MODEL INTEGRATION TO IMPROVE AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR POLLUTION CONTROL OF THE CAUCA RIVER, COLOMBIA

摘要

One of the main problems in the water supply system in the city of Cali is related to the water quality of the Cauca River. An important source of pollution upstream of the intake of the Puerto Mallarino Treatment Plant (PMTP) is the south channel, part of the South Drainage System (SDS), which discharges into the Cauca River. The existing Early Warning System (EWS) prototype named EWS-Centinela aims to use real-time data from the Milan Station located in the Navarro area and data generated from the intake of the PMTP. EWS-Centinela estimates the risk level of a critical pollution event that may exceed levels of purification in the PMTP. In order to contribute to finding solutions, this research aims to show the potential that the integration of prediction models could have in improving the water quality estimation of the Cauca River. To this end, an urban drainage model of the SDS for Cali was developed using PCSWMM software. The existing water quality model of the Cauca River developed in MIKE 11 program was used along with the existing prototype EWS-Centinela. The input rainfall data to the urban drainage model was obtained from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The proposed integration shows not only the SDS effects in terms of quality and quantity of discharge into the Cauca River, but is also a tool for decision-making facing the high risk of pollution of the supply source for this city.