Environmental fluctuations shape biofilm formation in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) and therefore distributed water quality. Yet the comprehensive performance in response to complex environmental conditions remains unclear. We investigated biofilm formation and distributed water quality under various nutrients, including chlorine concentrations and hydrodynamic conditions. Results showed that environmental fluctuations collectively induced changes in microbial propagation, which were mostly associated with turbidity variations, concentrations of total organic carbon, NH4+-N and soluble phosphorus compared to the other parameters. Fuzzy pattern recognition analysis integrating multiple water quality indicators revealed that low nutrient availability and addition of mild chlorine at 0.50 mg/L at 0.50 m/s flow velocity were the most favorable conditions screened for optimized comprehensive performance, while nutrient supplements yielded significant performance deterioration. These quantitative estimations offer new insights into advanced understanding of the system performance responding to often complex environmental fluctuations, essential for optimized design and practical functioning of DWDSs.
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Research Article|
August 12 2016
Assessing comprehensive performance of biofilm formation and water quality in drinking water distribution systems Available to Purchase
Li Liu;
Li Liu
1School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
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Yanyan Liu;
Yanyan Liu
1School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
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Qingqing Lu;
Qingqing Lu
1School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
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Guowei Chen;
Guowei Chen
1School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
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Gang Wang
2Department of Water and Soil Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
E-mail: [email protected]
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Water Supply (2017) 17 (1): 267–278.
Article history
Received:
May 16 2016
Accepted:
August 04 2016
Citation
Li Liu, Yanyan Liu, Qingqing Lu, Guowei Chen, Gang Wang; Assessing comprehensive performance of biofilm formation and water quality in drinking water distribution systems. Water Supply 1 February 2017; 17 (1): 267–278. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2016.134
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