A variable chlorine decay rate modeling of the Matsapha town water network was developed based on initial chlorine dosages. The model was adequately described by a second order rate function of the chlorine decay rate with respect to the initial chlorine dose applied. Simulations of chlorine residuals within the Matsapha water distribution network were run using the EPANET 2.0 program at different initial chlorine dosages and using the variable decay rate as described by the second order model. The measurement results indicated that the use of constant decay rate tended to underestimate chlorine residuals leading to potentially excess dosages with the associated chemical cost and side effects. The error between the two rate models varied between 0% and 15%. It is suggested that the use of water quality simulation programs such as EPANET be enhanced through the extension programs that accommodate variable rate modeling of chlorine residuals within distribution systems.

A model for relating the time-dependent variable rate of reaction to the decay of chlorine residual in water is developed based on the initial chlorine dose, molar concentrations of reactants, and the rate constant itself. The mathematical model, while retaining its second order nature, simplifies the solution as the residual chlorine and aggregate parameters such as molar concentration of reactants can be estimated. The model is based on molar-averaged reaction rates involving arithmetic and harmonic means of reactants that eliminate the individual reaction rates that are difficult to determine. Part of the mathematical assumption used in the derivation of the equations using molar averaging is tested for its validity through theoretical as well as Monte Carlo simulation of the error term over wide ranges of assumed reaction rates and molar concentration of reactants. The second-order variation of the rate of reaction with respect to the initial chlorine concentration has been verified through experimental tests of bulk chlorine decay carried out at different chlorine doses.

A declining rate filter operating through over flow control mode is proposed in this paper with a view to improving the overall performance of declining rate filters. Traditional declining rate filters have in-built self-adjustment of flow rates among the filters assisted with downstream orifice for flow control with limited flexibility for further adjustment. The proposed design allows the control of flow level and flow rates in individual filters, the water level in the over flow distributor tank and offers increased flexibility in responding to changes in filtration variables and optimising the overall performance of the filters. The design set up can also operate as constant rate filter through setting the water level in the distributor tank to the maximum.

Nutrients derived from urine such as nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium constitute valuable sources of fertilizers needed for growing plants and as alternatives to commercial fertilizers. Concentration of nutrients available from urine provides advantages of reducing the volume of transportation, the health risk and making nutrient application to soil stable and suitable. An exploratory review of a possible technology for concentration of nutrients from urine using solar power assisted evaporation and carbon dioxide trapping of evaporated ammonia is discussed in this paper as a potentially viable technology for concentrating nutrients from urine as well as another sequestration option to reduce carbon foot print in the environment.

A method for solving systems of linear equations is presented based on direct decomposition of the coefficient matrix using the form LAX LB B′ = =. Elements of the reducing lower triangular matrix L can be determined using either row wise or column wise operations and are demonstrated to be sums of permutation products of the Gauss pivot row multipliers. These sums of permutation products can be constructed using a tree structure that can be easily memorized or alternatively computed using matrix products. The method requires only storage of the L matrix which is half in size compared to storage of the elements in the LU decomposition. Equivalence of the proposed method with both the Gauss elimination and LU decomposition is also shown in this paper.