Age of Water & Flushing Assessments

Background

Understanding the age of water within a distribution network is crucial for maintaining water quality and ensuring safe consumption. The age of water refers to the time taken for treated water to travel from source to tap. Prolonged water age can lead to various issues, including taste and odour concerns, as well as potential degradation in water quality.

Water Quality Scientists play a vital role in monitoring and managing water quality across the network. They assess key parameters, investigate consumer complaints related to taste and odour, and recommend corrective measures such as flushing assessments to maintain water safety.

Our Approach

Hydraulic models provide valuable insights into the age of water within the network, calculating travel time based on typical demand conditions. To determine the age of water accurately, simulations must be configured to run over an extended timeframe with high computational accuracy and small increments in water quality timesteps. Model integrity is critical in this process, requiring careful consideration of demand allocation, reservoir pipework configurations, and dynamic model controls to ensure precise results.

When Age of Water data is combined with hydrant flushing simulation analysis, it becomes a powerful tool for identifying deadlegs, optimising hydrant flushing flow rates to protect local distribution pressures, and calculating flushing durations to develop a comprehensive flushing programme.

Assessments are conducted on a District Metered Area (DMA) basis, identifying problem mains where hydrants do not exist, highlighting issues at boundary valves that may be resolved through rezoning, and flagging concerns with push-pull reservoir systems where customer demands are insufficient relative to the storage tank volumes that serve them.

By integrating these two simulation techniques, water companies gain a valuable dataset that enhances asset management, reduces water quality incidents, and improves overall system understanding.

If you would like to learn more about how HydroCo can support you with age of water & flushing assessments, please contact us at innovation@hydroco.co.uk or call 023 92 450 007.