What is it about?
This paper is about what every modern, healthy city has: a sewer system that carries waste to a treatment facility, to safeguard public health. But what if the sewers are old, and leaking? Many of them are. If they are leaking near groundwater or surface water, this degrades the environment they are meant to protect. But upgrading old sewers is expensive. Where to start? We've developed a way for any city to prioritize, using information they already have.
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Why is it important?
Leaking sewers lose water, and they contaminate groundwater and possibly urban streams. Cities have so many challenges, and they don't have funds to fix all degraded infrastructure at once. This research shows how cities could use the information they already have to determine which of their sewers are most likely polluting groundwater and possibly surface waters. Prioritizing sewer repairs to safeguard urban waters is smart.
Perspectives
I am particularly excited about this work because it shows any city how to manage some of its hidden, but most vital, resources. As cities grow, new tools to manage infrastructure are ever important.
Dr. Patricia A Holden
University of California,Santa Barbara
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Spatial Models of Sewer Pipe Leakage Predict the Occurrence of Wastewater Indicators in Shallow Urban Groundwater, Environmental Science & Technology, January 2017, American Chemical Society (ACS),
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05015.
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