A Discoloured Water Management Support Tool

Abstract

The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Quality and Treatment has identified discolouration, as an important research area based on Australian water industry needs. Water quality complaint levels reported by Australian water utilities range from a rate of 1.1 to 17.3 per thousand properties (WSAA Facts 2005). Discoloured water accounts for up to 80 per cent of these complaints. Identifying the cause of distribution system discolouration events is often difficult. The focus of the CRC Project "Understanding the generation of discoloured water at customer's tap" was to develop decision support tools to manage discolouration in drinking water systems. A web-based Discoloured Water Management Support Tool was developed to assess the cause and effect of critical discolouration issues. Nine potential mechanisms of discoloured water formation were identified as part of an extensive literature review and industry consultation process. This tool can be also used for knowledge management and training purposes. Information can be easily accessed using this tool to translate the research findings to water industry use. A risk assessment module was also developed, where the risk of a feature that causes discoloured water or a process that mitigates/treats discoloured water, can be evaluated for each of the nine mechanisms. This approach will guide managers into making decisions that will be effective in reducing the occurrence of discoloured water events.