Rapid response to contamination events of drinking water distribution networks

“The provision of safe drinking water is essential in every society since it determines people’s health and well-being. Drinking Water Distribution Networks (DWDN) are vital for this purpose but are susceptible to pathogen contamination and outbreaks due to cascading events after infrastructure failures, main repairs, human errors, or malicious attacks. When a contamination event occurs in the DWDN, the preservation of health of the public should be the top priority in every emergency response mechanism. Exposure to contaminated water can cause significant health risks by introducing pathogens such as enterovirus, Campylobacter, and Cryptosporidium. For this reason, DWDNs are nowadays considered critical infrastructures, recognized by USA’s Presidential Policy Directive 21 and the European Union’s Directive (EU) 2022/2557.
During contamination events in the DWDN, water utilities need to act quickly, make informed decisions, assess the threat, and effectively mitigate the event. The central objective of the study of this thesis was to generate knowledge to help address the growing challenge of waterborne pathogen contamination in DWDNs and develop applications that can enhance decision-making and immediate actions in such emergencies. Tools and methodologies were developed and evaluated focusing on two main pillars. The first pillar involves understanding the event based on historical knowledge. Innovative approaches were developed and assessed for Artificial Intelligence-based information extraction and question-answering using scientific publications, enabling rapid access to up-to-date pathogen characteristics, historical information on contamination events, and control actions. The second pillar focuses on predicting and managing the specific contamination event in real-time. Advanced modeling tools were created to simulate contamination events in DWDNs, providing realistic representations of hydraulics and water quality dynamics, predicted health impacts, and support for real-time decision-making during emergencies.”

(Citation: Paraskevopoulos, S. – Rapid response to contamination events of drinking water distribution networks (2025) – Delft University of Technology, 2025. 165 p. – doi: 10.4233/uuid:266d81af-e781-4570-99f7-674521bc7629)