Experimental Investigations and CFD Modeling of Contaminant Intrusion in a Water Network during Transient Events

Mohammed Mahmoud,Muhammad Al-Zahrani,Mohamed A Hamouda,Muhammad Nadeem Sharif,Ashraf Farahat,Rehan Sadiq

doi:10.3390/w11071425

Abstract

Intrusion in drinking water networks (DWN) can be triggered by transient low-pressure events. This intrusion may result in the contamination of drinking water supplied to consumers, which may have major health impacts. This research aims to investigate the influence of a DWN’s operating parameters on the intrusion and progression of the contaminant in a pilot drinking water network setup. Results show that the minimum time required for the contaminant to begin entering the system was influenced by the system operating pressure. Faster initial intrusion times were observed under low operating pressure. In addition, the crack size influenced the time required for the contaminant to fully intrude the system. Similarly, the time required for the contaminant to reach certain points in the DWN was influenced by the operating pressure. These results were verified using two additional tools; a high-speed camera was used to monitor the contaminant transient progression through the DWN under different pressures; and computational fluid dynamics modeling was used to calculate the corresponding contaminant concentration. The results suggest that the ability of the system to quickly stabilize its operating pressure would reduce the probability of a contaminant intrusion into the DWN.

Highlights

Many local governments and municipalities maintain their drinking water network (DWN) by continuous inspection of water mains, tanks, pipes, and junctions [1]
Simulation-based investigation of contaminant intrusion into drinking water distribution systems was used in previous studies [2,33,34,35]
Previous researchers have used CFD modeling to help increase the understanding of factors affecting the contaminant intrusion process, considering a wider range of factors to study the associated risk and health impact [35,36,37]

Summary

Introduction

Many local governments and municipalities maintain their drinking water network (DWN) by continuous inspection of water mains, tanks, pipes, and junctions [1]. As well as international regulations and standards, usually set guidelines and standards for maintaining and monitoring water quality in DWNs. Water quality in the distribution network can be defined by several standard microbiological, physicochemical, and aesthetic indicators or parameters [2]. Water quality testing is performed at water treatment plants. Often due to budget limitations, water quality monitoring in the DWN receives less attention [3]. Contamination in the distribution networks can have severe impacts on consumers’ health as there is usually little treatment implemented in the form of residual disinfectant boosters once water enters the

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