A team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri) has developed a new way to model and track where lead particles might be transported during partial-replacement processes on lead pipes.
The goal, they explain, is to make drinking water supplies safer.
According to the researchers, one popular way to mitigate the risks of corrosion and leaching from these lead pipes is to dig up older lead lines and replace a portion of them with another metal, such as copper.
However, this technique can dislodge lead particulates and release them into the water supply. Furthermore, this route only partially replaces the lead pipe connection.
“We all know lead is not safe, it needs to go,” says Pratim Biswas, a professor at the school and chair of its energy, environmental, and chemical engineering unit. “This is the first comprehensive model that works as a tool to help drinking-water utility companies and others to predict the outcome of an action. If they have the necessary information of a potential action, they can run this model and it can advise them on how best to proceed with a pipe replacement to ensure there are no adverse effects.”
In their research, Biswas and graduate research assistant Ahmed A. Abokifa present their approach, which predicts how far lead particles and dissolved species might travel after they have been disturbed.
Utilizing water-quality modeling previously developed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Washington, DC), Biswas and his team built a new computational model to predict lead particulate release. Their model takes into account factors such as pipe age and dimensions, water-use patterns, water chemistry, and previous pipe disturbances.
After running a number of simulations testing their predictions, Biswas and his team say they are ready to make their model widely available to utility companies and even consumers.
Biswas says companies can input their individual system’s information and receive recommendations, thus allowing partial-pipe replacements to proceed without compromising water quality.
Abokifa and Biswas have also developed several other drinking-water distribution system models to accurately predict disinfectant concentrations in the pipe network, particularly for dead-end systems.
“We’ll work to make these accurate models readily available, so utilities can download and use them,” Biswas says. “The predictions of the model will guide them on best practices to ensure the safety of the public at large.”
Source: Washington University in St. Louis, source.wustl.edu.