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A Systems Approach to Manage Drinking Water Quality through Integrated Model Projections, Adaptive Monitoring and Process Optimization - abstract
Citation:
Yang, J., N. Chang, Z. Li, S. Buchberger, S. Tong, X. Wang, A. Levine, A. Hinchman, M. Fang, J. Swertfeger, AND J. Goodrich. A Systems Approach to Manage Drinking Water Quality through Integrated Model Projections, Adaptive Monitoring and Process Optimization - abstract. Presented at EWRI Annual meeting, Cincinnati, OH, May 20 - 23, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
Abstract for EWRI annual conference in May 2013
Description:
Drinking water supplies can be vulnerable to impacts from short-term weather events, long-term changes in land-use and climate, and water quality controls in treatment and distribution. Disinfection by-product (DBP) formation in drinking water is a prominent example to illustrate the water supply vulnerability and examine technological options in adaptation. Total organic carbon (TOC) in surface water can vary significantly due to changes or a combination of changes in watershed land use, climate variability, and extreme meteorological events (e.g., hurricanes). On the other hand, water demand is known to vary temporarily and spatially leading to changes in water ages and hence DBP formation potential. Typically a drinking water facility is designed to operate within a projected range of influent water quality and water demand. When the variations exceed the design range, water supply becomes vulnerable in the compliance to Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Stage-II disinfection by-product (DBP) rules. This paper describes a framework of systems-level modeling, monitoring and control in adaptive planning and system operation. The framework, built upon the integration of model projections, adaptive monitoring and systems control, has three primary functions. Its advantages and limitations will be discussed with the application examples in Cincinnati (Ohio, USA) and Las Vegas (Nevada, USA). At a conceptual level, an integrated land use and hydrological modeling framework (CA-MC-HSPF) generates long-term (20-30 years) hydrologic projections at watershed scales. The model projection is supplemented by a satellite-based monitoring system, generating near real-time information (daily to bi-weekly) on the source water quality (TOC, TN, TP and turbidity) essential for system operation. Separately, a sensor-based data-mining technique is being developed to provide real-time water demand variations in a network. These projection-monitoring results help operators in operational adjustment for selected operational scenarios using system simulation and process controls.
