Modelling the impact of water temperature, pipe, and hydraulic conditions on water quality in water distribution networks

The production and distribution of microbiologically safe drinking water to the public is the fundamental objective of drinking water supply systems. Water that reaches the taps of consumers is expected to be of the same quality as when treated. However, whereas water is treated to ensure microbiological safety, be aesthetically appealing and devoid of any chemicals that may alter the overall safety of water, the quality is not usually maintained after transmission through distribution networks.

Undesirable changes in the quality of treated water could occur during transmission in distribution networks often as a result of several factors. For instance, while disinfectant residuals are meant to inhibit the regrowth of bacteria in water distribution systems, the design of water distribution networks themselves could cause hydraulic instabilities, increased water age, and decay of residual chlorine, which may influence the proliferation of bacterial communities in water (Mays 2011; Mohamed & Ahmed 2011). As a result of sediment resuspension, scouring of biofilms from pipe walls, as well as changes in mixing conditions, fluctuations in hydraulic conditions in water distribution networks can influence not only the microbiological quality of water, but also important physical parameters such as turbidity and color (Aisopou et al. 2012). Further, studies have shown that the properties and conditions of the pipe materials are critical factors affecting failure in the pipes and associated water quality problems (Yu et al. 2010; Wang et al. 2012; Rezaei et al. 2015). For instance, pipe materials with rough inner surfaces have higher potential for regrowth of bacteria compared to pipes with smoother pipe materials (Chowdhury 2012). In addition, many old drinking water distribution systems are composed of metal pipes such as cast iron and steel, many of which are subject to corrosion. This can lead to the release of chemicals into water, affecting the quality integrity of the distribution system. Apart from corrosion in metal pipes, changes in the characteristics of treated water itself such as pH, alkalinity, hardness, temperature, and so on could affect the corrosivity of water in pipes (Salvato et al. 2003).

To date, research has investigated the occurrence of bacteria, mainly heterotrophic plate count (HPC) in water distribution pipes (LeChevallier 2003; Chen et al. 2013; Liu et al. 2014) and the effects of certain pipe materials, hydraulic conditions, and chlorine on the regrowth potential (Wang et al. 2012, 2014; Prest et al. 2016). Although maintaining the biological stability of water in distribution systems is the main priority for water supply systems, changes in chemical and/or physical parameters such as pH, total iron, calcium carbonate, electrical conductivity, turbidity, color, and the occurrence of corrosion in metal pipes may not only cause aesthetic or even health problems to consumers (Wang & Chen 2018), but also serve as important surrogates of the microbiological quality of water in pipes and could influence the regrowth of bacteria (Shi et al. 2018; Tchórzewska-Cieślak et al. 2019). Many of these parameters are routinely monitored in water distribution systems, yet the main causes of changes in these parameters are not widely investigated. Similarly, due to its diverse effect on the physical, chemical and microbiological quality of water, temperature is recognized as one of the most important controlling factors of water quality, including in distribution systems (Eck et al. 2016; Prest et al. 2016; Monteiro et al. 2017; Zlatanović et al. 2017). Water temperature can change during transmission due to exchange of heat between pipe materials and the surroundings. Yet, unlike at the raw water source and treatment stages, fluctuations in water temperature in distribution networks are not regularly monitored. According to a recent review, the link between water temperature and water quality issues in distribution networks is still being understood (Agudelo-Vera et al. 2020).

Given the complexities in the interaction of different factors on the overall stability of water in distribution pipes, a comprehensive understanding of the impact of various interacting factors is necessary for planning innovative control strategies that could ensure minimal changes to the quality of water reaching consumer taps. While many external factors including weather conditions and routine maintenance/rehabilitation works could affect the quality of water in pipe networks, it is evident from the literature that the internal conditions of the networks themselves are critical to ensuring the stability of water quality in the networks. Many researchers have studied the effects of different internal conditions in pipes on the quality of water in distribution systems mainly through laboratory-scale experiments (Codony et al. 2005; Lehtola et al. 2007; Hammes et al. 2008; Aisopou et al. 2012; Wasim et al. 2016; Zlatanović et al. 2017; Yoon et al. 2019; Cowle et al. 2020). Although significant insights have been gained through these studies, the controlled conditions under which experiments are performed may be significantly different from real systems. Further, by relying on operational data, models have been applied in studying relations between controlling factors of instabilities in water distribution systems (Sadiq et al. 2008; Tabesh et al. 2009; Ramos-Martínez et al. 2014; Husband & Boxall 2015; Kutyłowska 2019). However, classical linear regression-based models that have been applied in many of these studies do not often consider the potentially stochastic nature of the dependence of water quality on pipe characteristics, operating conditions, and temperature. Owing to their probabilistic nature, Bayesian nonparametric (BNP) models can handle limitations in datasets and are more capable of revealing and interpreting highly complex relations that may not be identified by traditional statistical and/or machine learning models (Grzenda 2015; Wagenmakers et al. 2018). Rather than focusing only on the mean of a target parameter, BNP models draw inferences from how the distribution of the target parameter depends on predictors. Moreover, by enabling uncertainties to be accounted for and integrated in all stages of a model through Monte Carlo simulations with a given dataset, BNPs models could provide more credible interpretations of the impacts of different factors on a target parameter (Moe 2010).

The objective of this paper is to apply a BNP modelling framework to evaluate how temperature, characteristics and conditions of pipes, and hydraulic conditions, influence relevant parameters of water quality in distribution networks. The modelling framework was applied to a typical urban water distribution system to study how these input parameters could affect the distributions of relevant water quality parameters in the network. In addition, due to its ability to estimate predictor variable importance in a model, the random forest machine learning method was applied, and the results compared with those achieved with the BNP models. Rather than measuring water quality in distribution systems only to ensure regulatory requirements are met, data taken from these systems could be used to understand the behavior of the systems through data-driven modelling. This could provide vital information for ensuring the stability of water in distribution systems as well as improving customer perceptions and confidence in water supplies services.

The dataset used in this study was composed of seven-year (2013–2019) weekly records of water quality variables measured in the water distribution network of the city of Ålesund in Norway. The water quality and flow information in the pipes are measured using sensors and are used by the managers of the municipality's water and wastewater infrastructure for monitoring water quality at different zones in the network. The water quality parameters, which were used as targets in the models in this study were Total Bacteria, pH, turbidity, color, alkalinity, and electrical conductivity. To determine the microbial quality of water at each of the monitoring locations in the network, weekly water samples were analyzed for the presence of specific faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) such as Escherichia coli and coliform bacteria. However, no observation of these specific FIBs was made throughout the period for which data used in this study was collected. Therefore, the counts of Total Bacteria were used in this study. These parameters were measured at seven different locations in the network, as shown in Figure 1. The water treatment plant draws water from Brusdalsvatnet Lake, which is the only drinking water source for the city.

Using each of the six water quality parameters as a target, two sets of six different Bayesian regression models were constructed. In the first set of models, the input variables were pipe material type, length, diameter, age, water flow, water age, and water temperature. In the case of the model for Total Bacteria, residual chlorine was included as an additional input. In the second set of Bayesian regression models, interactions among the input parameters were used. This was used to evaluate how interactions among the various predictors affect changes in the water quality parameters. Measurements of residual chlorine and temperature at each of the seven locations were not available at the time of this study; therefore, measurements taken from the treated water reservoir outlet for the same period as the other water quality parameters were used. While these may be different across the seven locations in the network, the measurements at the treated water reservoir outlet could be a useful representation of variations in the entire network. To match the water quality data taken from each measurement location with the information on the pipe characteristics within each measurement zone, the entire pipe network database was separated based on the polygons that define each zone using the selection by location tool in ArcGIS 10.6. For each zone, the length, diameter, and material type for individual pipes were recorded. Averages of the lengths and diameters of the pipes for each zone were then calculated to match the water quality data for each measurement location. The entire network is composed of 12 different pipe materials mainly, from cast iron of varying densities and Miscibility Gap Alloys (MCU) (45.4%); polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (17.3%); Polyethelyne (PE) and Polyethelyne low and high densities (PEL and PEH) (32.8%); Polypropylene (PPP) <1%, Low electrical resistivity pipes (LER) (<1%), Graphite pipes (Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy – AAS) (<1%); and BET (<1%). To include this information in the models, the two dominant material types for each zone were identified and assigned values from 1 to 3. The dominant pipe materials for each zone were identified based on the total length of each pipe material within each zone. Therefore, pipe materials with lengths greater than 2% of the total pipe length in the zone were used. This was used to match the water quality data at their respective locations. In the case of the hydraulic information (flow and water age) in the pipe networks, an existing EPANET model that has been calibrated for the network was used. Records of the water quality parameters were provided by the Water and Wastewater Department of the Ålesund municipality. It must be noted that owing to security issues, the authors of this study do not have permision to share the water quality data from the distribution pipes used in this study. However, a summary of the datasets is presented in Table S1 in the supplementary materials.

In this study, the DP mixture of linear regression model was built using the BayesRegression tool (Karabatsos 2015), which is a matlab-based tool that implements Bayesian nonparametric and parametric regression models. The characteristics of the water distribution pipes, namely, pipe material, length, diameter, and age; the hydraulic conditions in the pipes (water flow and water age), as well as water temperature were used as predictors for each of the six water quality parameters (Total Bacteria, pH, turbidity, color, alkalinity, and electrical conductivity). In the case of the Total Bacteria model, residual chlorine concentrations were included in the predictors.

The random forest (RF) introduced by Breiman (2001) is a machine learning algorithm that is made up of ensembles of decision trees. Each tree learns from a random sample of the training data points, which are drawn through bootstrapping. Generally, splitting of each node or tree is performed using random subsets of the input features in model training. Therefore, predictions are made by averaging the prediction from each tree in the forest with the aim of improving robustness and precision in the prediction. Typically, two thirds of the model training dataset are randomly sampled to formulate each decision tree, while the remaining set (‘out-of-bag’ samples) are used to test the accuracy of each decision tree. Due to its simplicity and diversity, the RF algorithm is widely used in both classification and regression problems. A major advantage of the RF algorithm is the ability to quantify the relative importance of each predictor on the prediction. The algorithm automatically computes this score after model training.

In this study, the RF classification algorithm was used to predict each of the six water quality parameters measured in the distribution pipes using the characteristics of the pipes, hydraulic conditions and water temperature as inputs. Before the model training, the time series data for each water quality parameter (target) was organized into four groups based on percentiles; 5th, 50th, 90th, and 90th percentile respectively. The entire dataset was randomly divided into two sections, 70% for model training and 30% for testing. For both training and testing sets, overall classification accuracies were evaluated together with their 95% confidence intervals. In addition, the Kohen's kappa metric, which measures the degree of agreement between the model predictions and actual observations for a classification model (Ben-David 2008) was evaluated. For each model, the relative importance of the predictor variables was used to assess their degrees of impact on each of the water quality variables predicted.

Convergence of the posterior estimates of the Dirichlet process mixture models were verified by examining the trace plots generated for each model. The results generally indicated good mixing and convergence of the MCMC samples. In addition, analysis of the 95% MCCI of the model parameters showed that the MCMC samples provided sufficiently small half-widths (ranged between 0.001–0.178 for Total Bacteria model, 0.01–0.213 for the pH model, 0.002–0.288 for color model, 0.008–0.201 for turbidity model, 0.001–0.323 for alkalinity model, and 0.024–0.138 for electrical conductivity model). This implied that the samples from the 50,000 MCMC iterations used in this study adequately converged to samples from the posterior distributions of the individual models. The goodness-of-fit statistics of the posterior estimates for each water quality parameter in the two sets of Bayesian models are presented in Table 1 (together with their 95% MCCI values). For each water quality parameter, the least D(m) statistic obtained from the MCMC iterations is shown in the table. Observation of the standardized residuals indicated that the residuals were all within – 2 and 2, indicating the absence of outliers. Further, the R² values show that between 51 and 94% of variance in the water quality parameters were explained by the first set of Bayesian regression models without parameter interactions. Marginal improvements in the model fit statistics were achieved in the second set of Bayesian models in which only the interaction terms were used as predictors. For instance, the R² values in these sets of models ranged from 0.57 in the model for pH to 0.96 in the model for Total Bacteria.

The performance indices of the random forest models are shown in Table 2. In the testing datasets for the various water quality parameters, the classification accuracy ranged between 0.63 in the Total Bacteria model and 0.77 in the pH model, indicating an averagely good performance. The performances of the random forest models were also evident from the Kappa statistics, which ranged between 0.49 in the model for pH and 0.71 in the model for turbidity. This statistic essentially measures how close the classification results matched the actual datasets and ranges from –1 (total disagreement) to 1 (total agreement).

In typical Bayesian regression modelling, a predictor variable can be interpreted as significant when its 50% posterior credible interval excludes zero. This interval is bounded by the 25 and 75% of the posterior estimates. The 50% posterior intervals for the various predictors of the water quality parameters are shown in Figure 2.

The results of the first group of models without interactions among the predictor variables (Figure 2) suggest that temperature, residual chlorine, water age, water flow, pipe age, diameter and length are significant predictors for Total Bacteria in the water distribution pipes. It must be noted that the values of temperature and residual chlorine were not directly taken from the seven measurement locations. Nonetheless, as temperature is one of the most critical factors that directly or indirectly control the microbiological quality of water (Ndiongue et al. 2005; Prest et al. 2016), maintaining disinfectant residual in water distribution pipes is a primary disinfection goal in many water distribution systems since it inhibits the regrowth of some microbial organisms. Studies have shown that the decay of residual disinfectant can be affected by several factors, including the type of pipe materials and age, water age, biofilm characteristics, constituents of treated water, as well as temperature (Lehtola et al. 2005; Berry et al. 2006; Al-Jasser 2007; Fisher et al. 2011; Chowdhury 2012; Zhang & Andrews 2012; Eck et al. 2016). In the case of pH, only temperature and water age were shown to be important predictors. Flow, water age, and pipe diameter were shown to be important predictors of color while turbidity of water was mainly associated with changes in flow conditions as well as ages of water and the pipes. Except for pipe diameter and age (in the alkalinity model) and pipe material (in the model for electrical conductivity), all the input variables were shown to be significant predictors of these water quality parameters.

The results of the second set of Bayesian regression models generally revealed that the effects of pipe characteristics, hydraulic conditions, and water temperature on changes in the quality of water in distribution systems could be better understood by evaluating the effects of their interactions rather than considering each parameter in isolation. For instance, in the model for Total Bacteria (Figure 3(a)), many of the interactions were shown to be significant predictors, except for the interactions of pipe diameter with almost all the other parameters as well as pipe length with pipe age, pipe material with water age, and flow with temperature. Although parameters such as pipe characteristics and flow were individually shown to be insignificant predictors of pH (Figure 2(b)), interactions of these parameters were shown to be significant in the second set of models. Similar interactive effects were noted in the models for the other water quality parameters. It can also be observed in Figure 3(c) and 3(d) that most of the interactions that were found to be significant predictors of color were also shown to be significant for turbidity. Except for the effects of pipe diameter and age, similar parameter significance was found for these two water quality variables in the model without interactions (Figure 2). This demonstrates the link between these water quality variables. Similar interactive effects of the predictor variables could also be observed in the models for alkalinity and electrical conductivity in Figure 2.

A summary of the conditional probabilities used to evaluate the impacts of the various predictors on the water quality parameters is further presented in Table 3. The probabilities that the value of a water quality parameter being greater than zero at minimum and at maximum values of each predictor and conditional upon mean values of all other predictors were estimated. The conditional probabilities of the posterior predictions were calculated only for the first set of Bayesian models (without interactions). The results presented in Table 3 are based on 3,600 Monte Carlo samples drawn from a total of 50,000 samples that were generated in each model. In the table, values shown in grey color represent increasing probabilities from minimum values of the predictors to their maximums.

The characteristics of the pipes, hydraulic conditions and water temperature, which were used as inputs in the models, showed varying effects on the water quality parameters. Although the increases were marginal, the results indicate that the probability that the pH of water in the pipes increases were dependent on the type of pipe material and increases in diameter. For instance, at minimum and maximum pipe diameters respectively, the probabilities of increase in the pH were estimated as 0.48 (0.09, 0.93) and 0.53 (0.01, 0.97). In the case of the pipe materials, the model indicates that water pH is more likely to increase in areas with metal pipes (such as MCU) than in plastic pipes (PE). It is worth noting that PVC pipes were dominant in all the three groups used as inputs in this study; therefore, the main differences in the material groups were based on either MCU, BET and PE. In addition, the longer the water age, the higher the likelihood of increases in the water pH. Similar effects were predicted by the model for flow and water temperature.

The posterior predictive summary for the model also indicates that older and wider pipes may be more prone to higher levels of alkalinity and electrical conductivity, the effects being larger on the latter. Old metal pipe materials may be more prone to the release of ions into water as a result of corrosion, potentially affecting the levels of alkalinity and electrical conductivity. While the size of water distribution pipes does not have direct relations with the ionic concentrations in water, wider pipes could provide larger surface area where corrosion may occur, thus increasing the probability of release of chemicals into water. In addition, low pressure conditions in wider pipes may reduce flow velocity, increase residence time, and potentially higher ion concentrations. Moreover, the probability of increases in electrical conductivity in the pipes was predicted to be higher in areas with metal pipes (including MCU) than those with plastics. In addition, both the hydraulic conditions and water temperature were positively associated with this water quality parameter. The pipe characteristics that were predicted to increase the probability of increases in the turbidity and color of water were the length of the pipe sections and their ages. While disparities in pipe materials and increases in their diameter were shown to have marginal effect on changes in water turbidity, these changes were predicted to cause considerable reductions in color of water. In relation to the hydraulic conditions, the results indicate that higher turbidity and color are more likely to occur in areas with longer water age. Increases in color were also found to be affected by increases in flow and water temperature.

With respect to Total Bacteria in the distribution network, the results indicate that metal pipe materials may be associated with higher counts than plastic pipes. In areas with metal pipes, the probability of occurrence of positive counts was predicted as 0.82, whereas a value of 0.7 was predicted for areas with plastic pipes. Longer pipes, higher flow rates, and higher concentrations of residual chlorine in the pipes were predicted to reduce the likelihood of the occurrence of Total Bacteria in water. However, increases in the counts of the bacteria were more likely to occur in larger and older pipes as well as longer residence time (water age) and at high water temperature. A graphical overview of the impacts of the various input parameters on the counts of Total Bacteria in the water distribution pipes is further shown in Figure 3. Among the input parameters that showed positive relations with the bacteria counts, temperature showed the greatest impact. This is supported by the results of the marginal posterior distributions presented in Section 3.2.1 of this study. At the minimum and maximum values of temperature in the pipes, the probabilities of occurrence of bacteria in water were 0.36 and 0.95 respectively. Similarly, increases in the concentration of residual chlorine in the pipes were shown to have the strongest negative effect on the occurrence of bacteria.

A summary of the impacts of the pipe characteristics, hydraulic conditions, and temperature on the various water quality parameters, as predicted by the random forest model, is presented in Figure 4. In this figure, the various predictors in the models are ranked in terms of the magnitude of impact in the prediction of each water quality parameter.

Like the results of the Bayesian regression model, temperature was ranked as the most influential parameter in the prediction of changes in Total Bacteria in the distribution pipes. In addition, the hydraulic conditions in the pipes as well as the concentration of residual chlorine similarly showed strong impact on the occurrence of the bacteria. Generally, temperature is known to be a major determinant of water quality due to its influence on physical, chemical and biological processes. In relation to the impact on the microbial quality of water in distribution systems, several studies have highlighted the strength of its influence on their regrowth and survival (Bagh et al. 2004; Francisque et al. 2009; Prest et al. 2016; Monteiro et al. 2017). Similarly, water age and disinfectant concentrations in pipes, which can both be affected by flow conditions, have been shown to be strong factors in shaping bacterial populations in water distribution pipes (Williams et al. 2005; Gomez-Alvarez et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2014). Therefore, since it may be difficult to control the temperature and water flow in the distribution network, ensuring low residence time and effective residual chlorine concentrations in the pipes are highly important in controlling the proliferation of bacteria in distribution systems.

Although the results obtained in the Bayesian regression showed a higher chance of bacteria occurring in areas with metal pipes than in plastic ones, the random forest model suggested that the type of pipe material and its age have little impact on variations in the bacteria counts. This may be due to the few categories of pipe materials used as inputs in training the model. Unlike the Bayesian regression, in which probabilistic inferences were drawn using Monte Carlo simulations with the dataset, the random forest model assigns each observation of Total Bacteria in the dataset to its corresponding material type (either 1, 2 or 3 in this study). This probably made it difficult for the model to establish relationships between the types of pipe materials and the water quality parameters. Moreover, the Bayesian regression computes credible intervals for the posterior predictions, whereas the random forest model provides point estimates without probability-based uncertainty intervals. Not only can the type of pipe material affect the formation of biofilms in the distribution network, but also the proliferation and diversity of microbial populations (Yu et al. 2010; Chowdhury 2012; Wang et al. 2012). Results of a study that measured bacterial biomass in different pipe materials showed that bacterial densities in metal pipes (mainly iron) were between 10 and 45 times higher than in plastic-based materials such as PVC and PE (Niquette et al. 2000). Similarly, heterotopic plate count (HPC) in biofilms inside a model water distribution system were reported to be about 100 times higher on steel pipes than other pipe materials including PVC (Jang et al. 2011). While the results achieved in this study agree with those of these studies, diverse relationships between the type of pipe material and bacterial populations have also been previously reported in the literature. For instance, copper ions in copper pipes have been reported to decrease bacterial concentrations in water (Lehtola et al. 2004). Moreover, higher bacterial concentrations have previously been observed in plastic pipes such as PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) and PVC compared to copper and stainless-steel pipes (Schwartz et al. 1998; Van der Kooij et al. 2005). Similarly, Zacheus et al. (2000) reported no significant differences in bacterial concentrations with different pipe materials including stainless steel, PE, and PVC. This suggests that other site-specific conditions such as the quality of water could influence the relationships that are established between pipe materials and changes in the microbial quality of water in pipes.

For the remaining water quality parameters, the results suggest that the hydraulic conditions in the pipes as well as temperature are more important determinants of their variations. Increased retention times in water distribution systems can cause problems such as sediment deposition, ineffective control of corrosion, and regrowth of microbial organisms (American Water Works Association 2002), which could all affect the physical, chemical, and biological quality of water in the network. In addition, sudden changes in hydraulic conditions in pipes could enhance the mobilization of accumulated materials at the walls of pipes, leading to increases in turbidity and color (Boxall & Saul 2005). After water treatment, the presence of turbidity and color may be due to internal contamination from release of ions into bulk water. For instance, changes in color of water in distribution networks could occur due to the release of iron in iron-based pipes (Vreeburg & Boxall 2007), implying that the type of pipe material in the network could influence water discoloration and associated chemical parameters. Moreover, studies have shown that changes in the concentrations of iron in water could induce changes in pH, alkalinity, and electrical conductivity (Bergel et al. 2013; Jachimowski 2017). However, the results of the random forest models suggest that pipe material has the least impact on the physical-chemical parameters of water quality included in this study (Figure 5). Similar to the impact on the microbial quality of water predicted by the random forest model in this study, this could be due to the limitations of the pipe material dataset, as previously explained.

Owing to complex physical, chemical, and biological processes that occur in typical water distribution systems, the quality of treated water may change before reaching consumers’ taps. Several internal and external factors could influence the stability of treated water in distribution systems, resulting in violations in the standards of water quality and public health risks. As with many other components of water supply systems, different types of data are routinely collected in water distribution systems. The main contribution of this paper is to evaluate the degree of effects of relevant factors on water quality at different locations in a typical water distribution network. By relying on such datasets, the methodology applied in this study could be used to identify factors of greatest relevance that can be prioritized in order to minimize changes in the quality of water in the network and protect public health. Although this study focused primarily on the internal factors, the modelling framework can provide reliable information necessary for maintaining the physical, hydraulic, and water quality integrity of distribution systems when different types of information about distribution systems are available. Moreover, the methodology can be used to assess the impacts of different variables on different parameters of water quality at other stages of water supply systems such as raw water sources.

This paper applies a Bayesian nonparametric modelling framework and the random forest classification algorithm to evaluate the impacts of temperature, pipe characteristics and conditions, as well as hydraulic conditions on the quality of water in a typical urban distribution network. The study was based on weekly records of six water quality parameters measured across the city of Ålesund in Norway from 2013 to 2019.

In both modelling approaches, water temperature was identified as a major factor that controls the microbiological quality of water in the distribution network studied. From the minimum to the maximum values of temperature in the pipes (3.35 °C and 11.14 °C respectively), the probabilities of occurrence of bacteria in water increased from 0.36 to 0.95. Temperature was also shown to be an important factor that affects the chemical parameters of water quality (pH, alkalinity and electrical conductivity). The Bayesian regression model for Total Bacteria also confirmed the important role of residual chlorine in the control of the microbial quality of water in the distribution pipes, as it was shown to have the strongest negative influence on the bacteria levels. Similarly, the results from both modelling approaches showed that changes in the hydraulic conditions in the pipes (residence time and flow) are among the most important determinants of the physical, chemical and microbiological quality of water in the distribution network. Although the results of the random forest models indicated potentially minimal effect of pipe characteristics and conditions on the water quality parameters, the Bayesian regression revealed that these parameters are improtant factors. The results of this study suggests that metal pipe materials may be more associated with the occurrence of microbial organisms than plastic pipes. Different accounts on the association between metal pipe materials and bacteria have been previously reported in the literature. Although the results of this study agree with some of these accounts, the proportion of metal pipes relative to plastic pipes analysed in this work could be a contributory factor. Moreover, compared to plastic pipes, metal pipes have other advantages such as strength, durability, and temperature tolerance.

Information about which factors and to what extent they control the quality of water in distribution networks is essential for maintaining the safety of water supplied to the public. While it may be difficult to control some important factors such as temperature, improving the hydraulic conditions in a way that reduces residence times is key to ensuring the safety of water in distribution networks. In addition, the replacement of some metal pipe materials such as in water distribution networks with plastic pipes may not only improve the biological stability of treated water, but also minimize other processes that could directly or indirectly alter the physical and chemical parameters of water quality.

The authors acknowledge the assistance of the Water and Wastewater Department of the Ålesund municipality.

The Ålesund municipality of Norway supported this work under a smart water and wastewater infrastructure project.

Data cannot be made publicly available readers should contact the corresponding author for details.