Significance and Removal of Manganese in Water Supplies

Manganese is a common ingredient of impounded water 1 and of many well waters. In public supplies, it causes such difficulties as staining of clothes and plumbing fixtures, "black" water, incrustation of mains, and interferences with the colorimetric chlorine residual test. In industrial supplies, it causes severe economic losses through discoloration of products, specks in finished goods, and reduction of pipeline carrying capacities. The earth's crust consists of approximately 0.1 per cent manganese distributed quite evenly throughout. Plants have the ability to extract and utilize it in their metabolism. It finds its way into water by chemical and biologic processes.2 Chemical reactions are generally presumed to account for the greater part of the manganese in ground water; in stored water, manganese builds up by a combination of biologic and chemical processes working simultaneously. It is difficult to obtain clear-cut