Hydraulic Performance Analysis Of Water Supply Distribution Networks Using Watergems In The Case Of Dukem Town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Analysing The Status Of A Town??S Water Distribution Network Is Necessary To Monitor Its Current And Future Management Patterns. Generally, The Hydraulic Performance Of The Water Distribution Systems In Developing Countries Is Inadequate To Transport Available Water To Consumption Points. Specifically, Dukem Town's Existing Water Distribution System Is Not Properly Functioning, And The Utility Does Not Deliver The Required Demand To Customers Due To Fluctuations In Pressure And Demand In Large Parts Of The Town. Thus, This Study's Main Goal Was To Analyse The Town's Water Distribution System??S Hydraulic Performance Efficiency And Users?? Perception. To Achieve The Objective, The Hydraulic Performance Of The Distribution Network And The Level Of Customer Satisfaction Were Evaluated. Both Primary And Secondary Data Were Gathered For This Investigation, And Tools Like Watergems, Arcgis 10.7.1, Gps, Google Mapper V18, And Spps V27 Were Employed. Gis And Watergems Were Used To Provide A Graphical Display Of Results Obtained From Both Hydraulic Simulation And A Modified Water Distribution Network. 376 Households Were Selected From A Total Of 21,595 To Investigate The Level Of Customer Satisfaction With The Town??S Water Supply Services. The Results Showed That The Average Water Consumption Of The Town Is 49.8 L/C/D In 2023, Which Is Less Than The National Standard Of 100 L/C/D For Category One Towns. The Current Water Production Is 5338 M3/D, And To Satisfy The Projected Demand Of 7997.74 M3/D By 2030, New Sources Should Be Provided. The Watergems Model Was Calibrated Using Eight Node Data Points At Minimum And Peak Hour Consumption, With Corresponding R2Of 0.97 And 0.99, Respectively. The Result Of The Analysis At Steady State Simulation Indicated That Only 50.38% Of Nodes Have Pressure Within The Desired Limit Of 10?? 70 M Of Water; The Remaining 45.11 And 4.51% Of The Nodes Have Pressure Above And Below The Desired Limit Of Pressure, Respectively, At Average Daily Demand. At Peak Hour Demand, Only 34.3% Of The Nodes Have Pressure Within The Desired Limit, And 20.81 And 44.89% Of The Nodes Have Pressure Above And Below The Desired Limit, Respectively. The Analysis Of Pipe Velocity Showed That Only 45.71 And 48.57% Of Pipes Have A Desired Limit Of Velocity (0.5-2 M/S) At Average Daily Demand And Peak Hour Demand, Respectively. The Extended-Period Simulation Showed 45.36% Of The Nodes To Have Pressure Within The Desired Limit, Whereas 51.88 And 3.76% Of Nodes Had Pressure Above And Below The Desired Limit, Respectively. Correspondingly, 62.86% Of Pipes Had Less Than The Allowable Velocity Limit, And 37.14% Of Them Were Within The Desired Limit. Even Though There Are Water Interruptions, The Customers?? Satisfaction With The Existing Water Supply Service Is 55.4%. Finally, By Applying Pressure-Reduced Valves, It Was Possible To Make 99% Of The Nodes' Pressures Within The Desired Range, And The Map Of The Modified Network Was Prepared