In this study, air scouring cleaning was selected and applied among 5 small blocks (S1~S5) in domestic S cities to analyze the cleaning effect of particles causing discoloration. In order to identify the cleaning effect, 10 locations were selected as water quality investigation point, such as the stagnant or water mains ends. Removal of solids, variation of particle components, weight and concentration were analyzed. And the level of the cleanness of the surface inside water mains using endoscope was investigated. As a result of analysis, the solids discharged after cleaning were mainly sand and gravel, pieces related to pipe materials, and corrosion products. As a result of analyzing the concentrated particles of the filter before and after cleaning, it was found that the change in discoloration on the filter was large. In addition, as a result of comparing the weight and the concentration of the particles, it was found that the particles causing discoloration were significantly removed after cleaning. From the results of the endoscopy, it was confirmed that most of the precipitated and accumulated dark yellow discoloration matters inside water mains were removed through cleaning. Therefore, it seems that the particles causing discoloration in water decreased after cleaning. Therefore, it is expected that, if properly cleaning was applied, matters that cause discoloration can be removed from the water mains, and customer's complaints can also be reduced through water quality improvement.

This research proposes an optimal flushing operation technique in an effort to prevent secondary water pollutions and accidents in aged pipes, and to improve the cleaning effect of unidirectional flushing. Water flow directions were analyzed using EPANET 2.0, while flushing and air scouring experiments in forward and reverse directions were performed in the field. In 42 experiments, average residual chlorine concentration and turbidity were improved after cleaning compared to before cleaning. It was found that even when the same cleaning method was used, further improvement of cleaning effect was possible by applying air injection and reverse direction cleaning techniques. By means of one-way ANOVA(Analysis of variance), it was also possible to statistically verify the need of actively utilizing air injection and reverse direction cleaning. Based on correlation between turbidity and TSS, the total amount of suspended solids removal was estimated for 874 flushing operations and 194 air scouring operations. The result showed that air scouring used more discharge water than flushing by an average of 4.9 m3 yet with larger amounts of suspended solids removal by an average of 145.9 g. The result of analysis on turbidity values from 887 flushing operations showed low cleaning effect of unidirectional flushing for the pipes with diameters over 300 mm. In addition, the turbidity values measured during cleaning showed an increasing tendency as pipe age increased. The methodology and results of this research are expected to contribute to the efficient maintenance and improvement of water quality in water distribution networks. Follow-up research involving the measurement of water quality at regular time intervals during cleaning would allow a more accurate comparison of discharge water quality characteristics and cleaning effects between different cleaning methods. To this end, it is considered necessary to develop a standardized manual that can be used in the field and to provide relevant trainings.

A membrane module including grid was designed and introduced to MBR (membrane bio-reactor) for the purpose of better control of membrane fouling. It could be anticipated that the grid enhances the shear force of fluid-air mixture into the membrane surface by even-distributing the fluid-air to the membrane module. As MLSS concentration, packing density which is expressed in the ratio of the housing and the cross-sectional area of membrane fibers (Am/At) and air-flow rate were changed, membrane foulings were checked by monitoring fouling resistances. The total fouling resistance (Rc+Rf) without grid installation (i.e., control) was 2.13×1012 m-1 , whereas it was reduced to 1.69×1012 m-1 after the grid was installed. Regardless of the grid installation, the Rc+Rf increased as the packing density increased from 0.09 to 0.28, however, the increment of resistance for the grid installation was less than that of the control. Increase in the air flow rate did not always guarantee the reduction of fouling resistance, indicating that the higher air flow rate can partially de-flocculate the activated sludge flocs, which led to severer membrane fouling. Consequently, installation of grids inside the housing have brought a beneficial effect on membrane fouling and optimum air flow rate is important to keep the membrane lowering fouling.

Deposits discharged through the cleaning mainly were cement mortar, bitumen paintings and rust pieces, and fragments of perforation, stones and gravels. Deposits were more removed through swabbing pig cleaning rather than air scouring cleaning on the whole. However, air scouring cleaning were not influenced by the constraint conditions such as a change in the diameter or the presence of the valve in water mains compare to swabbing pig cleaning. So, it was thought that air scouring cleaning might be more favorable to water distribution network cleaning in the future. After the cleaning, water quality including residual chlorine and turbidity also was improved because of the removal of a significant amount of the deposits. Therefore, if the cleaning is continuously and regularly implemented in water mains, it is expected that it will help to recover the reliability and to preserve the health of water quality.

The main objective of this research is to study feasibility for applying metal membrane to remove particles from air scouring membrane backwash water. Also, the research was conducted to investigate the influence of polyamine coagulation on floc growth in membrane backwash water as pretreatment for removal particles. From the results of experiments for evaluating the influence of polyamine coagulation on floc growth, it was investigated that particles in the rage of 2~50 μm grew up to 30~5,000 μm. In addition, all six metal membranes showed lower removal efficiency, which was 0.87~13.89%, in the case of no polyamine coagulant. On the other hand, in the case of injecting polyamine coagulant, those did extremely high efficiency in 56~92%. From the SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope) images of filtered wiremesh and metal foam membrane, sieve effects were predominant for liquid solid separation in wiremesh and adsorption and diffusion capture effects were predominant in metal foam membrane.