The presence of heterotrophic plate count (HPC) bacteria in drinking water distribution systems is usually not considered harmful to the general consumer. However, precautions must be taken regarding the immunocompromised. All water supply authorities in South Africa are lawfully required to provide consumers with high-quality drinking water that complies with South African-and international standards. This study mainly focused on the isolation, identification and characterization of HPC and other bacteria from biofilm-and bulk water samples from two sampling points located within the Potchefstroom drinking water distribution system. Based on five main objectives set out in this study, results indicated that the bulk water at the J.S. van der Merwe building was of ideal quality fit for lifetime consumption. Application of enrichment-and selective media allowed for the isolation of 12 different bacterial morphotypes. These were identified by way of biochemical-and molecular methods as Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Brevundimonas spp., Clostridiaceae, Corynebacterium renale, Flavobacteriaceae, Kytococcus sedentarius, Leuconostoc lactic, Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Pseudomonas spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus capitis. The greatest diversity of bacteria was detected early autumn 2008, while the lowest diversity occurred during mid-winter 2007. Bacillus cereus, Kytococcus sedentarius and Staphylococcus capitis displayed potential pathogenic properties on blood agar. Kytococcus sedentarius could be classified as potentially the most pathogenic among the isolates. All isolates displayed multiple-resistant patterns towards tested antibiotics. Corynebacterium renale and Staphylococcus aureus were least resistant bacterial species and Lysinibacillus sphaericus the most resistant. All isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin (CIP) and streptomycin (S), but most were resistant to erythromycin (E). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) allowed for detailed examination of Brevundimonas spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Staphylococcus spp. The capability of Brevundimonas spp. to produce slime and store nutrients within inclusion bodies, suggests the ability of this bacterium to form biofilm and persist in the drinking water for prolonged periods. Despite the inhibitory or toxic effect of copper against bacterial growth, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the presence of biofilms as well as diatoms on red-copper coupons. Biofilm activity was also observed on reverse-osmosis (RO) filters. Since corrosion was evident on red-copper coupons, it is recommended that prospective studies also look into the significance of microbial induced corrosion (MIC) within the Potchefstroom drinking water distribution system. Other prospects include determining minimum inhibitory concentrations of isolates against antibiotics and the application of culture independent methods such as SSCP and DGGE to investigate biofilm development. The use of diatoms as an index of the drinking water quality is also suggested. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

A diversion weir is a headwork facility built across a river to raise the water level and to divert water for various purposes, such as irrigation, hydropower generation, etc. Diversion weirs with sidewise intakes are widely used in plain rivers. They are composed of many structural components which are designed for different purposes. In this thesis, a Windows-based, visual, user friendly program named WINDWEIR was developed in Visual Basic.NET programming language for the optimum design of a diversion weir with sidewise intake. It determines the overall dimensions of each of the components of the diversion weir and the total cost of the whole structure. It also performs stability analysis. It is such a flexible computer program that a design engineer can assess various dimensions of the structure from viewpoints of safety and economy by performing quick successive test runs to achieve an optimum solution among various alternatives.

ABSTRACT DESIGN OF WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM BY OPTIMIZATION USING RELIABILITY CONSIDERATIONS Akdogan, Tevfik Department of Civil Engineering Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nuri Merzi April 2005, 91 pages In spite of a wide research, design of water distribution networks are not realized using optimization techniques. One reason for this fact is, design of water distribution networks is evaluated, mostly, as a least-cost optimization problem where pipe diameters being the only decision variables. The other motivation for preferring the traditional modeling practice is that, existing optimization algorithms are not presented to the user as friendly as it should be. In fact, water distribution systems are very complex systems such that it is not easy to obtain least-cost design systems considering other constraints such as reliability, in addition to classical constraints related to hydraulic feasibility, satisfaction of nodal demands and requirement of nodal pressures. This study presents a user-friendly package concerning the design of water distribution networks by optimization using reliability considerations / this works employs the algorithm proposed by Goulter and Coals (1986). At the end, a skeletonized network design is offered / various costs are estimated in regard to the degree of reliability.

The monitoring of water distribution systems (WDSs) has been a very popular subject of study since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent passing of laws motivating the study of WDS monitoring to provide system protection in the event of a terrorist attack. Inhibiting many WDS monitoring studies to date is the large amount of computational expense required to conduct meaningful studies, especially for larger WDSs that are of most interest. In this study, methods were developed to determine the "importance" of WDS nodes in being considered as locations for sensors used to monitor a WDS in order to make sensor placement optimization more efficient. Single-objective protection goals considered individually in optimization were maximizing detection likelihood, minimizing expected detection time, and minimizing expected contaminated demand volume. A multiobjective protection goal accounting for all three single-objective goals concurrently was also considered; the formulation of the multiobjective optimization problem was intended to minimize tradeoffs among individual protection goals. Sensor placement optimization was carried out with the Iterative Subset Search Method (ISSM) employing genetic algorithms developed in this work; ISSM used nodal importance rankings to search a small subset of nodes for the optimal solution initially then broadened the search incrementally until convergence to a best solution occurred. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods developed, sensor placement was performed according to each of the protection goals for three study systems--one small and two large--and a variety of attack conditions. Desirable sensor node solutions that provided for significant protection were found in all cases, and in many cases sensor placement results were comparable to or better than those of other works. Nodal importance narrowed the search for optimal sensor nodes to a relatively small proportion of WDS nodes in most cases.

abstract: Nowadays there is a pronounced interest in the need for sustainable and reliable infrastructure systems to address the challenges of the future infrastructure development. This dissertation presents the research associated with understanding various sustainable and reliable design alternatives for water distribution systems. Although design of water distribution networks (WDN) is a thoroughly studied area, most researchers seem to focus on developing algorithms to solve the non-linear hard kind of optimization problems associated with WDN design. Cost has been the objective in most of the previous studies with few models considering reliability as a constraint, and even fewer models accounting for the environmental impact of WDN. The research presented in this dissertation combines all these important objectives into a multi-objective optimization framework. The model used in this research is an integration of a genetic algorithm optimization tool with a water network solver, EPANET. The objectives considered for the optimization are Life Cycle Costs (LCC) and Life Cycle Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions (LCE) whereby the system reliability is made a constraint. Three popularly used resilience metrics were investigated in this research for their efficiency in aiding the design of WDNs that are able to handle external natural and man-made shocks. The best performing resilience metric is incorporated into the optimization model as an additional objective. Various scenarios were developed for the design analysis in order to understand the trade-offs between different critical parameters considered in this research. An approach is proposed and illustrated to identify the most sustainable and resilient design alternatives from the solution set obtained by the model employed in this research. The model is demonstrated by using various benchmark networks that were studied previously. The size of the networks ranges from a simple 8-pipe system to a relatively large 2467-pipe one. The results from this research indicate that LCE can be reduced at a reasonable cost when a better design is chosen. Similarly, resilience could also be improved at an additional cost. The model used in this research is more suitable for water distribution networks. However, the methodology could be adapted to other infrastructure systems as well. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Construction 2012

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The standard design approach of water distribution systems requires that pressure at any point in the system is maintained within a range whereby the maximum pressure is not exceeded so that the likelihood of a pipe burst is reduced and the minimum pressure is always maintained or exceeded to ensure adequate flows for satisfying expected demands. High pressure systems tend to cause more frequent pipe breaks and an increase in energy use and leakage. Low pressure systems cause consumer complaints, make the system more susceptible to negative pressures, and possibly to the ingress of contaminants during transient events. The overall goal of establishing pressure standards is to balance these opposing tendencies to achieve a safe, reliable, and economic operation of the system. Yet, there are no universally acceptable or established rules or guidelines for establishing a pressure standard for water distribution system design, and few studies have considered whether the traditional standards are still applicable in modern systems. This study has made a critical appraisal on what pressure standards mean, where they are violated, and where they need revision to achieve a comprehensive picture about what the pressure standards really mean. The research also highlights the inter-related issues associated with pressure criteria. Assessment of the relationships governing water pressure, leakage, energy use and economics is realized via the analytical investigation of single pipes and the simulation of representative networks using the steady state analysis software EPANET 2. The role of minimum pressure standards, storage, pumping strategy, and resource prices on the energy and water loss of systems is analysed and assessed. In anticipation that pressure contributes to pipe break rates, a probabilistic approach considering uncertain water demand and pipe’s roughness modeled with a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) algorithm is presented. This study also explores how the minimum pressure standards affect transient pressures and reviews how destructive transient pressures may be controlled to limit reduced pressure surges within acceptable limits even when the minimum steady state pressure is relatively low. In order to place the research in practical context, this study develops a surge limit control algorithm for the design of a portable device for limiting the down-surge pressures by creating a pressure control boundary in a pipe system during hydrant operations. This boundary is established using the portable control device to safely operate a hydrant in a water distribution system. This study also highlights the notion that high level of pressure standards may lead to a troublesome squandering of water and energy and may disrupt the performance of water distribution systems. Given the too often degraded nature of water supply infrastructures, the on-going challenges of urban growth, and the increased stress on natural resources, the significant benefits of better controlling water pressure are not only welcome but urgently needed. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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