Contaminant propagation in distribution systems

The Drinking Water Research Division of EPA initiated a cooperative agreement with the North Penn Water Authority. Previous research has resulted in development of a steady-state model, a quasi-steady-state model and dynamic model that have provided useful approaches to modeling the general propagation of contaminants in distribution systems. In this paper, results from the steady-state model are utilized to examine the actual pathways of water flow and the time of passage and percentage of water that flows from a given source to a given node in a distribution system. The contaminant propagation technique developed from this extension of the steady-state model provides a useful technique for analyzing many of the factors that effects water quality in a distribution system. A major finding of this research study is the importance of adequate hydraulic modeling of the systems being studied and the importance of field studies in verifying systems performance.