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EPA Office of Research and Development - I/I Research Information Update
Citation:
Selvakumar, A. AND S. Vallabhaneni. EPA Office of Research and Development - I/I Research Information Update. Presented at Water Environment Federation, Baltimore, MD, March 11, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
priorities of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The Nation’s sanitary sewer infrastructure is aging, with some sewers dating back more than 100 years. A properly designed, operated and maintained sanitary sewer system is meant to collect and convey all of the sewage that flows into a wastewater treatment plant. However, occasional unintentional discharges of raw sewage from municipal sanitary sewers to streets, private property, basements and receiving waters—called sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs)—occur in many systems. Rainfall-derived infiltration and inflow (RDII) into sanitary sewer systems has long been recognized as a major source of operating problems that cause poor performance of many sewer systems including SSOs. The extent of infiltration also correlates with the condition of aging sewers.
Description:
The Nation’s sanitary sewer infrastructure is aging, and is currently one of the top national water program priorities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the Sanitary Sewer Overflow Analysis and Planning (SSOAP) Toolbox to assist communities in developing SSO mitigation plans including sewer capacity and condition assessment. The SSOAP Toolbox contains a suite of integrated computer software tools. It can serve as the foundation of wastewater collection system assessment by analyzing monitored flow data to prioritize where to inspect for condition assessment, and to evaluate the performance of rehabilitation activities. The current state of technology for assessing the condition of sewer systems utilizes rather time consuming and expensive field investigations employing the conventional closed circuit television or newer emerging technologies (e.g., sonar, laser, ultrasonic, and infrared). The rainfall derived infiltration and inflow prediction methodology employed in the SSOAP Toolbox offers an effective and less costly means to design a focused condition assessment program and maximize the success of field investigation efforts.
