Near real-time detection of blockages in the proximity of combined sewer overflows using evolutionary ANNs and statistical process control

Journal Article (2022)
Author(s)

T. R. Rosin (University of Exeter)

Zoran Kapelan (TU Delft - Sanitary Engineering, University of Exeter)

E. Keedwell (University of Exeter)

Michele Romano (United Utilities)

Research Group
Sanitary Engineering
Copyright
© 2022 T. R. Rosin, Z. Kapelan, E. Keedwell, M. Romano
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.2166/hydro.2022.036
More Info
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Publication Year
2022
Language
English
Copyright
© 2022 T. R. Rosin, Z. Kapelan, E. Keedwell, M. Romano
Research Group
Sanitary Engineering
Issue number
2
Volume number
24
Pages (from-to)
259-273
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Abstract

Blockages are a major issue for wastewater utilities around the world, causing loss of service, environmental pollution, and significant cleanup costs. Increasing telemetry in combined sewer overflows (CSOs) provides the opportunity for near real-time data-driven modelling of wastewater networks. This paper presents a novel methodology, designed to detect blockages and other unusual events in the proximity of CSO chambers in near real-time. The methodology utilises an evolutionary artificial neural network (EANN) model for short-term CSO level predictions and statistical process control (SPC) techniques to analyse unusual level behaviour. The methodology was evaluated on historic blockage events from several CSOs in the UK and was demonstrated to detect blockage events quickly and reliably, with a low number of false alarms.