The development and application of improved solids modelling to enable resilient urban sewer networks

Madhu K Murali; Matthew R Hipsey; Anas Ghadouani; Zhiguo Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.120

The development and application of improved solids modelling to enable resilient urban sewer networks

J Environ Manage. 2019 Jun 15:240:219-230. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.120. Epub 2019 Apr 1.

Authors

Madhu K Murali¹, Matthew R Hipsey², Anas Ghadouani³, Zhiguo Yuan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, M051, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, Level 1, 8 Scenic Boulevard (Building 74) Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: madhu.murali@research.uwa.edu.au.
² School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, M004, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, Level 1, 8 Scenic Boulevard (Building 74) Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: matt.hipsey@uwa.edu.au.
³ Department of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, M051, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, Level 1, 8 Scenic Boulevard (Building 74) Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: anas.ghadouani@uwa.edu.au.
⁴ Advanced Water Management Centre, Level 4, Gehrmann Laboratories Building (60), The University of Queensland St Lucia QLD, 4072, Australia; Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, Level 1, 8 Scenic Boulevard (Building 74) Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: z.yuan@awmc.uq.edu.au.

PMID: 30947090
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.120

Abstract

Decreasing per capita water consumption in several OECD countries has led to a notable flow reduction into sewer systems. However, sewers still transport similar quantities of solids and pollutants, leading to increased wastewater concentration and, potentially, excess solids deposition. The shift towards decentralised water schemes in cities and widely reported changes in rainfall patterns cast additional uncertainty on future wastewater quality and flows into sewers. Excess solids deposition in sewers can cause increased environmental pollution risks at Combined Sewer Overflows from solids resuspension and reduced sewer hydraulic capacities. This review analyses the magnitude of excess solids deposition due to changing wastewater composition and evaluates current approaches to modelling sewer solids. Gaps in commonly used modelling approaches for deposited bed processes, specifically in bed consolidation and bed particle cohesion processes, and gross solids transport were identified and addressed to enable better solids risk prediction and management.

Keywords: Sediment transport; Sewer sediments; Sewer solids; Sewers; Urban drainage modelling.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cities
Sewage*
Wastewater*

Substances

Sewage
Waste Water