INTEGRATING SCADA AND GIS TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ON-LINE CHLORINE BOOSTERS USED IN RESPONSE TO CONTAMINATION INCIDENTS WITHIN A WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

Real-time control of drinking water distribution systems is becoming more vital as concerns increase over accidental or deliberate contamination. As chlorine sensors designed to detect for such intrusion events become a reality, operators of water distribution systems must be ready to manage the associated data. Integrating the real-time control of SCADA and the data management and analysis capabilities of GIS can assist operators in disaster response preparedness and better system control.The objective of this project is to evaluate the potential use of SCADA in conjunction with GIS to control and manage a booster disinfection system used in response to a contamination incident in a drinking water distribution system. The EPANET Programmer's Toolkit has been used to simulate a disinfection booster in a drinking water distribution system that has been affected by a chemical intrusion. The model simulates the automatic start of a chlorine booster through the SCADA system, due to a sensed drop in chlorine level as a result of a chemical intrusion. The increase in chlorine from the booster is assumed to counteract the effects of the intrusion. The results of the simulation have been analyzed in GIS to determine the effectiveness of the disinfection boosters. The results of the analyses illustrate that disinfection boosters could be an effective method of responding to an intrusion to a drinking water distribution system.