Archives of Civil Engineering

Abstract

Drinking water systems are critical to society. They protect residents from waterborne illnesses and encourage economic success of businesses by providing consistent water supplies to industries and supporting a healthy work force. This paper shows a study on water quality management in a treatment plant (TP) using the Box-Jenkins method. A comparative analysis was carried out between concentrations of water quality parameters, and Colombian legislation and guidelines established by the World Health Organization. We also studied the rainfall influence in relation to variations in water quality supplied by the TP. A correlation analysis between water quality parameters was carried out to identify management parameters during the TP operation. Results showed the usefulness of the Box-Jenkins method for analyzing the TP operation from a weekly timescale (mediumterm), and not from a daily timescale (short-term). This was probably due to significant daily variations in the management parameters of water quality in the TP. The application of a weekly moving average transformation to the daily time series of water quality parameter concentrations significantly decreased the mean absolute percentage error in the forecasts of Box-Jenkins models developed. Box-Jenkins analysis suggested an influence of the water quality parameter concentrations observed in the TP during previous weeks (between 2-3 weeks).This study was probably constituted as a medium-term planning tool in relation to atypical events or contingencies observed during the TP operation. Finally, the findings in this study will be useful for companies or designers of drinking water treatment systems to take operational decisions within the public health framework.