Journal of Hydroinformatics 5 (2003) 181-188

Identification, verification and validation of process models in wastewater engineering: a critical review

A. Aziz Guergachi and Gilles G. Patry

School of Information Technology Management, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5B 2K3 E-mail: a2guerga@ryerson.ca

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, 350 Cumberland, PO Box 450, Station A, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5 E-mail: patry@uottawa.ca

This article presents a critical review of the existing methodologies for process mathematical modelling in the area of wastewater engineering. It is argued that model identifiability is not a major issue in mathematical modelling. Model verifiability is a very demanding criterion that can be replaced by a less stringent one: model observability. The issue of ‘complex models versus reduced-order models’ is to be resolved by introducing a new concept: optimal model complexity. The traditional procedures of model validation are not adequate and a mathematical framework for model quality evaluation is needed.

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