Water quality deterioration modeling in aged distribution mains: A case study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Water quality deterioration is becoming a serious challenge for water utility corporations supplying treated water through the use of a centralized distribution system. After water leaves the treatment plant and enters the distribution system, it is subjected to numerous complex physical, chemical, and biological changes. This study aimed to investigate the major physical factors deteriorating water quality in an aged distribution system. Methods: Deterioration modeling was undertaken using an EPANET computer program. For model calibration processes, data collected from field measurements were used. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data. Water age and residual chlorine were selected parameters to investigate the deterioration level. The identification of major factors posing water quality changes was undertaken by examining distinct physical and operational settings. Results: The maximum water-age variation obtained between two extreme water-use periods was 21.97%. In the same way, the maximum residual chlorine concentration variation obtained was 11.68%. On the contrary, with tested extreme pipe sizes in the study, the maximum water-age variation obtained was only 0.93%. Whereas, the obtained maximum residual chlorine concentration variation between the two extreme pipe sizes was 21.03%. Conclusion: Water use variation poses more water quality degradation than pipe geometry. Water age in aged distribution is rarely influenced by conditions of pipe geometry.