Abstract
Sewage systems play a crucial role in the framework of the water resources cycle. The detection of the causes and typologies of their malfunction is essential not only for guaranteeing correct hydraulic management of the network but also because it can prevent environmental contamination. In this study, a reconnaissance on the typologies and causes of intervention in sewer networks located in three Apulian provinces (Southern Italy) was carried out. The results showed that pipe occlusions with exfiltration are the main cause of intervention, followed by manhole occlusions. Data about pipe material highlighted that stoneware is absolutely the most used material and also the main object of maintenance for obstructions and breakages. Its correlation with the density of inhabitants was also investigated. The absence of detailed information about the age of any single pipe does not permit us to exclude the aging of pipes as a cause of major intervention. However, the frequency of some interventions in the same towns and often on the same trunks of pipes leads to the belief that criticalities occurring in the network could be addressed to incorrect use or bad hydraulic functioning.
Highlights
Water tightness and functional efficiency are fundamental requirements for a sewage system.due to aging, the cost of maintenance, and old construction techniques, these cannot be guaranteed during some pipes’ “neverending” service life.In contrast, in recent years a little attention has been paid in scientific literature to the issue of leaks in sewer networks [1,2,3]
We carried out an analysis of the recorded interventions, characterized by their type and frequency concerning the sewerage networks and trying to identify which characteristics of the sewer pipelines and/or users were more related to the losses
It should be noted that this is the only province divided into four agglomerations, and this leads to a lower number of data for agglomeration compared to other provinces in which the population density, compared to the total area of pertinence, is greater. Accounting for this issue, the data of the interventions per kilometer of the network were represented respectively according to the resident population and the equivalent inhabitants (Figure 3) for both the two years of observation to evaluate the possible influence of the size of the network and the stress condition to which it is subjected in the pipeline system
Summary
Water tightness and functional efficiency are fundamental requirements for a sewage system. The records, in most cases, consist of a brief qualitative description of the situation, including the reasons for the call, nature of disservice, location, possible causes, and the following intervention Based on these data, we carried out an analysis of the recorded interventions, characterized by their type and frequency concerning the sewerage networks and trying to identify which characteristics of the sewer pipelines and/or users were more related to the losses. In many cases, lack important technical details, the large number of records allows for an interesting exploratory analysis of the type of problem which occurs more often and allows us to relate such typology to large-scale indicators, such as the total length of the network per town, the inhabitants, and the Equivalent Inhabitants (I.E.) The results of this analysis and the methodology developed here may help water management authorities and other decision-makers to deal with large areas served with aged and long sewer networks by focusing on (i) exploiting historical information,. (ii) designing a better-oriented frequent maintenance program to control and reduce the number of interventions, and (iii) increasing social awareness of the correct use of the sewer system
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