Isotopic reconnaissance of urban water supply system dynamics

Abstract

Abstract. Public water supply systems (PWSS) are critical infrastructure that are vulnerable to 10 contamination and physical disruption. Exploring susceptibility of PWSS to such perturbations requires detailed knowledge of supply system structure and operation. The physical structure of the distribution system (i.e., pipeline connections) and basic information on sources are documented for most industrialized metropolises. Yet, most information on PWSS function comes from hydrodynamic models that are seldom validated using observational data. In 15 developing regions, the issue may be exasperated as information regarding the physical structure of the PWSS may be incorrect, incomplete, undocumented, or difficult to obtain in many cities.Here, we present a novel application of stable isotopes in water (SIW) to quantify the contribution of different water sources, identify "static" and "dynamic" regions (e.g., regions supplied chiefly by one source vs. those experiencing active mixing between multiple sources), 20 and reconstruct basic flow patterns in a large, complex PWSS. Our analysis, based on a Bayesian mixing model framework, uses basic information on the SIW and production volumes of sources but requires no information on pipeline connections in the system. Our work highlights the ability of SIW to analyze PWSS and document aspects of supply system structure and operation

Spatiotemporal Variability in Water Sources Controls Chemical and Physical Properties of a Semi‐arid Urban River System

“…; Jameel et al. , ; Tipple et al. ), and to show evidence of interbasin water transfers (Good et al.…”