Modeling of residual chlorine in a drinking water network in times of pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

Abstract

Due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease there is a need for public water supply of the highest quality. Adequate levels of chlorine allow immediate elimination of harmful bacteria and viruses and provide a protective residual throughout the drinking water distribution network (DWDN). Therefore, a residual chlorine decay model was developed to predict chlorine levels in a real drinking water distribution network. The model allowed determining human exposure to drinking water with a deficit of residual chlorine, considering that it is currently necessary for the population to have clean water to combat coronavirus Covid 19. The chlorine bulk decay rates (kb) and the reaction constant of chlorine with the pipe wall (kw) were experimentally determined. Average kb and kw values of 3.7 d^− 1 and 0.066 m d^− 1 were obtained, respectively. The values of kb and kw were used in EPANET to simulate the chlorine concentrations in a DWDN. The residual chlorine concentrations simulated by the properly calibrated and validated model were notably close to the actual concentrations measured at different points of the DWDN. The results showed that maintaining a chlorine concentration of 0.87 mg L^− 1 in the distribution tank, the residual chlorine values in the nodes complied with the Ecuadorian standard (0.3 mg L^− 1); meanwhile, about 45% of the nodes did not comply with what is recommended by the WHO as a mechanism to combat the current pandemic (0.5 mg L^− 1). This study demonstrated that residual chlorine modeling is a valuable tool for monitoring water quality in the distribution network, allowing to control residual chlorine levels in this pandemic season.