EXCESS STORAGE; UTILITIES' ACHILLES' HEEL

摘要

Historically, distribution storage has been designed with little or no regard to water quality concerns. The driving mechanism was strictly based on hydraulic issues such as pressures and flows, largely due to restrictions imposed for fire suppression and prevention, typically identified by the Insurance Services Office (ISO). Storage was also driven, in part, to provide the customer with assurances that the water supply would not be interrupted. Regulations such as the Total Coliform Rule (TCR), the Surface Water Treatment Rule, the THM Rule, etc., which can be impacted directly or indirectly by storage were not in place and as a result adverse effects from excessive storage often went unnoticed. Further, storage was and still is designed to be strategically located throughout the distribution system. Distribution systems however, are not static. Like the communities they serve, distribution systems change and evolve over time. What was once considered strategic, may no longer be the case for many systems. Therefore, there is a need to reevaluate distribution system storage capacity and location on a frequent ongoing basis.