Càtedra Taigua of Urban Water Engineering and Management

Water quality

The quality of the water circulating through distribution networks is a fundamental aspect, since it reaches users guaranteed as potable. It is necessary to ensure a minimum residual chlorine level (in countries such as Catalonia) to avoid the presence of microorganisms without exceeding maximum limits. On the other hand, the use of disinfectants generates by-products (DBP) that must be monitored. There are an increasing number of compounds included among those considered hazardous to human health.

Decisions to ensure the best possible quality require information that cannot come solely from direct measurements. Efforts are being made to model this quality (residence time, chlorine, and DBP) in combination with hydraulic models.
  • Study of chlorine prediction in networks as a function of pipe breaks by selected nodes. A Master’s Thesis (TFM) was proposed with the title Study and modeling of chlorine decay in a drinking water distribution network. This thesis is being carried out by Scott Martínez Vila, a student of the Master’s Degree in Automatic Systems Engineering and Industrial Electronics, under the supervision of Josep Cugueró and Ramon Pérez.
  • Study of chlorine prediction in networks with more than one water source. An initiation to research scholarship (INIREC) was created starting on July 1, 2025. Jamal Ikiss, a student of the Master’s Degree in Automatic Systems Engineering and Industrial Electronics, won the scholarship and is working on this topic under the supervision of Ramon Pérez.
  • TThe collaboration between the chair and the EURECAT Sustainability Unit has brought together efforts to develop and calibrate models for the creation of DBP (disinfection by-products) in distribution networks. These models, developed within the framework of the SAFECREW project, require programming of functions based on EPANETmsx. Both the INIREC scholarship of Kiara Kristin Rodriguez and the Bachelor’s Thesis of Berta Rodó (Study and design of an application for simulating water quality in a distribution network) are progressing along this line.