EPANET - Water Quality Modeling Capabilities

In addition to hydraulic modeling, EPANET provides the following water quality modeling capabilities:

• Models the movement of a non-reactive tracer material through the network over time
• Models the movement and fate of a reactive material as it grows (eg, a by-product of disinfection) or decays (residual chlorine) over time
• Models the age of water in a network
• Tracks the percentage of flow from a given node reaching all other nodes over time
• Models reactions in both the bulk flow and the pipe wall
• Uses n-th order kinetics to model reactions in bulk flow
• Uses zero or first-order kinetics to model pipe wall reactions
• Consider mass transfer limitations when modeling pipe wall reactions
• Allows growth or decay reactions to proceed up to a threshold concentration
• Employs global reaction rate coefficients that can be modified pipe by tube
• Allows wall reaction rate coefficients to be correlated with pipe roughness
• Allows time-varying concentration or mass inputs at any location on the network
• Storage tank designs as full mix, plug flow or two compartment reactors

By employing these resources, EPANET can study water quality phenomena such as:

• Mixing of water from different sources
• Age of water throughout the system
• Loss of chlorine residues
• Growth of disinfection by-products
• Events of propagation of contaminants