Water Distribution System in Building and Its Microbiological Contamination Minimization

Abstract

Today we are facing the need to ensure water quality, so the basic requirement of today’s civilization is to assess the water quality and perform the necessary treatment, adapt, transport, and heat it. The water pipes as a major part of the entire water distribution system have undergone considerable technical and technological development. Today we know that the various piping materials that have been used to transport water throughout historical development had a great impact on water quality. Drinking water must not cause any health problems to users. Microbiological contamination of drinking water and the health risk caused by pathogens that colonize the technical systems, however, occasionally causes serious problems. These include, for example, some cases of epidemic outbreaks of deaths that have occurred in the past 10 years in various parts of the world (e.g. cholera, typhus). Legionnaires’ disease legionellosis also belongs to such newer diseases. The first case of Legionella infection from water distribution system was recorded in a patient’s kidney transplantation. Since then, Legionella has begun to be tracked in water systems in different types of buildings, including hotels, homes, factories, and ships. This bacterium was found throughout the water system, from the water source to the outflow fittings. The goal of this chapter is to present hot water tank – a mathematical model which simulates temperature profile of hot water tank and works on obtained approximated function. Temperature and water stagnation are one of the factors that caused microbiological contamination of water, and by knowing the temperature profile, we can reduce the possible risks. While respecting the basic parameters of hot water, it is required for a water supplier and operator of a building to ensure the prescribed quality and water temperature at each sampling site and avoid the Legionella growth.