Experimental and computational study of velocity fields in narrow or compound section sewers

Sound management of sewer networks and minimization of the pollution discharged into receiving waters through combined sewer overflows need in-depth knowledge of the flow rates and pollutant loads conveyed in sewers. This knowledge relies on a good assessment of the spatial distribution of the velocities in a cross section, as they are involved both in flowrate, and distribution of concentration. The possibility of assessing this distribution by using computational fluid dynamics is explored and compared with experimental results collected from real sewers.