Technical Papers
Oct 11, 2023

Modeling Nicotine-Induced Chlorine Loss in Drinking Water Using Updated EPANET-MSX

Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 12

Abstract

Multispecies water quality modeling is critical for simulating complex chemical reactions in drinking water distribution systems. An updated EPANET 2.2–compatible version of EPANET multi-species eXtension (EPANET-MSX) was used, which included dispersion and improved mass balance reporting, to simulate an experimental study. The use of EPANET-MSX was supplemented by an automated Python script to process experimental data, handle model execution, and analyze results. Nicotine-associated chlorine loss in drinking water—initially investigated from a drinking water security perspective—modeled with EPANET-MSX was compared with bottle test and test injection data. Two reaction models were tested (with and without a reactive intermediate), and the model that included a reactive intermediate nicotine species using dispersion was found to produce the best model agreement with experimental data. These results provide a demonstration of the new features within EPANET-MSX in the context of the nicotine-chlorine reaction.

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Data Availability Statement

Some data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Some data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available in a repository online in accordance with funder data retention policies: (1) EPANET-MSX can be downloaded from https://github.com/USEPA/EPANETMSX; (2) msx_tools can be downloaded from https://github.com/USEPA/msx_tools; and (3) data used in this paper are available at https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/epa-sciencehub.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Regan Murray, John Hall, Jeff Szabo, and Greg Meiners for their contribution to this work.

Disclaimer

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through its Office of Research and Development participated in the research described herein. It has been subjected to the Agency’s review and has been approved for publication. Note that approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views of the Agency. Any mention of trade names, products, or services does not imply an endorsement by the US Government or EPA. The EPA does not endorse any commercial products, services, or enterprises. The contractors’ role did not include establishing Agency policy.

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Go to Journal of Environmental Engineering
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149Issue 12December 2023

History

Received: May 8, 2023
Accepted: Aug 17, 2023
Published online: Oct 11, 2023
Published in print: Dec 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Mar 11, 2024

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Environmental Engineer, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 Martin Luther King Dr. West, MS689, Cincinnati, OH 45268 (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2935-4422. Email: [email protected]
Student Support Contractor, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 26 Martin Luther King Dr. West, MS689, Cincinnati, OH 45268. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2996-6511
Feng Shang
Environmental Engineer, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 Martin Luther King Dr. West, MS689, Cincinnati, OH 45268.

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