Drinking Water Distribution

System

A drinking water distribution system is a pipe network consists of many interconnecting loops of pipes such as the one shown in the figure below:

Drinking Water Distribution System

A drinking water distribution

system consists of many

interconnecting loops of pipes.
The system may be solved using
Hardy Cross method based on:
Conservation of Mass

(Continuity): The sum of inflows

equals the sum of outflows at each
node.
Conservation of energy: The sum
of head losses for the pipes
forming a loop equals zero.

Governing Equations
Continuity equations for individual

nodes:
Nj

Qj Qji 0

(1)

i 1

Qj = Flow rate entering or leaving

the network at the jth node.

Qji = Flow rate for the ith pipe

connecting to the jth node.

Nj = Number of pipes connecting to

the jth node.

In Eq.1, for each node, flows

entering the node are taken as

positive while flows leaving the
node are taken as negative.
For each loop, pipe flows are taken

as positive in the clockwise

direction and negative in
counterclockwise direction.

For Node A
Q A Q AB QCA 0

Governing Equations
Energy equations for individual loops:
(2)
h fi 0
Darcy-Weisbach formula
hf i
hf i

f i Li
2
Qi
5
39.70d i
f i Li
12.10d i

Qi

(English units)
(SI units)

Hazen-Williams formula
h f 41..8573L4i.87 Qi1.85 (English units)
i
Ci

di

.70 Li
1.85
h f 101.85
Qi
4.87
i
Ci

(SI units)

di

For Loop 1
h f AB h fBC h fCA 0

hfi is head loss for the ith pipe taken as

positive for flow in the clockwise

direction and negative for flow in the
counterclockwise direction.
4

Governing Equations
Head loss for each pipe can be also expressed as follows:

h fi Ki Qi

Darcy-Weisbach formula (n =2)

Ki

Ki

f i Li
39.70d i
f i Li

(English units)

12.10d i

(SI units)

Hazen-Williams formula (n = 1.85)

Ki
Ki

4.73Li
Ci

1.85

di

4.87

10.70 Li
Ci

1.85

di

4.87

(English units)
For Loop 1

(SI units)

K AB Q AB K BC QBC K CAQCA 0
n

The energy equation for each loop is expressed as follows:

Ki Qi 0
n

(3)

Governing Equations
Eq.3 may be solved for each loop through the iteration

method based on initially assumed discharges:

Qi Qai

(4)

Qi = Actual discharge for the ith pipe

Qai = Assumed discharge for the ith pipe
= Correction for the assumed discharge.

Eq.3 may be expressed below for each loop:

K i (Qa i ) n 0
for each loop can be calculated as follows:

h fi
h fi
n |
|
Qi

(5)

The corrected discharge for the ith pipe

may be calculated using Eq.4.

6

Governing Equations
Analysis procedures:
Assume initial discharges for a
number of selected pipes in the
network based on the degree of
freedom of the continuity
equations.
Compute the discharges for the
rest of the pipes using continuity
equations using Eq.1 for the
nodes.
Assign directions of flows in
individual pipes. Within a loop,
clockwise flows are positive and
counterclockwise flows are
negative.
7

Governing Equations
Compute

for each pipe. A clockwise flow is positive and

produces positive .
With due attention to sign, compute K i Qai n for each loop (Positive
for a clockwise flow and negative for a counterclockwise flow).
Without regard to sign, compute nK i Qai n1 for the same loop (All
values are positive).
Compute the correction for discharge from Eq.5 for each loop.
Apply to all pipes of the same loop to revise the discharges using
Eq.4.
Discharge correction for the common pipe to two loops should
receive corrections from the two loops with due attention to sign.
Repeat the above steps using the revised discharges until for each
group is negligible.
K i Qai

Example
Find the discharge in each pipe of the welded steel network shown in the
figure below. The pressure head at A is 100 ft. The Hazen-Williams coefficient
is 120.

Example

10

Example

11

Example

12

Example

13