Supplying sufficient, safe and clean drinking water through old pipes

Abstract

Drinking water is the essential foundation for public health, society and the economy. After treatment to extremely high, consistent standards we distribute this vital commodity via a vast ageing systems of pipes of various materials, diameters and conditions. Put end on end there is enough water supply pipe in the UK to reach beyond the moon’s orbit. The average known age of this vital infrastructure is ~80+years. There is inevitably leakage from these systems, and the physical, chemical and biological quality of the water is changed during the days that it takes to traverse the pipe systems. Despite renewal rates of <0.5% for decades we are demanding ever more from these systems and facing increasing pressure from changing climates and increase and increasingly demanding populations. This talk will explore a range of quantity and quality related research, exploring the challenges being addressed and opportunities arising from the developments being made. It will end with perspectives for future directions.

Bio

Joby Boxall is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Professor of Water Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Sheffield, UK. He is an expert in urban water engineering, known for research on processes and interactions within drinking water distribution systems infrastructure. He provides industry and society with sustainable engineering solutions through the development of new fundamental understanding evidenced experimentally. He has had major influence in the fields of water quality, leakage and asset management for drinking water distribution systems. The impact of his research is usually in the hard category, preventative maintenance ahead of failure.