Case Study: Flow Monitoring Site Selection – Cincinnati MSD System Wide Model Project

The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSDGC) has developed a computer model of its collection system referred to as the System Wide Model (SWM). The model is being used to perform sewer system capacity assessment and to characterize and evaluate nearly 90 sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and approximately 230 combined sewer overflows (CSOs), address wet-weather problems related to SSOs and CSOs, and ultimately be used for real-time sewer system control evaluations. Development of the SWM required highly reliable flow monitoring data for calibration and verification of the model. MSDGC completed the temporary flow monitoring at over 300 locations. Nearly 160 of these locations are being monitored on long-term basis to support future model updates. This paper describes key activities that were performed to select appropriate flow monitoring sites, and how the data collected was used in the model development process.