This report documents the results of a study conducted to provide a basis for estimating the costs of installing and using air stripping to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water. The air stripping technology was found to be a very economical and efficient method for contaminant removal. The technology is simple, relatively inexpensive to install, and has low labor and maintenance requirements. VOC removal rates range from 90 to 99.99 percent. Estimated costs, in terms of percentage of total production costs, were found to be 40 percent for capital costs, 50 percent for operational costs, and 10 percent for maintenance costs, according to literature sources. Results of a survey conducted during this study generally agree with these percentages, except that maintenance costs reported on the survey were lower due to the highly automated nature of new installations.

The past thirty years have witnessed a growing worldwide desire that po- tive actions be taken to restore and protect the environment from the degr- ing effects of all forms of pollution—air, water, soil, and noise. Because pollution is a direct or indirect consequence of waste, the seemingly idealistic demand for “zero discharge” can be construed as an unrealistic demand for zero waste. However, as long as waste continues to exist, we can only attempt to abate the subsequent pollution by converting it to a less noxious form. Three major questions usually arise when a particular type of pollution has been id- tified: (1) How serious is the pollution? (2) Is the technology to abate it ava- able? and (3) Do the costs of abatement justify the degree of abatement achieved? This book is one of the volumes of the Handbook of Environmental Engineering series. The principal intention of this series is to help readers f- mulate answers to the last two questions above. The traditional approach of applying tried-and-true solutions to specific pollution problems has been a major contributing factor to the success of en- ronmental engineering, and has accounted in large measure for the establi- ment of a “methodology of pollution control. ” However, the realization of the ever-increasing complexity and interrelated nature of current environmental problems renders it imperative that intelligent planning of pollution abatement systems be undertaken.

Semiannual, with semiannual and annual indexes. References to all scientific and technical literature coming from DOE, its laboratories, energy centers, and contractors. Includes all works deriving from DOE, other related government-sponsored information, and foreign nonnuclear information. Arranged under 39 categories, e.g., Biomedical sciences, basic studies; Biomedical sciences, applied studies; Health and safety; and Fusion energy. Entry gives bibliographical information and abstract. Corporate, author, subject, report number indexes.