Identifying sources of infiltration and inflow in sanitary sewers in a northern community: comparative assessment of selected methods

Infiltration and inflow (I/I) into sanitary sewers causes numerous negative effects on the whole wastewater management system and ultimately, on the receiving waters. Consequently, a number of methods have been developed to analyse the performance of sewer systems with respect to I/I, including: distributed temperature sensing (DTS), closed-circuit television (CCTV) inspections, flow and conductivity measurements, automatic or grab sampling of ammonium, smoke testing, and visual inspection of manholes. Such methods were compared in an application to sanitary sewers in a small community and assessed with respect to their accuracy and ability to identify locations of sources of I/I, as well as temporal and spatial resolutions of the obtained results. Furthermore, different approaches to ammonium sampling during I/I monitoring campaigns were discussed. It was concluded that among the methods tested in this study, DTS had the highest temporal and spatial resolutions, while ammonium grab sampling showed promise for initial screening of large catchments.

Automated summary

Infiltration and inflow (I/I) into sanitary sewers have negative impacts on the wastewater management system. Different methods, such as DTS and ammonium grab sampling, have been developed to analyze and monitor I/I. DTS showed the highest temporal and spatial resolutions, while ammonium sampling is promising for initial screening of large catchments.