Capital Planning and Operational Efficiency for Water Utilities

This water master planning tool greatly accelerates hydraulic diagram design of existing and proposed pressure zones and helps ensure accuracy on projects subject to frequent updates and revisions. Built atop AutoCAD 2010, H2ONET PZM integrates dynamic water network modeling with sophisticated graph-theoretical algorithms to help water utilities and consulting engineering firms handle a number of critical tasks. They include development of rigorous water distribution system models; accurate delineation of pressure zone boundaries; and speedy generation of comprehensive pressure zone hydraulic schematics, including summaries of in/out flows through pumps, control valves, check valves, storage tanks and reservoirs.

These capabilities not only make water distribution system master planning easier, faster and more reliable and enable users to perform quality assurance and control during the model development stage, prior to performing any rigorous evaluations. Water utilities can more effectively leverage the power of network modeling along with the tremendous expertise of the engineers who contribute to the process. The ultimate result is improved work experience, capital planning and operational efficiency.

H2ONET PZM automatically identifies and delineates each pressure zone based on its "ending" elements, such as tanks, pumps, control valves, check valves, closed pipes, and reservoirs. This helps ensure that the network model accurately reflects actual system performance and operation. The application then produces a schematic for each pressure zone, with the maximum and minimum elevations defined by tank level, junction, pump, control valve, closed pipe, and check valve elevation information. Summary data includes the flow and pressure for each hydraulic element along with maximum and minimum data for pressure, hydraulic grade line, water quality, flow, velocity, head loss and hydraulic slope. This information can be generated for any modeling scenario and any hydraulic time step in an extended period (dynamic) simulation.