Redesign of Water Distribution Systems for Passive Containment of Contamination

Abstract

Most water distribution systems in the United States are designed as looped systems in order to allow multiple pathways for delivery of water to customers. However, these designs also have the negative consequence that, if the system is contaminated, then the contamination may travel widely through the system and cause widespread impacts. In this paper, an alternative design concept is suggested based on the creation of distribution blocks that subdivide and isolate the system so as to limit contaminant movement. A model-based case study involving a large distribution system was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the distribution block concept. A comparison of the original looped system and the redesigned system also included the following other performance indicators: water age, reliability, and fire flow performance. The analysis showed that for this system, there was a very significant decrease in the water security vulnerability impacts with minimal effects on the other performance indicators.