In-pipe water quality monitoring in water supply systems under steady and unsteady state ow conditions:A quantitative assessment
Monitoring the quality of drinking water from the treatment plan t to the consumers tap is
critical to ensure compliance with national standards and/or WHO guideline levels. There
are a number of processes and factors affecting the water quality during transmission and
distribution which are little understood. A signi cant obstacle for gaining a detailed
knowledge of various physical and chemical processes and the effect of the hydraulic
conditions on the water quality deterioration within water supply systems is the lack of
reliable and low-cost (both capital and O & M) water quality sensors for continuous
monitoring. This paper has two objectives. The rst one is to present a detailed evaluation
of the performance of a novel in-pipe multi-parameter sensor probe for reagent- and
membrane-free continuous water quality monitoring in water supply systems. The second
objective is to describe the results from experimental research which was conducted to
acquire continuous water quality and high-frequency hydraulic data for the quantitative
assessment of the water quality changes occurring under steady and unsteady-state ow
conditions. The laboratory and eld evaluation of the multi-parameter sensor probe
showed that the sensors have a rapid dynamic response, average repeatability and unreliable accuracy. The uncertainties in the sensor data present signi cant challenges for the
analysis and interpretation of the acquired data and their use for water quality modelling