Water treatment system and process comprising ph-adjustment

A water treatment system and process for removing weakly ionized and/or organic materials from the water by intra-system pH adjustment. An exemplary embodiment of the system includes an inlet through which a feedstream passes into a first chemical treating unit wherein the pH of the feedstream is maintained below about 7 to substantially reduce a concentration of weakly basic components in the water by chemical conversion to a more ionized state. A first water treatment unit is positioned downstream of the first chemical treating unit to substantially remove ionized components in the stream, and produce a first product stream. In various embodiments, the first water treatment unit can be selected from the group consisting of a media filter unit, a water softener unit, a dechlorination unit, and combinations thereof. The first product stream is treated downstream of the first water treatment unit in a second chemical treating unit to maintain the pH of the first product stream above about 7 to substantially reduce a concentration of weakly acidic components in the water by chemical conversion to a more ionized state. A second water treatment unit is positioned downstream of the second chemical treating unit to substantially remove the ionized components, and produce a second product stream, which exits the system through a purified water outlet positioned downstream of the second water treatment unit.