Getting Your Money's Worth - Collecting and Utilizing Accurate Flow Monitoring Data for Collection System Analysis and Modeling

A comprehensive flow monitoring network can provide powerful insight about the performance of a sanitary sewer collection system. Accurate flow monitoring data reveals numerous system details, such as sewer usage patterns, the presence of sediments, groundwater infiltration, rainfall-dependent inflow and infiltration, stream intrusion, and sewer exfiltration or leakages. Knowledge of these details can be used to improve system performance by identifying problems in the collection system and prompting maintenance or repairs. In addition, this information is vital to the calibration and accuracy of a sanitary sewer model. However, developing an effective flow monitoring strategy and ensuring the collection of useful data can be quite daunting to some utilities. This paper describes a recommended flow monitoring strategy and highlights the advantages of a comprehensive plan. Data analysis and interpretation of results are emphasized. Examples from various flow monitoring projects are used to illustrate the points.