Situation: | Monitoring of organic and biological water quality parameters in water distribution systems (WDS) is usually time-consuming and laborious, making a fast response to anomalies impossible. This project aims at establishing online monitoring of water quality parameters in real time to rapidly detect and simulate water quality parameters within the WDS and also react to evolving events. This reaction will be automated, thereby diminishing the time between detection and response. |
| Methodology: | In this project, online sensors for real-time measurements of organic and biological parameters are further developed, tested and evaluated. This includes in particular fluorescence spectroscopy and flow cytometry: - Fluorescence spectroscopy is evaluated for the characterisation and quantification of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Concepts for wavelength-specific detectors are developed in cooperation with bbe Moldaenke.
- Flow cytometry is adapted and applied to continuously characterise and quantify bacteria. In parallel, the faster determination of assimilable organic carbon (AOC) by flow cytometry will be investigated as a proxy for bacterial regrowth potential.
- Correlations between parameters measured by fluorescence spectroscopy and flow cytometry as well as to standard drinking water quality parameters are evaluated and analysed.
The simulation of relevant parameters (particles, bacteria, harmful substances) and the development of an algorithm for a rapid anomaly detection as well as the development of automated response to changes, for example disinfectant dose, closing/opening of valves or changing of flow regime, are the work duties of the collaboration partners Technion and TU Ilmenau. The developed online sensors and simulation results are subsequently explored and validated at a WDS test bed provided by Hamburg Wasser utility.
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