Gravity flow water distribution systems are reliable and cost effective over pumping systems as no external power is required to maintain the flow. Generally, the gravitational networks are designed as branched systems and in order to maintain their looped configuration the missing links are joined by pipes of nominal diameters. This approach does not take full advantage of looped configuration for economy and reliability. Presented herein is an algorithm for the design of a gravity flow distribution system with looped configuration and multiple input points. A linear programming (LP) technique has been used to solve the discrete problem for the optimal pipe design, keeping the looped configuration intact. Also developed is a criterion for the choice between the pumping and gravity systems where the elevation difference is marginal. It is hoped that the algorithm will be useful to engineers engaged in the design of gravity flow water distribution networks.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
June 2000
This article was originally published in
Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua
Article Contents
Research Article|
June 01 2000
Gravity flow water distribution system design
Prabhata K. Swamee;
1Civil Engineering Department, University of Roorkee, Roorkee—247667, India
E-mail: [email protected]
Search for other works by this author on:
Ashok K. Sharma
Ashok K. Sharma
2Department of Natural Resources Queensland, GPO Box 1653, Coorparoo, Qld 4151, Australia
Search for other works by this author on:
Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua (2000) 49 (4): 169–179.
Citation
Prabhata K. Swamee, Ashok K. Sharma; Gravity flow water distribution system design. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 1 June 2000; 49 (4): 169–179. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2000.0015
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.