Limitations of E. coli Monitoring for Confirmation of Contamination in Distribution Systems due to Intrusion under Low Pressure Conditions in the Presence of Disinfectants
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 146, Issue 8
Abstract
Low/negative pressure events that increase the risk of contaminant intrusion may take place in distribution systems and may become more common in ageing infrastructure. Guidance on whether to issue an advisory after loss of pressure is based on the duration and extent of pressure loss and is accompanied by Escherichia coli monitoring obligation. In this paper, the limitations of E. coli monitoring to detect intrusion is demonstrated through hydraulic and water quality modeling using a conservative 5-h pressure loss and considering intrusion of raw sewage. Ingress of contaminated water and fate and transport of E. coli throughout a 30,077-node network are simulated using a realistic pressure-driven hydraulic model coupled to a multispecies water quality model (EPANET-MSX). For a chlorinated distribution system, the limited positive nodes show the challenge of any contamination confirmation even for the studied conservative scenario. In a chloraminated system, a larger number of nodes (2,905 nodes) experienced E. coli over the simulation duration compared to the chlorinated system (166 nodes), increasing the likelihood of detecting contamination. Overall, numerical predictions can guide utilities for redefining more reliable sampling strategies for both confirmation and clearance sampling. Large-volume sampling at at-risk nodes identified by advanced numerical models provide greater credence in negative results to manage boiling advisories.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data used/generated during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the participating utility for providing data and DS modeling information. The NSERC Industrial Chair on Drinking Water at Polytechnique Montreal funded this research. The authors also wish to acknowledge Bentley Systems for technical support and providing academic access to their unlimited pipes WaterGEMS software model.
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Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 8 • August 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 21, 2019
Accepted: Feb 18, 2020
Published online: May 22, 2020
Published in print: Aug 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Oct 22, 2020
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