What is the average alum dosage in mg/L when 1,071 lbs of alum is added over five days and 5.5 million gallons are treated daily?

To determine the average alum dosage in milligrams per liter (mg/L), you need to first convert the total amount of alum added from pounds to milligrams and then calculate the dosage based on the total volume of water treated over the specified period.

1. Convert Pounds to Milligrams:

Since there are 1,000 milligrams in a gram and approximately 454 grams in a pound, you can convert 1,071 pounds of alum to milligrams as follows:

[

1,071 \text{ lbs} \times 454 \text{ g/lb} \times 1,000 \text{ mg/g} = 487,734,000 \text{ mg}

]

2. Calculate Total Volume Treated:

If 5.5 million gallons are treated daily for five days, the total volume of water treated is:

[

5.5 \text{ million gallons/day} \times 5 \text{ days} = 27.5 \text{ million gallons}

]

To convert this to liters, use the conversion factor that 1 gallon is approximately 3.78541 liters:

[

27