Modeling Discoloration in Potable Water Distribution Systems

Discoloration of potable water supplied to customer taps is one of the biggest causes of water quality related customer complaints. At present, understanding of the fundamental processes that cause discoloration is limited and the modeling of events unfeasible. This paper describes the development, verification, and validation of a novel cohesive transport modeling approach to simulate discoloration within distribution systems. The model is based on the principal that strength characteristics of fine particulate material accumulated at the pipe walls are conditioned by the shear stress of the usual daily hydraulics. Discoloration occurs when the flow through the systems changes, exceeding the peak daily value. Fieldwork results from two sites are presented in detail: Site 1 demonstrates model application including sensitivity and parameter dependence, while data from Site 2 is used to investigate the hypothesis that daily hydraulic forces condition the material layers within the pipes. Model simulations are also presented for a selection of other field sites to demonstrate the wider applicability of the model.