Water System Condition and Asset Replacement Prioritization

The goal of asset management is to identify and track the maintenance and replacement of assets that have reached their useful life. For that reason, gathering data and collecting information is a critical step when developing an asset management plan. Such data gathering includes physical and operational properties of the assets as well as collecting and tracking important events during the lifespan of the asset (i.e., pipe breaks, replacement year, maintenance performed, etc.). Critical factors in the asset management plan may be overlooked when there is no data or poor quality data. However, many utilities lack the resources for examining buried infrastructure and lack good quality work order data, so other methods of data collection are needed. The concept for this paper was to develop a means to acquire data on the assets for a condition assessment to identify pipes that were most likely to break and those with the highest consequences for same. Three utilities were used as examples. It was found that for buried infrastructure, much more information was known than anticipated but the actual predictions relied on only a few factors related to pipe type. However, there is a need to track the consequences, in this case breaks, which would indicate a failure. The latter would be useful for predicting future maintenance needs and the most at-risk assets, but is often missing in utility systems as many utilities do not adequately track breaks sufficiently. In this case two utilities were analyzed and predication on a third was developed.

Investigation of factors affecting rural drinking water consumption using intelligent hybrid models

Identifying the factors affecting drinking water consumption is essential to the rational management of water resources and effective environment protection. In this study, the effects of the factors on rural drinking water demand were studied using the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and hybrid models, such as the ANFIS-genetic algorithm (GA), ANFIS-particle swarm optimization (PSO), and support vector machine (SVM)-simulated annealing (SA). The rural areas of Hamadan Province in Iran were selected for the case study. Five drinking water consumption factors were selected for the assessment according to the literature, data availability, and the characteristics of the study area (such as precipitation, relative humidity, temperature, the number of subscribers, and water price). The results showed that the standard errors of ANFIS, ANFIS-GA, ANFIS-PSO, and SVM-SA were 0.669, 0.619, 0.705, and 0.578, respectively. Therefore, the hybrid model SVM-SA outperformed other models. The sensitivity analysis showed that of the parameters affecting drinking water consumption, the number of subscribers significantly affected the water consumption rate, while the average temperature was the least significant factor. Water price was a factor that could be easily controlled, but it was always one of the least effective parameters due to the low water fee.

Root distribution and influencing factors of dry-sowing and wet-growing cotton plants under different water conditions

To study the effect of soil water and salt environment factors on the root growth of cotton under different moisture control,three different emergence water volumes(60,105,and 150 m^(3)/hm^(2)),two different frequencies(high frequency and low frequency)and one double film cover winter irrigation control treatment(CK:2250 m^(3)/hm^(2))were set up to analyze the spatial distribution patterns of soil water and salt environment and root density in dry sown and wet emerged cotton fields under diffe-rent moisture control conditions.The results show that the soil water content and water infiltration range gradually become larger with the increase of seedling water quantity,and the larger the seedling water quantity,the higher the soil water content.With the same seedling water quantity,the soil water content of the high-frequency(HF)treatment becomes obviously larger.The soil conductivity of each treatment tends to decrease gradually with the increase of seedling water and drip frequency,among which the distribution of soil conductivity of S6 treatment is closest to that of CK.With the increase in soil depth,the soil conductivity tends to increase first and then decrease.Compared with the low-frequency(LF)treatment,the high-frequency treatment shows a significantly deeper soil salt accumulation layer.The root length density(RLD)of cotton gradually increases with the amount of seedling water and the frequency of dripping.The soil layer of root distribution gradually deepens with the amount of seedling water in the vertical direction,and the RLD value in the horizontal direction is significantly greater in the mulched area than that in the bare area between films.This research can serve as a solid scientific foundation for the use of dry sowing and wet emergence techniques in cotton fields in southern Xinjiang.

Modeling of residual chlorine in water distribution system

Water quality within water distribution system may vary with both location and time. Water quality models are used to predict the spatial and temporal variation of water quality throughout water system. A model of residual chlorine decay in water pipe has been developed, given the consumption of chlorine in reactions with chemicals in bulk water, bio films on pipe wall, in corrosion process, and the mass transport of chlorine from bulk water to pipe wall. Analytical methods of the flow path from water sources to the observed point and the water age of every observed node were proposed. Model is used to predict the decay of residual chlorine in an actual distribution system. Good agreement between calculated and measured values was obtained.

Online location of seismic damage to a water distribution system

As one of the most important urban lifeline systems,a water distribution system can be damaged under a strong earthquake,and the damage cannot easily be located,especially immediately after the event.This often causes tremendous difficulties to post-earthquake emergency response and recovery activities.This paper proposes a methodology to locate seismic damage to a water distribution system by monitoring water head online at some nodes in the water distribution system.An artificial neural network-based inverse analysis method is developed to estimate the water head variations at all nodes that are not monitored based on the water head variations at the nodes that are monitored.The methodology provides a quick,effective,and practical way to locate seismic damage to a water distribution system.

Use of two-stage dough mixing process in improving water distribution of dough and qualities of bread made from wheat–potato flour

The two-stage dough mixing process was innovated to improve the qualities of bread made from potato flour(PF) and wheat flour at a ratio of 1:1(w/w). The final dough was first prepared from wheat flour before being added with PF. The effects of the method on enhancing the dough qualities were verified, and the distribution of water in gluten-gelatinized starch matrix of the doughs was investigated. We observed that the bread qualities were improved, as reflected by the increase of specific volume from 2.26 to 2.96 m L g^–1 and the decrease of crumb hardness from 417.93 to 255.57 g. The results from rheofermentometric measurements showed that the dough mixed using the developed mixing method had higher maximum dough height value, time of dough porosity appearance, and gas retention coefficient, as well as enhanced gluten matrix formation compared to that mixed by the traditional mixing method. The results from low-field nuclear magnetic resonance confirmed that the competitive water absorption between gluten and gelatinized starch could restrict the formation of gluten network in the dough mixed using the traditional mixing process. Using the novel mixing method, gluten could be sufficiently hydrated in stage 1, which could then weaken the competitive water absorption caused by gelatinized starch in stage 2;this could also be indicated by the greater mobility of proton in PF and better development of gluten network during mixing.

Iron stability in drinking water distribution systems in a city of China

A field study on the estimation and analysis of iron stability in drinking water distribution system was carried out in a city of China. The stability of iron ion was estimated by pC-pH figure. It was found that iron ion was unstable, with a high Fe （OH）3 precipitation tendency and obvious increase in turbidity. The outer layer of the corrosion scale was compact, while the inner core was porous. The main composition of the scale was iron, and the possible compound constitutes of the outer scale were α-FeOH, γ-FeOOH, α-Fe2O3, γ-F2O3, FeCl3, while the inner were Fe3O4, FeCl2, FeCO3. According to the characteristics of the corrosion scale, it was thought that the main reason for iron instability was iron release from corrosion scale. Many factors such as pipe materials, dissolved oxygen and chlorine residual affect iron release. Generally, higher iron release occurred with lower dissolved oxygen or chlorine residual concentration, while lower iron release occurred with higher dissolved oxygen or chlorine residual concentration. The reason was considered that the passivated out layer of scale of ferric oxide was broken down by reductive reaction in a condition of low oxidants concentration, which would result more rapid corrosion of the nine and red water phenomenon.

Water Distribution and Removal along the Flow Channel in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Distribution expressions of total gas pressure and partial water vapor pressure along the channel direction were established based on lumped model by analyzing pressure loss in the channel and gas diffusion in the layer. The mechanism of droplet formation in the flow channel was also analyzed. Effects of the relative humidity, working temperature and stoichiometry on liquid water formation were discussed in detail. Moreover, the force equilibrium equation of the droplet in the flow channel was deduced, and the critical flow velocity for the water droplet removal was also addressed. The experimental results show that the threshold position of the liquid droplet is far from the inlet with the increase of temperature, and it decreases with the increase of the inlet total pressure. The critical flow velocity decreases with the increase of the radius and the working pressure.

Maintaining healthy rivers and lakes through water diversion from Yangtze River to Taihu Lake in Taihu Basin

On the basis of the Taihu water resources assessment, an analysis of the importance and rationality of the water diversion from the Yangtz,e River to Taihu Lake in solving the water problem and establishing a harmonious eco-environment in the Taihu Basin is performed. The water quantity and water quality conjunctive dispatching ＇decisi＂ofi-makifig support system, which ensures flood control, water supply and eco-aimed dispatching, is built by combining the water diversion with flood control dispatching and strengthening water resources monitoring and forecasting. With the practice and effect assessment, measures such as setting the -integrated basin management format, further developing water diversion and improving the hydraulic engineering projects system and water monitoring system are proposed in order to maintain healthy rivers and guarantee the development of the economy and society in the Taihu Basin.

Seismic reliability analysis of urban water distribution network

An approach to analyze the seismic reliability of water distribution networks by combining a hydraulic analysis with a first-order reliability method （FORM）, is proposed in this paper. The hydraulic analysis method for normal conditions is modified to accommodate the special conditions necessary to perform a seismic hydraulic analysis. In order to calculate the leakage area and leaking flow of the pipelines in the hydraulic analysis method, a new leakage model established from the seismic response analysis of buried pipelines is presented. To validate the proposed approach, a network with 17 nodes and 24 pipelines is investigated in detail. The approach is also applied to an actual project consisting of 463 nodes and 767 pipelines. The results show that the proposed approach achieves satisfactory results in analyzing the seismic reliability of large-scale water distribution networks.

Partitioning of Water Distribution Network into District Metered Areas Using Existing Valves

Water distribution network(WDN)leakage management has received increased attention in recent years.One of the most successful leakage-control strategies is to divide the network into District Metered Areas(DMAs).As a multi-staged technique,the generation of DMAs is a difficult task in design and implementation(i.e.,clustering,sectorization,and performance evaluation).Previous studies on DMAs implementation did not consider the potential use of existing valves in achieving the objective.In this work,a methodology is proposed for detecting clusters and reducing the cost of additional valves and DMA sectorization by considering existing valves as much as possible.The procedure of DMAs identification has been divided into three stages,i.e.,a)clusters identification;b)sectorization or boundaries optimization and c)performance evaluation of the partitioned network.The proposed methodology is evaluated on a simple network and a real-world water network with the findings provided and compared to the DMAs,established for a raw water network with no existing valves.It is found that there is an adequate difference in cost of strategy implementation in both the cases for the network under consideration and the existing valve system achieved better network performance in terms of resilience index.

Analysis of thermohaline and current distribution characteristics of Zhejiang and Fujian waters in summer

This paper analyzed the distribution of thermohaline and circulation characteristics of Zhejiang and Fujian waters,based on the cross-sectional thermohaline data and on current data （up to 30 d duration） at fixed-point moorings,collected in the summer of 2006.We also performed low-pass filtering and spectrum analysis on the mooring submersible buoy data.Based on that analysis,we discussed the characteristics of low frequency currents and time-variations in these waters.The main conclusions are as follows.（1） There is a low salinity pinnate area near the Hangzhou Bay in summer,and outside the low salinity area,an obvious salinity front is present from surface to bottom near 123 E.There is also a temperature front below the surface at a corresponding position.（2） Bottom water of the Taiwan Warm Current comes from the subsurface of Kuroshio.（3） The direction of low frequency current at fixed anchor stations is N-NE or S,which mainly depends on the interaction of control currents in this waters.（4） Significant spectral peaks at all mooring stations are typically semidiurnal and diurnal tides.Semidiurnal tidal waves are the main ones in these waters,and have more energy closer to the shore.（5） Significant energy spectral peaks of middle period （3 to 8 d） of currents are responses to weather frequency.（6） Significant energy spectral peaks of long periods at the surface or bottom are probably responses to seasonal wind or bottom friction,while,the long period peaks of other depths can reflect cyclical changes of interactions between currents.We conclude that the pulsation period of the Taiwan Warm Current in these waters is 10-17 d.

Bacterial Communities Associated with An Occurrence of Colored Water in An Urban Drinking Water Distribution System

This study aimed to investigate bacterial community in an urban drinking water distribution system （DWDS） during an occurrence of colored water. Variation in the bacterial community diversity and structure was observed among the different waters, with the predominance of Proteobacteria. While Verrucomicrobia was also a major phylum group in colored water. Limnobacter was the major genus group in colored water, but Undibacterium predominated in normal tap water. The coexistence of Limnobacter as well as Sediminibacterium and Aquobocterium might contribute to the formation of colored water.

Review Study on the Accumulation and Release of Trace Metal Elements on Aluminum Containing Sediments in Drinking Water Distribution System

Accumulation and releasing of trace metal elements on aluminum containing sediments of inner drinking water pipe is discussed,as studied from five variations effecting:raw water quality,chemical reagents,solution pH and drinking water flow condition.In order to decrease the release of trace metal elements,and to ensure the pipe operation and human safety,water quality adjustment is suggested to avoid aluminum containing sediments formation in drinking distribution system.The maximum amounts of accumulation of common trace metal elements are given.Future trends of development in this field are also proposed.

Root length density distribution and associated soil water dynamics for tomato plants under furrow irrigation in a solar greenhouse

Furrow irrigation is a traditional widely-used irrigation method in the world. Understanding the dynamics of soil water distribution is essential to developing effective furrow irrigation strategies, especially in water-limited regions. The objectives of this study are to analyze root length density distribution and to explore soil water dynamics by simulating soil water content using a HYDRUS-2D model with consideration of root water uptake for furrow irrigated tomato plants in a solar greenhouse in Northwest China. Soil water contents were also in-situ observed by the ECH_2O sensors from 4 June to 19 June and from 21 June to 4 July, 2012. Results showed that the root length density of tomato plants was concentrated in the 0–50 cm soil layers, and radiated 0–18 cm toward the furrow and 0–30 cm along the bed axis. Soil water content values simulated by the HYDRUS-2D model agreed well with those observed by the ECH_2O sensors, with regression coefficient of 0.988, coefficient of determination of 0.89, and index of agreement of 0.97. The HYDRUS-2D model with the calibrated parameters was then applied to explore the optimal irrigation scheduling. Infrequent irrigation with a large amount of water for each irrigation event could result in 10%–18% of the irrigation water losses. Thus we recommend high irrigation frequency with a low amount of water for each irrigation event in greenhouses for arid region. The maximum high irrigation amount and the suitable irrigation interval required to avoid plant water stress and drainage water were 34 mm and 6 days, respectively, for given daily average transpiration rate of 4.0 mm/d. To sum up, the HYDRUS-2D model with consideration of root water uptake can be used to improve irrigation scheduling for furrow irrigated tomato plants in greenhouses in arid regions.

Partial dehydration of brucite and its implications for water distribution in the subducting oceanic slab

Hydrous minerals within the subducting oceanic slab are important hosts for water.Clarification of the stability field of hydrous minerals helps to understand transport and distribution of water from the surface to the Earth’s interior.We investigated the stability of brucite,a prototype of hydrous minerals,by means of electrical conductivity measurements in both open and closed systems at 3 GPa and temperatures up to 1300 K.Dramatic increase of conductivity in association with characteristic impedance spectra suggests that partial dehydration of single-crystal brucite in the open system with a low water fugacity occurs at 950 K,which is about 300 K lower than those previously defined by phase equilibrium experiments in the closed system.By contrast,brucite completely dehydrates at 1300 K in the closed system,consistent with previous studies.Partial dehydration may generate a highly defective structure but does not lead to the breakdown of brucite to periclase and water immediately.Water activity plays a key role in the stability of hydrous minerals.Low water activity(a H_(2)O)caused by the high wetting behavior of the subducted oceanic slab at the transition zone depth may cause the partial dehydration of the dense hydrous magnesium silicates(DHMSs),which significantly reduces the temperature stability of DHMS(this mechanism has been confirmed by previous study on super hydrous phase B).As a result,the transition zone may serve as a‘dead zone’for DHMSs,and most water will be stored in wadsleyite and ringwoodite in the transition zone.

Preliminary analysis of distribution and variation of perennialmonthly mean water masses in the Bohai Sea,the Huanghai Sea and the East China Sea

On the basis of perennial monthly mean temperature and salinity data, the classification of monthly water masses at the surface and the bottom in the Bohai Sea, the Huanghai Sea and the East China Sea, has been made by using the method of fuzzy cluster from the modified characteristic of water masses in the shallow water area. In this paper, the basic features, growth and decline patterns of water masses in relation to fishing grounds in the whole shelves of the Bohai Sea, the Huanghai Sea and the East China Sea are discussed with emphasis.

Calculation of the Water Distribution Networks Based on the Theory of Slow Transient Flow

Urban water supply network is a modern urban survival and development of the infrastructure of a city,and its normal running conditions have important significance. The actual hydraulic process in the variableload water distribution networks can be treated as the slow transient flow which belongs to the unsteady flow. This paper analyzes the multi-loops network slow transient model based on graph theory,and the link flow matrix is treated as the variables of the discrete solution model to simulate the process of the slow transient flow in the network. With the simulation of hydraulic regime in an actual pipe network,the changing laws of the flow in the pipes,nodal hydraulic heads and other hydraulic factors with the passage of time are obtained. Since the transient processes offer much more information than a steady process,the slow transient theory is not only practical on analyzing the hydraulic condition of the network,but also on identifying hydraulic resistance coefficients of pipes and detecting the leakage in networks.

Soil Water Distribution and Irrigation Uniformity Under Alternative Furrow Irrigation

Field experiments were conducted to investigate the spatial-temporal distribution and the uniformity of soil water under alternative furrow irrigation in spring maize field in Cansu Province. Results showed that during the crop growing season, alternative drying and wetting furrows could incur crops to endure a water stress. thus the adsorptive ability of root system could be enhanced. As there was no zero flux plane between irrigated furrows and non-irrigated furrows under alternative furrow irrigation, lateral infiltration of water was obviously increased, thus decreasing the deep percolation. Compared with the conventional irrigation, although the water consumption in alternative furrow irrigation was reduced, the uniformity of soil water was not obviously affected.

Research on corrosion mechanism of water distribution system

Pipes serving for water distribution system for different years in northern city,were chosen as objectives for study.The shape and component of corrosion scales were measured,and formation mechanism of corrosion was also analyzed.The corrosion mechanism of pipes was studied on the sides of electrochemistry and microbe.The solution to eliminate corrosion scales in water distribution system was also proposed.The results show that the specific surface areas of five corrosion scales are between 41.35 and 132.3 m2/g and the dimension of corrosion scales enlarge with the increase of serving age,which could induce the decrease of water flow cross-section.