Water quality analysis within a rural locality distribution network

Abstract

The law on drinking water quality aims to protect human health against the effects of any type of contamination by ensuring its quality of clean and health-safe water. Many cases of illness in populations are due to the fact that in their community there is no strict regulation and control regarding the water quality at the source which supplies their water systems. Thus, special importance must be given to the drinking water supply in rural areas, considering that a large part of populated centers within this category do not benefit from centralized drinking water systems. This paper will analyze a small distribution network within a commune in Suceava County. Hydraulic and water quality analysis calculations in the distribution network were performed by means of the EPANET 2.0 software. For the water quality analysis, a surveyed factor was the variation in time of free residual chlorine concentration, this parameter being monitored along with the distribution network (corresponding both to a first order reaction in the fluid volume and at pipe wall, and to a second order reaction within the fluid volume). The hourly water consumption on a working day was considered in compliance with the Romanian standards for villages and rural areas, and the simulation was performed for a period of 72 hours.