Classification Based Analysis of Intermittent Water Supply (IWS) with EPA-SWMM

Abstract

For the analysis of water distribution systems, hydraulic simulation is of great importance; however, there are no suitable and holistic simulation tools for Intermittent Water Supply (IWS), so researchers are forced to utilise EPA-SWMM software, which needs some modifications to make it suitable for IWS analysis. This study focuses on providing a generic IWS analysis method in EPA-SWMM. Firstly, IWSs were classified according to coping strategies (e.g., household tank installation) customer satisfaction, supply schedule and duration to provide a unified terminology to the body of knowledge and assist in predicting the systems' behaviour, which should be reflected in the modelling process. Then EPA-SWMM based modelling approaches were compared paying attention to the case studies applied and two improved hydraulic modelling approaches have been proposed depending on the customer satisfaction of the network (namely i) unsatisfied IWS, ii) satisfied and partially satisfied IWS). Ultimately, customer satisfaction is the key, as the IWS systems are driven by user water consumption behaviours that are based on the demand-supply relationship. The application of the proposed methods to two different case studies and comparison with the state-of-the-art methods demonstrated their capability, compatibility with EPA-SWMM operating principles, and the ability to simulate the IWS system behaviour in a more realistic manner. In addition, the proposed methods are generic, unlike the available ones, which, in most cases, are only applicable to the specific case study.