Towards Development of an Optimization Model to Identify Contamination Source in a Water Distribution Network

Abstract

Protection of the water system is paramount due to the negative consequences of contaminated water on the public health. Water resources are one of the critical infrastructures that must be preserved from deliberate and accidental attacks. Water qualities are examined at the treatment plant. However, its quality can substantially be contaminated during transportation from the plant to the consumers' taps. Contamination in water distribution networks (WDNs) is a danger that can have severe consequences on public health as well as an economic and social instability. Water distribution networks are immensely susceptible to deliberate or accidental attacks due to the complex nature of the system. Hence, contamination source identification (CSI) is a topical issue in water distribution systems that require immediate attention of researchers in order to protect mankind from the adverse effect of consuming contaminated water. Usually, a contaminant event can be detected by the water quality monitoring sensors or the contaminant warning system (CWS) installed on the network. Nevertheless, how to derive the source of the contamination from the collected information is a difficult task that must be tackled in order to evaluate the spread of the contamination and for immediate remedial strategies. In the past two decades, considerable efforts and advancement have been made by researchers applying various techniques in order to locate the source of the contamination in WDNs. Each of the techniques has certain limitations and applicability as reported in the literature. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the existing techniques with emphasis on their importance and technical challenges. Despite a series of investigations in this domain, the field is yet to be unified. Hence, open research areas are still available to explore. Consequently, improvement on the existing techniques is necessary and hereby suggested. More importantly, practical application of these techniques offer a major research gap that must be addressed.

Model Performance Indicator of Aging Pipes in a Domestic Water Supply Distribution Network

“…An open source water distribution network software, EPANET (version 2.0), developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency was used in this study (Westlake, OH, USA). EPANET has been widely used in previous studies to model the hydraulic characteristics of a water distribution system, including demand-pressure [29], water age [30,31], water quality, such as chlorine content [18,32] and contaminants [33]. EPANET is also helpful in a new water network design in obtaining the preliminary analysis and information about the hydraulics operation of the proposed area, e.g., the cost-effectiveness analysis of the background leakage control strategy [34].…”

Water Networks Management: New Perspectives

“…Contamination source identification (CSI) was examined by Adedoja et al [4]. It is a difficult task to derive the source of the contamination from the collected information, and therefore it must be tackled in order to evaluate the spread of the contamination and for immediate remedial strategies.…”

Sensor Placement Strategies for Contamination Identification in Water Distribution Networks: A Review

“…Nevertheless, its quality may considerably be contaminated during transportation from the treatment plant to the consumers' taps through cross-connections and pipe leakages. The complex nature of Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) allow human interference and therefore, vulnerable to accidental and intentional attacks [1]. Numerous reports have evidently shown that the socio-economic implications of such attacks can be disastrous [2]- [4].…”

“…Numerous reports have evidently shown that the socio-economic implications of such attacks can be disastrous [2]- [4]. In recent times, contamination incident in WDNs has been debated as one of the most unhealthy menace to the society that must be addressed [1]- [4].…”

“…Basically, the research activities of the sensor placement strategies are designed to perform two major purposes. These are: (1) to minimise the number of sensors to deploy on the network and (2) to curtail the related effect of consuming contaminated water. Obviously, a quick identification of contaminant by the water quality sensors will enormously provide control strategies that will prevent the public from further consuming contaminated water.…”