Fish, K. orcid.org/0000-0002-3265-2826, Sharpe, R.L., Biggs, C.A, et al. (1 more author) (2022) Impacts of temperature and hydraulic regime on discolouration and biofilm fouling in drinking water distribution systems. Plos Water, 1 (8). e0000033. ISSN 2767-3219
Abstract
Discolouration is the greatest cause of customer dissatisfaction with drinking water quality, potentially masking other failures, including microbial issues, which can impact public health and well-being. The theorised association between biofilms (complex microbial communities) and discolouration within drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) was explored, whilst studying the impact and interactions of seasonal temperature variations and hydraulic regime. Transferability of findings to operational DWDS was ensured by using a temperature controlled, full-scale distribution experimental facility. This allowed isolation of the factors of interest, with integration of physical, chemical and microbial analyses. Greater discolouration and biofilm cell accumulation was observed under warmer (summer, 16°C) temperatures compared to cooler (winter, 8°C), evidence of microbiology being an important driver in DWDS discolouration behaviour. Temperature was generally more influential upon discolouration and biofilm cell volumes than the shear stress imposed by the hydraulic regimes, which included three steady state and two varied flow patterns. However, the trends were complex, indicating interactions between the two parameters in governing microbial accumulation and discolouration. These results are important in informing sustainable management of our ageing DWDS infrastructure to deliver safe high quality drinking water. By providing new evidence that discolouration is a biofilm/microbiologically-mediated process, we can better understand the importance of targeting interventions to hotter seasons, and manipulating hydraulic conditions (which we can control), to minimise the long-term impacts of impending changing climates on water quality.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 Fish et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | water quality; discolouration; Drinking Water Distribution Systems (DWDS); temperature; hydraulics; biofilms |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 05 Aug 2022 14:04 |
Last Modified: | 19 Aug 2022 08:56 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Public Library of Science |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1371/journal.pwat.0000033 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:189742 |