Toilets Save Lives

Toilets Save Lives

Erika Christakis advocates for better sanitation. She points out that the "impact of poor sanitation — and its economic consequences — is well-known": Source, The Dish

So why hasn’t this become an issue of global concern? Instead, between 1997 and 2008, the percentage of international aid that went to sanitation and water fell from 8% to 5%. Concerns over safe drinking water get much more attention, despite a recent World Bank study that found a more pronounced impact on health from building toilet infrastructure than from drinking-water improvements. Few people enjoy talking about bodily functions, and it’s hard for emerging economies to get excited about pit latrines and compost toilets when they’d rather showcase their shiny new buildings and high-speed trains. Feces and open sewers are a hard sell for donors too. There’s no pretty logo — no babbling brook or fresh water spring — for a toilet.

Convolution of the RDII UH from R, T and K in SWMM 5

Subject:  Convolution of the RDII UH from R, T and K in SWMM 5

 

The convolution uses the value of R and the Time Base to estimate the amount of Infiltration and Inflow in the Sewer Network.  The short, medium and long term UH’s are estimated at each Wet Hydrology time step to make a smooth hydrograph out of the R, T and  K parameters of the Rainfall Dependent Infiltration and Infiltration Method (Figure 1).  The three UH’s can be displaced as well if you use the RTK storage parameters (Figure 2)

 

Figure 1.  The short, medium and long UH’s are convoluted in SWMM 5 from the Rainfall Time Series.

Figure 2.   The Initial Abstraction Depth can be used to shift the generated UH in time or reduce the peak flow and total volumes.

 

Duluth Minnesota Flooding of June 20, 2012

Subject: Duluth Minnesota Flooding of June 20, 2012 

 

The images come from this Duluth Link.    Radar Map 

 

A series of "training" thunderstorms that all passed over the same region have dumped 4 - 5 inches of rain over a wide swath of Northern Minnesota overnight and early this morning. Nearly 8 inches of rain fell in the Denfeld area of western Duluth. This is more rain than fell in the city's previous worst flood on record, which occurred August 20, 1972. Major flooding is occurring, and only emergency travel is recommended in the city due to flooded roads. system and the saturated ground cannot take much more rain. According to wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, the all-time 24 hour precipitation record for Duluth is 5.79" on 8/22 - 8/23 1978; 4.14" was recorded on Tuesday at the airport. 

  

 Water overflows from a storm sewer in Duluth, Minn. on June 20.

Duluth Mayor Don Ness said he would declare a state of emergency after the deluge of up to 9 inches of rain that he said caused extensive damage to the port city of about 86,000.

Bob King/The Duluth News-Tribune/AP 

 

 

This car fell into a huge sinkhole on Skyline Parkway in Duluth. 

 

Bob King  /  Duluth News Tribune

This damage Wednesday was on Duluth's Olney Street.

Major flooding in Duluth, Minnesota
A serious flood emergency is occurring in Duluth, Minnesota. A series of "training" thunderstorms that all passed over the same region have dumped 4 - 5 inches of rain over a wide swath of Northern Minnesota overnight and early this morning. Nearly 8 inches of rain fell in the Denfeld area of western Duluth. This is more rain than fell in the city's previous worst flood on record, which occurred August 20, 1972. Major flooding is occurring, and only emergency travel is recommended in the city due to flooded roads. system and the saturated ground cannot take much more rain.

According to wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, the all-time 24 hour precipitation record for Duluth is 5.79" on 8/22 - 8/23 1978; 4.14" was recorded on Tuesday at the airport.

Figure 4. Radar-estimated rainfall from the Duluth, Minnesota radar.

Mass and Concentration Water Quality Loadings in SWMM 5

Subject:   Mass and Concentration Water Quality Loadings in SWMM 5

 

If you have a time series of flow and water quality at a node in SWMM 5 you have the option of using either a Mass loading or a concentration loading (Figure 1).     If you have a concentration then the load to the node internally in SWMM 5 is the flow times the concentration.  Alternatively, if you have Mass loading then the program will calculate the concentration from the flow and the load.  The table below shows some combinations of flow in cfs and load in pounds per day to yield various BOD 5 concentrations it the network nodes and  links (Figure 2).  For example, at a flow of 10 cfs you can get a BOD5 concentration of 100 mg/l with a loading of about 5400 pounds of BOD5 per day (Figure 3).

 

Figure 1.  If you use a time series load in SWMM 5 you need TWO time series, one for the flow and one for the mass load or concentration.

 

 

Figure 2.   The Mass loading needed to generate a concentration at a particular flow rate.

 

Flow (CFS)

BOD5 (mg/l)

BOD 5 Pounds Per Day

1

1

5.39

1

10

53.89

1

50

269.45

1

100

538.89

1

200

1077.79

10

1

53.89

10

10

538.89

10

50

2694.47

10

100

5388.93

10

200

10777.87

100

1

538.89

100

10

5388.93

100

50

26944.66

100

100

53889.33

100

200

107778.66

 

Figure 3.  The calculated BOD 5 concentration in the link from the Mass Loading.


Innovyze Releases Next Generation InfoWater VCM, the Ultimate Solution for Infrastructure Criticality and Vulnerability Assessment

 

Innovyze Releases Next Generation InfoWater VCM, the Ultimate Solution for Infrastructure Criticality and Vulnerability Assessment 

Latest Version Delivers Unprecedented Capabilities for Improved Water Infrastructure Maintenance and Operational Effectiveness

 

Broomfield, Colorado USA, June 11, 2012 — In its ongoing quest to equip the global drinking water industry with the world’s most comprehensive and innovative GIS-centric smart water network modeling and management solutions, Innovyze today announced significant new enhancements to its InfoWater VCM (Valve Criticality Modeling) software. Since 2006, VCM has been available as an extension of the industry-leadingInfoWater Suite, and with this new version users have expanded power and flexibility to identify all vulnerabilities affecting their water distribution system reliability, estimate the extent and potential consequences of infrastructure failure on customer service levels, optimize the allocation of rehabilitation and maintenance resources, and improve knowledge of system operation.

Valve criticality assessment identifies which valves most crucially affect the scale of impact of potential system failures. InfoWater VCM automatically carries out a comprehensive assessment of the hydraulic impact of valve operations on customer service levels, when the valves either are shut or fail to shut during planned or emergency work. This information is essential in ensuring that future expenditures (maintenance and replacement) are focused on the valves most vital to maintaining the serviceability of these key infrastructure assets. Pinpointing these critical valves requires an understanding of the risk (probability and consequence) should the valve fail to shut. Consequence is measured in terms of the numbers of properties (and customers) that would be disconnected or experience unacceptable levels of service (e.g., low pressure or loss of supply). 

Built atop ArcGIS (Esri, Redlands, CA), InfoWater seamlessly integrates sophisticated analytics, systems dynamics, and optimization functionality directly within the ArcGIS setting. From fire flow and water quality simulations, event backtracking analysis, and energy cost and carbon footprint analysis to pressure zone management and advanced genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization, the InfoWater product suite comes equipped with everything water utility owner-operators need to best plan, design, operate, secure, and sustain their distribution systems. The software also serves as a base platform for advanced modeling, operational, asset management, and capital planning extensions. Among these critical applications are IWLive(real-time operations and security), InfoWater UDF (unidirectional flushing). CapPlan (risk-based capital planning), InfoWater MSX (multispecies, temperature, and particle transport/deposition modeling). InfoSurge(surge/transient analysis and design), and InfoMaster (analytics-driven asset management).

Key new functionality in InfoWater VCM includes:

  • Automated network model element construction from GIS layers, including use of GIS layer-based gate-valve elements directly for closeable element definition to achieve a more representative description of isolation operation.
  • Complete analysis and reporting of disconnected elements and affected areas, including total demand shortfall, total disconnected pipe length, and disconnected pipe diameter range (minimum, maximum, and average).
  • Improved tracing functionality.
  • Direct criticality modeling of any subnetwork.
  • Enhanced hydraulic performance assessment on total affected demands, no-service demands, low and high pressures, pressure drops and increases, loss in levels of service, high pipe velocities, and flow reversals.
  • Comprehensive reporting on affected areas, including closed area, disconnected area, and combined area as well as assessment summary on junction and pipe performance.
  • Complete color-coding of assessment results for visual inspection.

“The new InfoWater VCM release reflects our continuing commitment to provide significant competitive advantages for our users through the evolution of smart water network modeling technology,” said Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEEM, Hon.D.WRE, Dist.D.NE, F.ASCE, President and COO of Innovyze. “By greatly extending the core features of InfoWater, this latest release enables water utilities to quickly determine their hidden water system vulnerabilities and helps them develop optimal operational strategies that minimize costs while enhancing system reliability, integrity, and performance. Customers are adopting this breakthrough technology at a rapid rate.”