Discrete Simulation Approach for Network-Water-Quality Models

Abstract

An efficient system simulation methodology that solves the contaminant-transport problem in drinking-water-distribution systems is developed. The method can be effectively used for modeling the time-varying interaction of water quality and hydraulic behavior within the distribution-system environment. The solution of the time-varying water-quality problem is obtained in an event-oriented system-simulation framework. This allows for dynamic water-quality modeling that is less sensitive to the structure of the network and to the length of the simulation process itself than previously proposed methods. In addition, numerical dispersion of concentration front profile resolution is nearly eliminated. The resulting method can be applied to every type of water-distribution system while requiring the least number of calculations necessary to carry out the simulation process. The performance of the method is demonstrated by application to an example water-distribution network. The method should prove to be a valuable tool for managing water quality in drinking-water-distribution systems.