<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Wadiso 6 User Guide > Time/Water quality simulation > Time/WQ techniques and general concepts > Time simulation water quality model > Water Age and Source Tracing

In addition to chemical transport, EPANet water quality simulator can also model the changes in water age throughout a distribution system. Water age is the time spent in the network by a parcel of water. New water entering the network from reservoirs or source nodes, enters with age equal to zero. Water age provides a simple, non-specific measure of the overall quality of delivered drinking water. Internally, EPANet treats age as a reactive constituent, whose growth follows zero-order kinetics, with a rate constant equal to 1 (i.e., each second, the water becomes a second older).

 

EPANet can also perform source tracing. Source tracing tracks over time what percentage of water reaching any node in the network had its origin at a particular node. The source node can be any node in the network, including tanks or reservoirs. Internally, EPANet treats this node as a constant source of a non-reacting constituent, that enters the network with a concentration of 100. Source tracing is a useful tool for analysing distribution systems drawing water from two or more different raw water supplies. It can show to what degree water from a given source blends with that from other sources, and how the spatial pattern of this blending changes over time.