Protecting water networks from contamination
5 Jul 2013
An international project is developing technology to rapidly identify and deal with contaminated drinking water.
The project, dubbed SecruEau, has developed processes to detect water quality changes, identify the contaminated source and clean the distribution systems.
The work is part of a four-year Seventh Framework Programme funded project, involving 12 partners, including the University of Southampton.
The SecurEau team developed water quality sensors to be installed in a drinking water system, which allows an alert to be issued rapidly when abrupt changes in the quality of water are detected.
The team also developed ‘sentinel coupons’ of polymeric materials to be installed in water distribution systems for deposits and biofilms to form on their inner surface.
The coupons would be installed in the water supply system to monitor the concentration of the pollutant absorbed onto the like pipe walls.
They would then be used to validate the cleaning procedures applied throughout the network during the crisis phase but also during ‘normal’ operation of the network.
Project partners also developed mathematical models to determine the areas which have been contaminated and the sources of contamination, and various cleaning methods, both traditional and new ones, to be applied to decontaminate the network.
Professor Bill Keevil, Director of Environmental Healthcare at the University of Southampton, said: “Our experiments show that coupon-monitoring devices are suited to follow deposit / biofilm formation in drinking water distribution systems as well as to investigate and confirm the successful removal of deposits from surfaces.”
Professor Ian Croudace, Director of the University’s Geosciences Advisory Unit, added: “Rapidly restoring the functionality of drinking water infrastructures (catchment areas, raw water transfer systems, treatment facilities, treated water reservoirs and distribution networks), and the access to safe drinking water represents another major concern for regulatory agencies and water utilities.
“Indeed, the damage resulting from impairment of drinking water services would seriously impact the quality of life of many people not only by directly harming them but also making water systems unusable for a long period of time with a risk of societal disorder (similar situation as with any accidental contamination events or natural disasters).”
This research has led to publication of a guide for end users and disseminated via a three day workshop in Germany involving 150 participants from 26 countries.
