It has become generally accepted that
water quality can deteriorate in a distribution
system through microbiological and chemical
reactions in the bulk phase and/or at the pipe
wall. A serious aspect of water quality deterioration
in a network is the loss of the disinfectant
residual that can weaken the barrier
against microbial contamination. The purpose
of this study was to address the loss of free
chlorine in corroded metal and polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) pipes subject to changes in
velocity. The study demonstrated that in older
unlined metal pipes, chlorine residuals disappear
rapidly with increased velocity but
remain stable in PVC pipe.
It is clear from the experiments reported
in this article that there are differences
between the wall demand characteristics of
unlined metallic and PVC pipe and that these
differences have regulatory implications. The
authors also found that although distribution
system modeling is an important activity that
should be maintained and even expanded, no
model is perfect and utilities must maintain a
carefully constructed calibration program
when models are used.Includes 30 references, tables, figures.