water treatment units, but it strongly recommends that consumers use units that have been certified by an accredited certification body as meeting the appropriate NSF International Standard/American National Standard (NSF/ANSI) for drinking water treatment units. | At the residential scale | high |
| #Q015 | design | operational | recommended | Point-of-Use Installation Limitation | drinking water | Therefore, these units should be installed only at the point-of-use. | For RO and distillation residential units due to potential corrosivity and high influent water volume requirements | high |
| #Q016 | treatment | treatment | recommended | Residential Scale Certification Summary | drinking water | Generally, it is recommended that residential-scale treatment units be certified to meet the NSF International (NSF)/American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. | Residential scale treatment units | high |
| #Q017 | treatment | operational | guidance | Post-Treatment pH Adjustment for Corrosion | drinking water | Treatment goals may require that pH be adjusted post-treatment to address corrosion issues in the distribution system (Health Canada, 2015). | When establishing treatment goals for municipal systems | high |
| Req ID | Category | Intent | Legal Status | Name | Subdomain(s) | Limit Type | Limit Value | Context | Conditions | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #P001 | operational | operational | recommended | pH | drinking water | requirement | < 2 pH | filtrate should be acidified to pH < 2 with concentrated nitric acid | To determine dissolved boron concentrations, samples should be filtered at the time of collection (not at the laboratory) | high |
| #P002 | chemical | health | mandatory | Boron Maximum Acceptable Concentration (MAC) | drinking water | MAC | <= 5 mg/L | concentration below which treated water is considered acceptable for drinking water providers | Applies to treated drinking water | high |
| #P003 | chemical | reporting | guideline | EPA 200.5 Rev. 4.2 MDL | drinking water | requirement | 0.3 µg/L | Method detection limit for axially viewed inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometry | Matrix interferences: Ca, Mg and Na > 125 mg/L and Si > 250 mg/L | high |
| #P004 | chemical | reporting | guideline | EPA 200.7 Rev. 4.4 MDL | drinking water | requirement | 3.0 µg/L | Method detection limit for inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometry | Matrix interferences: TDS > 0.2% weight per volume (w/v) | high |
| #P005 | chemical | reporting | guideline | SM 3120B MDL | drinking water | requirement | 5.0 µg/L | Method detection limit for inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometry | Matrix interference: TDS > 1 500 mg/L | high |
| #P006 | chemical | reporting | guideline | SM 4500-B.B MDL | drinking water | requirement | 0.2 µg/L | Minimum detectable quantity for colorimetric method using curcumin reagent | Applicable range 0.1 to 1.0 mg/L; Interferences: Na > 20 mg/L and hardness > 100 mg/L as CaCO3 | high |
| #P007 | chemical | reporting | guideline | SM 4500-B.C MDL | drinking water | requirement | 2 µg/L | Minimum detectable quantity for colorimetric method using carmine reagent | Applicable range 1.0 to 10 mg/L; Requires concentrated sulphuric acid | high |
| #P008 | design | treatment | recommended | Residential Point-of-Use RO Performance | drinking water | treatment_goal | > 75 % | Expected removal efficiency for single membrane element residential units | Source water up to 8 mg/L | high |
| #P009 | chemical | reporting | guideline | Commercial Online Analyzer Range | drinking water, other | requirement | 0 to 500 µg/L | Measurement range for continuous online analyzers | Higher concentrations (up to 50 mg/L) require dilution | high |
| #P010 | chemical | reporting | guideline | ISO 9390 Measurement Range | drinking water | requirement | 0.01 to 1.0 mg/L | Applicable concentration range for spectrophotometric method using azomethine-H | Sample matrix must be drinking water | high |
| #P011 | chemical | reporting | guideline | SM 4500-B.B Measurement Range | drinking water | requirement | 0.1 to 1.0 mg/L | Applicable concentration range for colorimetric method using curcumin reagent | Interferences include Na > 20 mg/L and hardness > 100 mg/L as CaCO3 | high |
| #P012 | chemical | reporting | guideline | SM 4500-B.C Measurement Range | drinking water | requirement | 1.0 to 10 mg/L | Applicable concentration range for colorimetric method using carmine reagent | Requires the use of concentrated sulphuric acid | high |
| #P013 | chemical | reporting | guidance | Portable Test Kit Range (Azomethine-H) | drinking water | requirement | 0.05 to 2.5 mg/L | Measurement range for available commercial portable test kits using the azomethine-H method | Used for rapid measurement in drinking water | high |
| #P014 | chemical | reporting | guidance | Portable Test Kit Range (Carmine) | drinking water | requirement | 0.2 to 14 mg/L | Measurement range for available commercial portable test kits using the carmine method | Used for rapid measurement in drinking water | high |
| #P015 | design | treatment | guidance | Boron-Selective Resin (BSR) Capacity | drinking water | requirement | 0.6 to 1.2 eq/L | Theoretical boron capacities for commercially available chelating IX resins | Chelating resins functionalized with N-methyl-D-glucamine group | high |
| #P016 | design | treatment | guidance | Residential RO Removal Efficiency | drinking water | treatment_goal | 50 to 90 % | Anticipated boron removal range for residential scale RO units | Dependent on membrane filter type and water pH | high |
| #P017 | design | treatment | guidance | Municipal Single-Pass RO Rejection | drinking water | treatment_goal | 65 to 85 % | Rejection performance for simple single-pass RO systems | Practical for groundwater systems to achieve concentrations below 5 mg/L | high |
| #P018 | operational | treatment | guidance | Boron Speciation pH Threshold | drinking water, wastewater | requirement | 9.2 pH | At pH below 9.2 the major species is boric acid; at higher pH borate is the major species | Fresh water at 25°C; ionic strength and temperature also have minor effects | high |
| #P019 | design | treatment | guidance | High Boron Rejection Membrane Efficiency | drinking water | treatment_goal | 93 to 96 % | Removal efficiency of high boron rejection membranes compared to standard membranes | Under standard laboratory test conditions | high |
| #P020 | design | treatment | guidance | Standard SWRO Boron Rejection | drinking water | treatment_goal | 82 to 92 % | Standard seawater reverse osmosis membrane boron rejection range | Under standard laboratory test conditions | high |
| #P021 | design | treatment | guidance | Brackish Water RO Boron Rejection | drinking water | treatment_goal | 40 to 80 % | Standard brackish water reverse osmosis membrane boron rejection range | Under standard laboratory test conditions | high |
| #P022 | design | treatment | guidance | Ion Exchange Boron Removal Efficiency | drinking water | treatment_goal | 93 to 98 % | Removal efficiencies achieved in treatment plants using boron-selective resins | Full-scale or pilot-scale application | high |
| #P023 | chemical | reporting | guideline | EPA 200.5 Matrix Interference Threshold (Cations) | drinking water | requirement | > 125 mg/L | Concentration threshold for Ca, Mg, and Na that causes matrix interference in EPA 200.5 | Axially viewed ICP-AES analysis | high |
| #P024 | chemical | reporting | guideline | EPA 200.5 Matrix Interference Threshold (Silicon) | drinking water | requirement | > 250 mg/L | Concentration threshold for Si that causes matrix interference in EPA 200.5 | Axially viewed ICP-AES analysis | high |
| #P025 | chemical | reporting | guideline | EPA 200.7 Matrix Interference (TDS) | drinking water | requirement | > 0.2 % weight per volume (w/v) | Total dissolved solids interference threshold for EPA 200.7 | Inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometry | high |
| #P026 | chemical | reporting | guideline | SM 3120B Matrix Interference (TDS) | drinking water | requirement | > 1500 mg/L | Total dissolved solids interference threshold for SM 3120B | Inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometry | high |
| #P027 | chemical | reporting | guideline | SM 4500-B.B Hardness Interference | drinking water | requirement | > 100 mg/L as CaCO3 | Hardness interference threshold for colorimetric curcumin method | Spectrophotometric analysis at 540 nm | high |
| #P028 | chemical | reporting | guideline | SM 4500-B.B Sodium Interference | drinking water | requirement | > 20 mg/L | Sodium interference threshold for the colorimetric curcumin method | Applicable for boron concentrations in a range from 0.1 to 1.0 mg/L | high |
| #P029 | operational | treatment | recommended | RO Second Pass pH Adjustment | drinking water | treatment_goal | > 10 pH | Target pH for second-pass feed water to increase boron rejection | Used in 2-pass RO systems to shift boron speciation to borate | high |
| #P030 | operational | treatment | guidance | Effective Ion Exchange pH | drinking water | requirement | > 9.2 pH | pH threshold for traditional strong base anion exchange resin effectiveness | Ensures boron is present as borate ions | high |
| Req ID | Category | Name | Context | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #D001 | MAC | maximum acceptable concentration | high | |
| #D002 | QA/QC | quality assurance and quality control | high | |
| #D003 | SM | Standard Method | high | |
| #D004 | RO | reverse osmosis | high | |
| #D005 | IX | ion exchange | high | |
| #D006 | BSRs | boron-selective resins | high | |
| #D007 | SWRO | seawater reverse osmosis | high | |
| #D008 | NMDG | N-methyl-D-glucamine | high | |
| #D009 | NSF/ANSI | NSF International Standard/American National Standard | high | |
| #D010 | SCC | Standards Council of Canada | high | |
| #D011 | ANSI | American National Standards Institute | high | |
| #D012 | Total boron | includes both the dissolved and particulate (suspended) fractions of boron in a water sample | high | |
| #D013 | NSF | NSF International | high | |
| #D014 | breakthrough point | a critical parameter indicating the effectiveness of boron removal as it is directly connected to resin capacity | high | |
| #D015 | APHA | American Public Health Association | high | |
| #D016 | ISO | International Organization for Standardization | high | |
| #D017 | B(OH)3 | boric acid | high | |
| #D018 | B(OH)4- | borate | high |