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Rehabilitation of Wastewater Collection and Water Distribution Systems
Citation:
SELVAKUMAR, A. AND R. L. STERLING. Rehabilitation of Wastewater Collection and Water Distribution Systems. Presented at 2008 EPA SCIENCE FOUM, WASHINGTON, DC, May 20 - 22, 2008.
Impact/Purpose:
to share information
Description:
The nation’s 54,000 drinking water systems and 16,000 wastewater systems are nearing the end of their useful life and need to be replaced/repaired to comply with federal regulations. Rehabilitation includes a broad spectrum of approaches, from repair to replacement that attempt to return the system to near-original condition and performance. There are many promising rehabilitation methods and materials available in the market. For example, trenchless technologies have moved to the forefront of sewer system rehabilitation. Many are proprietary systems and the details of installation procedures and materials are trade secrets, limiting the ability to compare and evaluate competing approaches. Selection of rehabilitation methods and materials suitable for various parts of the wastewater collection and water distribution systems remains an issue, especially due to ever emerging new materials and methods of construction. Uncertainty in the selection of appropriate repair and replacement techniques is partly related to the lack of understanding of the capabilities and costs of each methodology to solve the problem in the long term. Reliable rehabilitation product performance under actual field conditions, especially over longer periods of performance, is lacking. Data on the effectiveness and longevity of rehabilitation technologies and materials and life-cycle cost information will be useful in determining whether rehabilitation or replacement is more cost effective. This project will perform a comprehensive review and evaluation of existing and emerging rehabilitation/repair technologies, and select and prepare them for control-condition testing and field demonstration. The overall objectives are to: • Identify and characterize the current state-of-the-technology at the global level, including critical data and capability gaps, for the rehabilitation of drinking water distribution and wastewater collection systems. • Prepare protocols, metrics, and site selection criteria and selection of rehabilitation technologies and decision-support systems for subsequent controlled-condition and field testing of innovative rehabilitation technologies and decision-support systems. • Demonstrate at least two rehabilitation technologies at selected utilities to gather technically reliable cost and performance data. The presentation will include a brief overview of the project followed by a review of existing and emerging rehabilitation technologies.