This paper reports on a preliminary study carried out to investigate the effect of soil, and particularly fluidisation of soil, around leaking water pipes. During the study a bed of particles is fluidised at controlled flow rates, using upward-pointing orifices to simulate holes in a pipe. The extent of the fluidised zone and the head drop within the bed are monitored. The results show that significant head can be sustained in a shallow pipe without the fluidised zone breaking through the bed surface. Head loss from a leaking pipe is divided into three components: through the orifice; in the fluidised/mobile bed zones; and through the static soil. The results show the extent of fluidised and mobile zones appears to be almost independent of the orifice size. Most of the head loss is found to occur within fluidised and mobile zones; significant (but lower) head loss is found to occur through the orifice and only a small fraction of the total losses occurs in the static soil.
Background:
The main issue in the operation of water distribution systems arises from the pressure deficiency resulting from events such as loss from leaks and bursts and loss of hydraulic capacity due to deterioration of aging water pipes. Such conditions affect the hydraulic performance of the system and the quality of water.
Objective
This paper investigates the hydraulic and water quality behavior of a selected water distribution network in Makkah city using the EPANET software.
Methodology:
The system was simulated under different hydraulic conditions including a loss of hydraulic capacity with pipe age and the presence of 30% leakage in the network over varying time conditions by employing extended period simulation models.
Results and Conclusion:
The results show that increasing pipe roughness with pipe age resulted in significantly low-pressure heads at the end of the network-particularly during peak demand hours. It also resulted in an increase in the rate of chlorine decay. Leakage in the network significantly affects the pressure head, resulting in pressure deficiency at some points in the network to below the minimum requirement during regular operation. The highest leakage rate occurs at periods of low demand where the pressure head in the network is high.
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