Detailed water quality modeling of pressurized pipe systems and its effect on the security of municipal water distribution networks

The current study expands on the body of knowledge associated with water distribution system security. The three main chapters focus on (1) the effectiveness of an incomplete mixing model (AZRED-I) with respect to multi-objective sensor placement decisions; (2) risk assessment as a tool for evaluating vulnerability and making sensor placement decisions; and (3) experimental verification of a combined axial-dispersion and incomplete-mixing water quality model (AZRED-II). The study concludes that water quality models do impact sensor placement decisions, especially in highly interconnected networks; that risk assessment is a valuable evaluation tool for providing information concerning a system's vulnerability to contamination and also information that can affect sensor placement decisions; and that AZRED-II is superior to other water quality models at predicting the spatiotemporal pattern of a pulse through a distribution network with cross junctions under laminar flow. The other sections of the study describe the connection that exists between water distribution security and water quality models.