Water Treatment Abbreviations and Acronyms – Glossary
This page includes a list of water treatment abbreviations and acronyms. It is considered as a small water glossary. Please feel free to contact us if you want to add a missing abbreviation.
| A | Water permeability coefficient |
| Ã… | Angstrom |
| ac | Acre |
| AOC | Assimilable organic carbon |
| AC | Alternating current |
| AC | Acticated Carbon |
| ADI | Acceptable daily intake |
| AO | Assimilable Organic |
| AWA | Australian Water Association |
| AWWA | American Water Works Association |
| B | Beta (concentration polarization factor) |
| B | Boron |
| Ba | Barium |
| BF | Bioflocculation |
| BF | Bag Filter |
| BOD | Biological oxygen demand |
| BOOT | Build-own-operate-transfer |
| Br | Bromide |
| BWRO | Brackish water reverse osmosis |
| °C | Degree Celsius (unit of temperature) |
| ΔC | Concentration gradient |
| Cf | Contingency factor |
| Ca | Calcium |
| CA | Cellulose acetate |
| CAPEX | Capital Expenditure investment |
| CaCO3 | Calcium carbonate |
| CCPP | Calcium carbonate precipitation potential |
| CCTV | Closed Circuit Television |
| CEDI | Continuous Electrodeionization |
| CF | Concentration factor |
| CF | Cartridge Filter |
| CFD | Computational fluid dynamics |
| cfu | Colony Forming Unit |
| CIP | Clean-in-place |
| cm | Centimeter |
| CMF | Conventional media filtration |
| CO2 | Carbon dioxide |
| COD | Chemical Oxygen Demand |
| CWA | Clean Water Act |
| DAF | Dissolved air flotation |
| DBB | Design-bid-build |
| DBO | Design-build-operate |
| DBP | Disinfection byproduct |
| DC | Direct current |
| DO | Dissolved oxygen |
| DOC | Dissolved organic carbon |
| DW | Dry weight |
| EC | Electrical conductivity |
| ED | Electrodialysis |
| EDR | Electrodialysis reversal |
| EPA | Environmental Protection Agency |
| EPC | Engineering, procurement, and construction |
| ERD | Energy Recovery Device |
| °F | Degree Fahrenheit (unit of temperature) |
| Fp | Feed pressure |
| FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations) |
| FRP | Fiberglass-reinforced plastic |
| ft | Foot |
| ft2 | Square foot |
| ft3 | Cubic foot |
| FO | Forward Osmosis |
| Gpm | Gallons per minute |
| gal/min | Gallons per minute |
| gfd | Gallons per square foot per day |
| GAC | Granular Activated Carbon |
| GOR | Gained output ratio |
| GRP | Glass-reinforced plastic |
| GWA | Government of Western Australia |
| GWI | Global Water Intelligence |
| Hr | Hour |
| ha | Hectare |
| HACCP | Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point |
| HBMP | Hydrobiological monitoring program |
| HC | Hydrocarbon (H-C bond) |
| HDPE | High-density polyethylene |
| HOCl | Hypochlorous Acid |
| Hp | Horsepower (unit of power) |
| H2S | Hydrogen sulfide |
| IDA | International Desalination Association |
| IPP | Industrial pretreatment program |
| IWA | International Water Association |
| IWW | Industrial Wastewater |
| IX | Ion exchange |
| J | Membrane permeate flux |
| JTU | Jackson Turbidity Unit |
| Kg | Kilogram |
| Km | Kilometer |
| kW | Kilowatt (unit of power) |
| kWh | Kilowatt-hour (unit of energy) |
| kWh/m3 | Kilowatt-hours per cubic meter (unit of energy) |
| L | Liter |
| LDPE | Low Density Polyethylene |
| LPM | Liter per Minute |
| lb | Pound |
| lb/in2 | Pounds per square inch (unit of pressure) |
| Lmh | Liters per square meter per hour |
| LSI | Langelier Saturation Index |
| LT2ESWTR | Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule |
| M | Meter |
| m2 | Square meter |
| M3 | Cubic meter |
| M3/day | Cubic meters per day |
| MBF | Mixed-media Bed Filter |
| MBR | Membrane Bioreactor |
| MED | Multi-effect distillation |
| MED-TC | Multi-effect distillation with thermal compression |
| MENA | Middle East and North Africa |
| Meq | Milliequivalent |
| MF | Microfiltration |
| Mg | Magnesium |
| mg/l | Milligrams per liter |
| MGD | Million gallons per day |
| Mi | Mile |
| Min | Minute |
| ml | Milliliter |
| mm | Millimeter |
| Mn | Manganese |
| MSD | Multistage flash distillation |
| MTBE | Methyl tertiary butyl ether (gasoline additive) |
| mV | Millivolt |
| MVC | Mechanical vacuum compression |
| µg/L | Micrograms per liter |
| µm | Micrometer |
| µS/cm | Microsiemens per centimeter (unit of specific conductance) |
| Na | Sodium |
| NaOCl | Sodium Hypochlorite |
| NDMA | N-nitrosodimethylamine |
| NDP | Net driving pressure |
| NF | Nanofiltration |
| NOM | Natural organic matter |
| NP | Nanoparticle |
| NPDES | National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System |
| NTU | Nephelometric turbidity unit |
| O&M | Operations and maintenance |
| Opfc | Osmotic pressure on the concentrate side of the membrane |
| OCSD | Orange County Sanitation District |
| ORP | Oxidation-reduction potential |
| P | Phosphorus |
| Pr | Permeate recovery rate |
| PA | Polyamide |
| PDFB | Percent difference from balance |
| pH | Indication of the acidity or basicity of solution |
| PP | Polypropylene |
| ppb | Parts per billion (1 ppb = 1 µg/L) |
| ppm | Parts per million (1 ppm = 1 mg/L) |
| Ppt | Parts per trillion |
| PSI | Pound per square inch (unit of pressure) |
| PREN | Pitting resistance equivalent number |
| psu | Practical salinity unit (1 psu = 1000 mg/L) |
| PS | Polystyrene |
| PVC | Polyvinyl chloride |
| Qf | Fresh water flow |
| Rp | Permeate recovery rate |
| RBF | Rapid Bioflocculation Filter |
| RCRA | Resource Conservation and Recovery Act |
| RIB | Rapid infiltration basin |
| RO | Reverse osmosis |
| ROWPU | Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit |
| RSF | Rapid Sand Filtration |
| RWQCB | Regional water quality control board |
| s | Second |
| S | Membrane area of an element |
| Sp | Salt passage |
| Sr | Salt rejection |
| S. AZ | Southern Arizona |
| S. CA | Southern California |
| SAR | Sodium adsorption ratio |
| SARI | Santa Ana River Interceptor |
| SBR | Sequencing Batch Reactor (wastewater) |
| SCADA | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition |
| SDI | Silt Density Index |
| SDWA | Safe Drinking Water Act |
| SDSI | Stiff–Davis Saturation Index |
| SER | Standard evaporation rate |
| SF | Sand Filter |
| SI | International System of Units |
| SRB | Sulfide Reducing Bacteria |
| SMBS | Sodium Metabisulfite |
| STE | Salinity tolerance evaluation |
| SUVA | Specific UV absorbance |
| SWRO | Seawater reverse osmosis |
| TCLP | Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure |
| TDS | Total dissolved solids |
| TFN | Thin-film nanocomposite |
| THC | Total hydrocarbons |
| TMP | Transmembrane pressure |
| TN | Total nitrogen |
| TOC | Total organic carbon |
| TP | Total phosphorus |
| TSS | Total suspended solids |
| u | Atomic mass unit |
| UF | Ultrafiltration |
| UIC | Underground Injection Control |
| US | United States (of America) |
| USBR | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| USDW | Underground source of drinking water |
| UV | Ultraviolet radiation |
| VC | Vapor Compression |
| W. TX | Western Texas |
| WEF | Water Environment Federation |
| WET | Whole effluent toxicity |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
| WPA | Water purchase agreement |
| WQA | Water Quality Association |
| WTP | Water treatment plant |
| WWTP | Wastewater treatment plant |
| Y | Plant recovery |
| ZID | Zone of initial dilution |
| ZLD | Zero liquid discharge |
