The Integration of Network-Based Models for Spill Response and Homeland Security

Abstract

The integration of three hydraulic GIS (Geographic Information System) applications is presented which represent the water infrastructures of cities and urban areas and US streams and rivers. The water infrastructures include drinking water distribution systems, wastewater collection systems and source water. The National Research Council^[1]states that problems dealing with the collective behavior of networks such as river systems, water distribution systems and waste water collection systems are complex because they include feedback loops, produce counter-intuitive behaviors and exhibit behaviors that cannot be predicted from the attributes of individual components. A complex system includes all of the above individual components, yet also exhibits emergent collective behavior caused by the interactions among its features. The integration of these applications have been developed for use in planning, response, training and development of monitoring strategies to address potential deliberate or accidental toxic contamination events

Modeling Megacity Drinking Water Security under a DSS Framework in a Tidal River at the North Pearl River Delta, China

“…Computer‐based models together with their interactive interfaces are typically referred to as decision support systems (DSSs) (Loucks, ). Previous research has extensively examined the DSS supported by an environmental water model (Johnson et al ., ; Jia and Cheng, ; Soncini‐Sessa et al ., ; Pallottino et al ., ; Amstutz et al ., ; Lautenbach et al ., ; Yin et al ., ; Jiang et al ., ), but only a few have explored the provision to a megacity of drinking water from a tidal river. This study developed an integrated modeling system under a DSS framework for the Beijiang River, one of the most important rivers in the North Pearl River Delta, to implement effective megacity drinking water management in a tidal river.…”

Development and application of the incident command tool for drinking water protection

“…ICWater is one component of an overall integrated water quality security system (Samuels & Bahadur ; Amstutz et al . ). Additional components include a water distribution model (PipelineNet) and a storm water and wastewater model (SewerNet).…”

Prioritizing toxic shock threats to sewage treatment plants from down-the-drain industrial chemical spills: the RAVEN STREAM online tool

“…A number of modelling frameworks have been developed for planning responses to contamination of wastewater, such as the modelling framework by Amstutz et al , 2008 (ref. 8) and the US EPA's Wastewater Response Protocol Toolbox (WRPT). 9 One of the recommended risk assessment tools in the WRPT is the Water Contaminant Information Tool (WCIT), which is a secure tool that can be used to assess risk to water from contamination by accidental spills or terrorist activity.…”

“…10 Furthermore, risk for disruption to the proper operation of STPs are not calculated by this tool, but rather only estimates for how a chemical may physically contaminate STP infrastructure. The integrated modelling framework by Amstutz et al 8 combines simulations of contaminant transport through source water, drinking water, and wastewater to plan for and respond to the impacts and risks from deliberate or accidental toxic chemical contamination events. This modelling framework, however, utilises computationally-intensive hydraulic simulations in a geospatially-explicit representation of the urban water infrastructure domain, making it poorly suited for rapid analysis of risks posed by a large number of industrial chemicals used upstream from an STP.…”