We Heard You— Check Out the OpenFlows WaterGEMS Updated Control Editor
Check Out the OpenFlows WaterGEMS Updated Control Editor with special Q&A with Tom Walski
One Hydrant vs. Two Hydrant Flow Test
Pretty much everyone who has worked in water distribution has been involved with hydrant flow testing at one time or another. It’s not very difficult. Place a pressure gauge on a residual hydrant and flow a nearby hydrant while recording the hydrant flow and the pressure at the residual hydrant with no flow and with flow. The procedure is documented in many places (AWWA, 2016).
Is Real-Time Control Real?
While writing research papers on how real-time control has become a major industry in academia, Tom has not seen a great deal of RTC applied in real systems.
What Happens When the Power Drops Out?
Pump stations are fed by the power grid, so when the power goes out, it also goes out for water pumping stations. And water utilities don’t like their systems losing pressure.
Success Story | Blackwell Group Picks CivilStorm for Their Stormwater Modeling Solution
The Blackwell Group is a multidisciplinary engineering firm located in Virginia that performs work in the residential, commercial, and government sectors. Stormwater design and site grading are just a few of the many services that Blackwell Group offers. In a typical stormwater project, the Blackwell Group designs a grading plan for a proposed redevelopment or new development. While creating the grading plan, they evaluate stormwater impacts of both pre- and post-development by performing hydrologic studies for the 2-, 10-, and 100-year storm events.
Real-Time Model Maintenance
In many cases, the modeler can simply grab the latest calibrated model from the master planning study and apply it to address an operational problem. However, water and wastewater systems are constantly evolving as new facilities are brought online, customers are added, or adjustments are made to system operations.
Where Did Real-Time Modeling and Digital Twins Come From?
I recently returned from the 2022 AWWA Annual Conference. Two popular trends discussed at the conference were real-time modeling and digital twins. Which made me want to go back in time and find out where those concepts originated.
Water Quality and Living at the Bottom of a Bag
In general, water quality tends to deteriorate with water age as disinfectant residual decreases, microbial activity increases, and disinfectant by-products increase. Locations at the end of long dead-end pipes generally have the highest water age and hence the poorest water quality.
Are Your Pressure Gauges Calibrated?
Pumps & Systems magazine had a good article recently on the need to calibrate pressure gauges. They pointed out that pressure gauges (and sensors) tend to lose accuracy over time; specifically, that gauges should be calibrated at a regular interval, suggesting annually as typical.