Modeling Discoloration in Potable Water Distribution Systems
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 5
Abstract
Discoloration of potable water supplied to customer taps is one of the biggest causes of water quality related customer complaints. At present, understanding of the fundamental processes that cause discoloration is limited and the modeling of events unfeasible. This paper describes the development, verification, and validation of a novel cohesive transport modeling approach to simulate discoloration within distribution systems. The model is based on the principal that strength characteristics of fine particulate material accumulated at the pipe walls are conditioned by the shear stress of the usual daily hydraulics. Discoloration occurs when the flow through the systems changes, exceeding the peak daily value. Fieldwork results from two sites are presented in detail: Site 1 demonstrates model application including sensitivity and parameter dependence, while data from Site 2 is used to investigate the hypothesis that daily hydraulic forces condition the material layers within the pipes. Model simulations are also presented for a selection of other field sites to demonstrate the wider applicability of the model.
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Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the U.K. Engineering and Physical Science Research Council of the work reported herein (Grant No. GR/R14101/01), and the support and data collected with our industrial collaborators Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 5 • May 2005
Pages: 716 - 725
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 2, 2003
Accepted: Sep 3, 2004
Published online: May 1, 2005
Published in print: May 2005
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