Water Distribution Network Design And Analysis:

A Case Study
Bhavana K. Ajudiya
PG Student (WRM)
Lakhadhirji Engineering College,
GTU, Morvi-363642, India
Email:bhavanathummar@yahoo.com

Dr. S. M. Yadav

Prof. B.H.Pandit

PG In charge (WRM)
Water Resource Management
SVNIT, Surat-395007, India
Email: smy@ced.svnit.ac.in

Head of Department
Water Resource Management
Lakhadhirji Engineering College,
GTU, Morvi-363642, India

Abstract
This paper concerns for the design of rural water distribution
systems in developing countries. Most of population of India is
staying in rural area. At end of nineteen century community is
not getting water at their resident in the village. But water is
basic need of human being and it is directly effete on human
health. Indian government is decided to provide safe, regular and
adequate water to the community at their resident.
This paper is helpful to water supply engineers are
facing the problem of designing new distribution network in
haphazard developed rural area. For designing of best
economical water distribution system LOOP version 4 heuristic
software is used with a case study. Design procedure satisfied all
constraints with a minimum total cost. The constraints include
residual nodal pressure, velocity of flow in pipe, pipe material,
reservoir level, peak factor and available commercial pipe
diameters. In investigation, it is found that water distribution
network cost occupied almost 70% of the total cost of water
supply system. Extensive research has been done to minimize cost
through optimization in design of water distribution network.
In addition to the simulation tool, optimization
techniques to identify the least cost design of distribution systems,
while achieving the most equitable distribution of water have
been developed.

Keywords- WaterDistribution Network Design, Loop4 ,Cost

analysis

I. INTRODUCTION
At the launch of the International drinking water supply and
sanitation decade (in November 1980), Dr H.T.Mahler,
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO),
stated that: . . the number of water taps per 1000 population
is a much better indicator of a country's health status than the
number of hospital beds, (Development Forum, 1987). The
importance of water supply is acknowledged by all
governments in developing countries who have and are giving
priority to this provision. Providing a water supply for a
community involves tapping the most suitable source of water,
ensuring that it is safe for domestic consumption and then
supplying it in adequate quantities.
The World Health Organization, (WHO Study Group, 1987),
defines:

safe water as water that does not contain harmful

chemical substances or micro-organisms in
concentrations that cause illness in any form;
and adequate waters supply as one that provides
safe water in quantities sufficient for
drinking, and for culinary, domestic, and other
household purposes so as to make possible the
personal hygiene of members of the household. A
sufficient quantity should be available on a reliable,
year-round basis near to, or within the household
where the water is to be used[1].
Water is a basic need. Yet the provision of safe and adequate
drinking water for all our rural and urban communities
continues to be one of the major unfinished tasks. Lack of
access to safe water seriously undermines the health and well
being of the people. The poor and economically weaker
sections are affected more. Water constitutes one of the
important physical environments of man and has a direct
bearing on his health. There is no gainsaying that
contamination of water leads to health hazards. Water is
precious to man and therefore WHO refers to control of water
supplies to ensure that they are pure and wholesome as one of
the primary objective of environmental sanitation. Water may
be polluted by physical, chemical and bacterial agents.
Therefore, protected water supply is a sine qua non of public
health of a community [7].
II. DESIGN CRITERIA FOR WATER DISTRIBUTION
NETWORK
A. Supply of water
The hand book on Water Supply and Drainage, Bureau of
Indian Standards, New Delhi has laid down the following
minimum per capita domestic consumption for rural
communities with population up to 20,000:
i)
where piped supply with service connections
is proposed
Not less than 70-100 l/c/d
ii)
where supply is proposed through hand
pumps or central stand posts
Not less than 40 l/c/d

B. Pressure
Adequate pressure should be available in distribution mains at
all points located even at the remotest spots.
The following pressures are considered satisfactory:
i)
Residential districts:
Upto 3 storey
: 2 kg/cm2
3 to 6 storey heights
: 2 to 4 kg/cm2
6 to 10 storey height
: 4 to 5.5 kg/cm2
Above 10 storey
: 5.5 to 7 kg/cm2
ii)
Commercial districts
: 5 kg/cm2
A minimum velocity of .6 m/s should be maintained. The
velocities in pipes of different diameters should be as fallow:
i)
Pipe Diameter(cm)
:velocity(m/s)
10
15
25
40

: 0.9
: 1.2
: 1.5
: 1.8

C. Manual Recommendations
The manual on Water supply and Treatment prepared by the
Ministry of Urban Development, gives the following
recommendation for minimum residual pressures at ferrule
points:
Single storey building
: 7m
Two storey building
: 12m
Three storey building
: 17m
Distribution system should not ordinarily be designed for
residual pressures exceeding 22 meters. Multistoried buildings
needing higher pressure should be provided with boosters.
D. Minimum pipe sizes
The manual recommends the following minimum pipe sizes:
Town with population up to 50000 :
100mm dia.
Town with population above 50000 :
150 mm dia.
For the dead end, less than 100 mm can be
considered.
E. Peak factors
The manual on water supply has recommended the following
value of the peak factor, depending upon the population:
i)
Population up to 50,000 :
3.0
ii)
Population between
50,001 -2,00,000
:
2.5
iii)
Population above 2 lakh :
2.0
iv)
For Rural Water supply schemes, where
supply is effected through stand post for
only 6 hours.
:
3.0
F.

Head loss in network

When water flows through pipes, head loss takes
place. Total head 333333loss is composed of the following
items : 1) head loss due to friction, 2) head loss due to bend,
contraction, expansion, fitting, entry, exist etc.
1) head loss due to friction

Head loss due to friction may be computed from the following

formulae
a) Darcey-Weisbach formula
hf = 4fLV^2 / 2gD
Where hf= head loss due to friction (m)
f= coefficient of friction which is function of
Reynolds no.
f= 64/Re, When Re2000
f=0.079/Re^0.25 When Re 4000 to 10, 00,000
L= length of the pipe (m)
V=average velocity of flow (m/s)
D=internal diameter of pipe (m)
g= acceleration due to gravity=9.81 m/s^2
b) Hazen Williams formula
This is the most widely used formula
V= 0.849 CR^0.63 S ^0.54
Where V= mean velocity of flow in pipe (m/s)
R= hydraulic radius (mean depth) (m)
S= hydraulic gradient
C= coefficient of roughness of pipe
2) Head loss due to minor
hm =K V^2/2g
Where hm= minor head loss (m)
K= coefficient of various fittings [7].
III.

A STUDY AREA

The village Sokhada is situated at distance of about 9 Km

from the Rajkot Taluka head quarter. The nearest railway
station is Rajkot. The business of the people is agriculture and
labour which eagerly depends on the rainfall, which is about
500 mm for the taluka. The general topography of the village
is hilly. Population of this village is 1257 soul according
census 2001and present population 1471soul. At present,
water resource is Machchhu-1 RWSS. Machchhu-1 RWSS
planned base on Machchhu Dam-1which is located nearby
Sanosara village of Rajkot taluka. Water pumped from
Machchhu Dam-1 to fill water in sump and water again
pumped from sump to ESR at Sanosara HW. Water has been
stored in Cistern of 60,000lits capacity with 0.5m plinth height
in the village and distributed through existing stand post
during the day ours. So People are collecting water from stand
post which is located at Head of Folia. Now community is
demanding to provide water at their resident so it is necessary
for WASMO to design new economical water distribution
network. In this paper Sokhada village is selected for water
distribution network design
Historical population data is collected since year of
1961census to 2001 census for Sokhada village of Rajkot
taluka.
The present population forecast by Arithmetic Increase
method. The population is linearly increased from one
decade to next decade which can be decided by past four
decade population.
And the future population is predicated for intermediate
stage after 15 year and ultimate stage after 30 year by

considering 25% and 50% increase over present

population. WASMO has considering same.

Ahemdabad - rajkot 8B national highway

91.95
19

92.92

100 mt

24

91.0

90.80

11

13

20 mt
Exi. Stand Post

25

30mt
26

27

50 mt

100 mt

20 mt

20 mt
23

21

Zone-1

95.64

28

16

96.84
22

24

18

Exi. Stand Post

93.17

30mt

75mt

75mt

20 mt 94.92

20

General Bathroom

92.07

gram panchayat

15

18

93.99

Zone-2
25mt

90.48
Exi. Cistern 12,000 Lit.

10

14

91.27

80mt

92.68

22

30 mt

70 mt

40 mt
80mt

15 mt

30 mt

19

92.52

94.40

85 mt
28

40 mt

12

30 mt

26

94.04

95.63 100 mtShree ram Temple

20
94.65

22

30 mt

94.50

18

40 mt

21

95.67

94.24

20

24

93.51

30 mt

21

23

94.51 10 mt 94.34

23

25

27

92.27

39 mt

92.0

17

50 mt

19
17

17

95.42 20 mt
16

100 mt
Meldi ma temple
13

11

12

100.36

30 mt

101.42

11

12

97.37

96.00

20 mt 20 mt

31

15

13

95.52

30
29

95.51
16

30

150 mt

20mt 99.10

99.83

96.89

10

30 mt

15

14

135 mt

150 mt

30 mt

30 mt

94.0

150 mt

99.05

99.03

40mt

CT.

99.96
B.m. 100.00

150mt

103.61
pro. sump 70000lits

94.50

96.00
3

50 mt
30 mt
1

94.50

250 mt

Sanosara Road
1

Exi. Stand post

Exi. Stand Post

4
3

97.0 4

Nakrani road

Exi. Cistern 60,000 lit.

30 mt
150 mt

99.83
3

200mt

99.0

Primary School

Village :- shokhada, Taluka:- Rajkot

Node number
Pipe line
Pipe number
Fig:1 Design Alternative-1,Water Distribution Network
with Direct Pumping.
IV.

A. Design in Loop Software

Design of a looped water distribution network involves
selection of an appropriate pipe diameter for every pipe, so
that the water can be transported without violating specified
hydraulic constraints and the desired minimum pressures
maintained at nodes. Options for the location and capacity of
source nodes are normally relatively few and are hence
prefixed. The usual process is one of trial and error, where the
engineer attempts a set of pipe sizes and checks the hydraulic
conditions to see if they are adequate. If not the engineer
changes the pipe sizes heuristically (or changes the pump
locations and capacities if possible) to arrive at a workable
alternative. Cost estimates, on which a final decision has to be
based, are made for each feasible alternative for the purpose of
ranking. It seems at first that the computer programs could
directly solve the network for the required pipe sizes.

DESIGN OF WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

BY USING LOOP4 SIMULATION MODEL

Loop4 is a program that is developed of by the World Bank

for simulation, design & optimization of looped water
distribution networks. The program is free and is in the public
domain. The code for loop was developed by Dr. Prasad
modak and Juzer Dhoodia in 1990.
Loop software is a computer- aided planning and design of
low cost water supply and waste water disposal systems in
developing countries. In this software, Newton Raphson
technique and the Hazen- Williams or Darcy Weisbach flow
equations are use for the heuristic design of looped
distribution networks. Loop version 4.0 handles up to 1000
pipes and 750 nodes as well as multiple sources with fixed or
variable heads, fixed or unknown flows, booster pumps, check
valves and pressure regulating valves. This program also
shows hydraulic grade lines along chosen sections and
calculates head losses, velocities, valve operating status,
pumping heads, etc. and costs. The program has been designed
for easy entry, storing, editing and updating of data. It is
provided in compiled QuickBasic form to speed program
execution [13].

The following data are required to run LOOP4 software.

1. Geometric data
Node-pipe connectivity, Length of all pipes, Ground levels of
all nodes, Location of booster pumps and valves
2. Hydraulic data
Average water demands at all the relevant nodes, Pipe
resistance coefficient in terms of Hazen William's C or pipe
roughness coefficient k in Darcy-Weisbach expression
3. Source data
Elevations of all reservoirs, Data on head-discharge curves for
variable head reservoirs
4. Cost Estimation Parameters
Available commercial diameters up to three material classes,
with data on unit cost and working pressure, Newton-Raphson
stopping criterion (viz. Maximum allowable error in flow
balance),Maximum and minimum pressure at nodes, Design
hydraulic gradient [9].
5. Design alternative layout of study area is prepared by
conducting level surveying and linear measurement of
length of street than after prepared in AutoCAD
Population per node find by calculating house hold x
family member.
From the population find out water demand of node
Water demand for each node = population of node x water
demand in lpcd.
(For rural area population up to 20000 = 70 lpcd )
Length of pipe is measured by taking linear measurement
From the village than noding has been done. The total
number of pipes in study area are 30 and 31 nodes in
zone 1 and 22 pipes with 23 nodes are in zone 2.
6. Diameter of pipes are taken in range of 90mm minimum
to 160mm maximum
7. Elevation of each node determine by level surveying.
8. Peak factor 3 has been considered as per Indian water
supply manual for small water supply scheme.
9. From , above data input file is prepared for water
distribution network design using LOOP software.
10. Input data file for water distribution system is run in to
software.

Fig:3 Total cost

comparision of both
compts

Ahemdabad - rajkot 8B national highway

91.95
35

92.92

100 mt

31

91.0

90.80

2000000

45

40

20 mt

39 mt

Exi. Stand Post

30

30 mt

95.67

30 mt

95.64

46

44

80mt

90.48

91.27
Exi. Cistern 12,000 Lit.

General Bathroom
33

36

40mt

96.84
22

18

41

37

92.68

26

24

Exi. Stand Post

80mt

30 mt

70 mt

40 mt

15 mt

30mt

28

92.52

94.40

30 mt

94.50
94.04

40 mt

39

85 mt

95.63 100 mtShree ram Temple

20
94.65

100 mt

20 mt

20 mt

34

40 mt

30mt

21

94.24

93.51

92.27

50 mt

29

94.51 10 mt 94.34

23

25

27

32

93.17

25mt

92.07

75mt

75mt

20 mt 94.92

total cost

ESR based gravity

SUMPsystem
based direct pumping

gram panchayat

42

10mt

93.99

92.0

38

43

50 mt

19

17

95.42 20 mt

VI. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

100 mt
Meldi ma temple
13

100.36

30 mt

101.42

11

12

97.37

The total cost of the water distribution network with service

reservoir for design alternative 1 of Sokhada village is Rs.
6,98,240 and for design alternative 2 of Sokhada village is
Rs 13,31,690. The comparison of cost is shown in table1
and figure3.

96.00

20 mt 20 mt

15

30 mt

30 mt
14

135 mt

95.52

95.51
16

99.83

10mt

150 mt

20mt 99.10

96.89
9

10

30 mt

49

150 mt

99.05

99.03

Exi. Stand post

Exi. Cistern 60,000 lit.

30 mt
Exi. Stand Post

150 mt

99.83
4

10mt

99.96
B.m. 100.00

3
3

10 mt

50

96.00

30 mt
1

103.61

Pro. ESR 50000lits cap,12mt staging

C.

CONCLUSIONS

T.

51
47

175mt
48

Nakrani road

75mt

VI.

250 mt

Sanosara Road

200mt

52

Primary School

Village :- shokhada, Taluka:- Rajkot

Node number
Pipe line
Pipe number
Fig:2 Design Alternative-2, Water Distribution Network
with ESR 50000lits, 12mt staging.
V.

COST ANALYSIS

TABLE 1 COST COMPARISION BETWEEN

ALTERNATIVE 1 & 2
Sr. Components
Capacity/ Estimated
No
Size
Cost(SOR,
.
GWSSB)
[12]
1
ESR with 12m 50,000lits 8,06,250/staging
Capacity
2
Distribution
2379,451, 5,25,440/network
435,30mt
90,110,140,160 respective
mm dia. HDPE
ly
6 kg/cm2
TOTAL
1331690/1
RCC Sump
130,000lit 2,67,000/s capacity
2
Distribution
2581,560
431240/network
90, mt
110mm dia. 6 respective
kg/cm2
ly
TOTAL
698240/-

DESIGN
Remark

As per
design
alternativ
e2

As per
design
alternativ
e1

As per comparison shown in table:1 minimum cost of water

supply scheme is water supply through direct pumping.
Moreover direct pumping scheme required less maintenance
cost per person per month & it is easy to maintain & operate
also. An alternative approach to design has been developed
which minimize the cost of water supply system.
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