Derwort Samuel Friedemann, Manny Liliane, Carbajal Juan Pablo, Fischer Manuel, Rieckermann Joerg
Department of Urban Water Management, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf CH-8600, Switzerland.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, Skempton Building, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Water Sci Technol. 2025 Jul;92(1):79-95. doi: 10.2166/wst.2025.081. Epub 2025 Jun 23.
During wet weather, combined sewer overflows (CSOs) spill untreated wastewater to hydraulically protect wastewater treatment plants. Interestingly, in Switzerland, the impact of these discharges on surface water quality remains unclear due to limited monitoring of CSO spills. Although affordable sensors and regular data review could address this, it is unclear why most wastewater associations seldom assess this data, highlighting political and organisational challenges within wastewater associations and their stakeholder networks rather than technical ones. This study explores different policy instruments to promote sensor adoption in CSOs, e.g. for event duration monitoring, using an agent-based model (ABM). The stakeholders' behaviour is modelled through the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Bounded Confidence Model. We developed a prototype ABM, testing three policy instruments as scenarios: (i) professional events, (ii) mandatory sensor installation, and (iii) improved sensor technology. Our findings suggest that it is most effective to make sensor installation mandatory. However, quantitative results of the ABM must be taken with care, due to sparse data in regard to uncertainties, as emphasized by sensitivity analysis. Despite this, the process of building the model was considered beneficial, as it enhanced the understanding of the socio-technical system.
在潮湿天气期间，合流制下水道溢流（CSO）会将未经处理的废水排放出去，以对污水处理厂起到水力保护作用。有趣的是，在瑞士，由于对合流制下水道溢流的监测有限，这些排放对地表水水质的影响仍不明确。尽管价格合理的传感器和定期的数据审查可以解决这个问题，但尚不清楚为何大多数废水处理协会很少评估这些数据，这凸显了废水处理协会及其利益相关者网络内部的政治和组织挑战，而非技术挑战。本研究探索了不同的政策工具，以促进在合流制下水道溢流中采用传感器，例如使用基于主体的模型（ABM）进行事件持续时间监测。通过计划行为理论和有限信心模型对利益相关者的行为进行建模。我们开发了一个ABM原型，将三种政策工具作为情景进行测试：（i）专业活动，（ii）强制安装传感器，以及（iii）改进传感器技术。我们的研究结果表明，强制安装传感器最为有效。然而，正如敏感性分析所强调的，由于关于不确定性的数据稀少，ABM的定量结果必须谨慎对待。尽管如此，构建模型的过程被认为是有益的，因为它增进了对社会技术系统的理解。
