11 Ways to Advance Traditional Water Distribution Modeling and Management

Trying to describe how Bentley’s OpenFlows WaterGEMS (and OpenFlows WaterCAD) can help a water system engineer or operator can be difficult. You need to think of the software not as tool, but rather a toolbox comprising advanced hydraulic analysis capabilities. Depending on the problem you need to solve, it could be deployed as a means to size pipes, select pumps, identify pressure zone or district meter area (DMA) boundaries, predict chlorine residuals, or plan flushing operations. Here’s a description of a few areas where OpenFlows WaterGEMS can make your life easier.

1. How big should this pipe be?

The most fundamental use of hydraulic models is for pipe sizing. This covers a range of uses, such as system master planning, capital budgeting, system extensions, land development projects, and rehabilitation studies. OpenFlows WaterGEMS can help decide between pipes that are too small, too big, or just right.

2. Where do I put my tank, and how big and tall should it be?

No decision impacts water system planning more than where a water tank should be placed and what their overflow level (which determines the pressure zone hydraulic grade) should be. OpenFlows WaterGEMS can analyze tanks in terms of the pressures it can supply, the volume required for normal operation and emergency flow, and the most desired location.

3. Which pump should I buy?

Don’t just pick a design flow and select the cheapest pump of that size. Energy costs are the biggest components of a pump’s lifecycle cost. OpenFlows WaterGEMS enables you to determine which pump is best for your situation. Since systems don’t have a single pump, the software has tools to see how these pumps can work together to maximize efficiency and lower cost. Moreover, OpenFlows WaterGEMS can also help determine how new and existing pumps can be operated.

4. Do we have sufficient capacity for the proposed building, campus, or industry?

This is the question water utilities are most frequently asked. A developer is building a project and wants to know if you can supply the water for normal use and emergencies. OpenFlows WaterGEMS is a great tool for determining capacity and, if inadequate, designing the needed improvements.

5. What’s the available fire flow?

Determining the available fire flow across the entire system in a single step helps you identify where your system has adequate or inadequate capacity. Once you know where improvements are needed, OpenFlows WaterGEMS has help you design them.

6. Where are the weak links in the system?

Most systems have places where a single pipe break can place a large number of customers out of service. OpenFlows WaterGEMS can identify those locations. It can indicate if a problem is due to lack of adequate isolation valves or inadequate pipe capacity and help you correct the problem before anyone is

out of service.

7. What’s the water quality in the system?

Water quality monitoring is expensive. OpenFlows WaterGEMS can fill in the water quality values throughout the system. You will able to determine where disinfectant residual will be low, and design improvements or make operational decisions to correct problems before they occur.

8. Where did my water come from?

In systems with multiple sources, it is helpful to know which water sources contributed to customers at precise locations. In many systems, the solution to this question is more dynamic and unintuitive than you would suspect. OpenFlows WaterGEMS can show you who gets water from each source, including how a specific source varies over time.

9. How do I plan my flushing operation?

Flushing water mains can remove deposits and bring fresher water into an area. But, it’s best not to randomly open hydrants. OpenFlows WaterGEMS has the tools to intelligently plan these operations and develop the report for operators to carry out the work.

10. How can I set up district metered areas?

DMAs are useful for managing water delivery and identifying water loss. OpenFlows WaterGEMS can help lay out DMAs (identify valves to close and pipes to meter) and determine how those actions will impact the system.

11. How do I identify pipes that need replacement?

OpenFlows WaterGEMS’ Pipe Renewal Planner can combine pipe break data, criticality calculations, and capacity determinations to identify pipes that need to be considered for replacement or rehabilitation. Then, the software can help in designing the project.

These are just a handful of the questions Bentley’s water distribution software can answer. As with any other toolbox, clever users can find all sorts of applications for OpenFlows WaterGEMS. In the hands of a good modeler, it can make everyone more productive. OpenFlows WaterGEMS streamlines model building and model management processes so that you can spend more time engineering your water networks.