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.
Pressure zones are important but can be difficult to understand. OpenFlow WaterGEMS and OpenFlows WaterCAD makes creating and managing pressure zones easy.
In the blog A Multi-Species Decay Model to Support Cost-Effective Chlorination in Distribution Systems, a cost-effective chlorination strategy is defined as the least-cost combination of doses (locations and rates) that achieves effective chlorination for a given stable flow regime and water temperature. Searching for such a strategy requires extended-period simulations for many dosing location and rate combinations.
Most hydraulic engineers would admit that the Darcy-Weisbach equation is the most theoretically correct equation for head loss in pipe flow. It is based on a force balance between the driving forces of pressure and gravity, offset by head loss and can be applied to any Newtonian fluid. It’s pretty elegant looking.
A dependable solution, like WaterGEMS, will increase your returns by saving on time spent on tasks and, therefore, cutting back on your project’s budget.
OpenFlows WaterGEMS offers a set of features that that make water network design easier, including an unmatched platform interoperability (CAD & GIS) and Scenario Management tools.
Pretty much all well-run water utilities periodically develop a master plan. The plan looks out 20, 30, 40 years and tries to layout development in source, treatment, and distribution systems. Based on the best available demand forecast, pipes, tanks, and pumps are laid out to evolve the system efficiently.
In most water systems, the tank water levels “float on the system” (orange system in the profile below). The HGL in the tank is the same as the nominal hydraulic grade in the system.
NPSHr is a property of the pump and is a function of the flow. This value is determined by testing done by the manufacturer and is usually presented as one of the pump characteristic curves. You want to ensure that the available NPSH (NPSHa) is greater than the required NPSH (NPSHr), or the water will vaporize in the pump and damage the pump.