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Procedia Engineering 186 (2017) 36 – 43

XVIII International Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis, WDSA2016

Manizales’ Water Distribution System –Aguas de Manizales S.A.

E.S.P.
Mateo Jaramillo Echeverri*
Aguas de Manizales S.A E.S.P., Av Kevin Angel N° 59 -181, Manizales, Colombia

Abstract

Aguas de Manizales S.A. E.S.P. is a mixed-capital company, of a commercial nature, in accordance with the provisions of Law
142/94 and other applicable laws of the Republic of Colombia. According to Agreements 133 and 134 of September 1st of 1995,
issued by the Municipal Council of Manizales, the authorization for the establishment of companies that provide the public services
in the form of joint-stock company was given.

The institutionalization of the company in 1996, once the water distribution and drainage services were split from the other services
offered by the former Public Service Porvider of Manizales (Empresas Públicas de Manizales), represented the beginning of an
improvement period. This includes activities focused on conservation of water sources, refinement processes, extension of water
networks, process standardization, setting up of laboratories, acquisition of new technology, as well as marketing of products and
services easily accessible to the public through the water bill and with a high covering commercial network [1].

©©2016
2016Published
The Authors. Published
by Elsevier by Elsevier
Ltd. This is an openLtd.
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the XVIII International Conference on Water Distribution
Peer-review
Systems. under responsibility of the organizing committee of the XVIII International Conference on Water Distribution Systems

Keywords: Manizales, Colombia, potable water, sewerage

* Tel.: +057 (6) 8879770;

[email protected]

1877-7058 © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the XVIII International Conference on Water Distribution Systems
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.03.205
 Mateo Jaramillo Echeverri / Procedia Engineering 186 (2017) 36 – 43 37

1. Description of the City

1.1. Location

The city of Manizales, with an altitude of 2,153 meters above sea level and a mountainous relief, is located in the
central region of western Colombia and lies on the Andes Mountain Range.

Fig. 1. Manizales, Caldas, Colombia Location

1.2. Hydrography

Small rivers of Manizales are part of the great Cauca river watershed, in the western slope of the Central Mountain
Range. Drains corresponding to Chinchiná river watershed in jurisdiction of Manizales run in a north-south direction
due to the existing geological fault system that give the characteristic of subparallel drainage systems.

Three important slopes go across the city by its south, north and western sides [2]:
• Southern slope, whose main water source is Chinchiná river.
• Northern slope, whose main focus is the Olivares ravine.
• Western slope, whose main drainage axes are La Francia and Arenillo ravines.

Fig. 2. Manizales Hydrography, Olivares Ravine, Chinchiná River and La Francia and Arenillo Ravines
38 Mateo Jaramillo Echeverri / Procedia Engineering 186 (2017) 36 – 43

1.3. Topography

The relief of the city is especially mountainous. It has slopes and heights ranging between 2,233 and 1,900 meters.

1.4. Climate

The city presents a great climatic diversity, ranging from the area of perpetual snow of Nevado del Ruiz with its
landscapes and spring waters, to the valley of the village called Kilómetro 41 with its warm climate landscapes, diverse
vegetation, rivers and ravines. A particular characteristic of the city is the 8 microclimates within its urban area. The
average temperature in the city is 16.7 °C (62 °F).
The climate in the coffee region and, therefore, in Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío is bimodal. The two annual
seasons of summer begin with the solstices on June 22nd and December 21st, and the two seasons of winter begin with
the equinoxes on March 21st and September 22nd.
The average rainfall reaches values between 270 and 210 mm in the rainy months and, from 140 mm to 80 mm in
the driest ones.

2. Population Coverage

2.1. Number of people and subscribers

The population served in the city is 397,554 inhabitants in a total of 105,664 subscribers distributed according to
the use, as follows:

• Residential connections: 94,376 (89.3%)

• Commercial connections: 5,815 (5.5%)
• Industrial connections: 197 (0.18%)
• Other connections: 4,454 (4.12%)

Fig. 3. Urban area of Manizales

2.2. Provision and Flow Rates

The provision for the city and the service area of Aguas de Manizales is estimated at 130 liters/inhabitant/day,
which requires a total system flow of about 1,100 l/s in peak hours.
 Mateo Jaramillo Echeverri / Procedia Engineering 186 (2017) 36 – 43 39

Fig. 4. Daily flow pattern in Manizales.

3. Global Network System

3.1. Sources of Supply and adduction

The following are the raw water catchments and adduction points of the distribution system

3.1.1. Raw water catchments from Blanco River watershed:

• Blanco river, Pinares, La Guerra and La Arenosa catchment (450 l/s)

• La Ye ravine catchment (120 l/s)
• Olivares water intake (200 l/s)

3.1.2. Raw water catchments from Chinchiná River watershed:

• Chinchiná river water intake (1,000 l/s)

• Cajones ravine water intake (600 l/s)
• Romerales ravine water intake (155 l/s)
• Termales Ravine water intake (200 l/s)
• Catchment in California and La María micro-watershed (260 l/s)

a. b.
Fig. 5. (a) Blanco River Watershed, (b) Chinchiná River Watershed.
40 Mateo Jaramillo Echeverri / Procedia Engineering 186 (2017) 36 – 43

3.1.3. Blanco River Watershed Adduction points:

• Adduction box from Blanco river to Olivares ravine.

• La Ye – Olivares adduction
• Olivares - Niza adduction
• Olivares - Niza new adduction

3.1.4. Chinchiná River Watershed Adduction points:

• Chinchiná river – Luis Prieto Gómez plant adduction

• Romerales - La Maria adduction

3.2. Potable Water Treatment Plants

The following is a brief description of each Water Treatment Plants employed.

3.2.1. Niza WTP

Niza Plant is located in the upper part of the current urban area of Manizales. This plant, conventionally built in
1940, modified in 1956 and enhanced in the years 1982 and 2014, has a capacity of 1,200 l/s.

3.2.2. Luis Prieto Gómez I WTP:

This water treatment plant was built between 1968 and 1971. It corresponds to a German design company named
PINTSCH BAMAG. This compact plant type has a capacity of 666 l/s.

3.2.3. Luis Prieto Gómez II WTP:

This plant was built between 1983 and 1984, consists of a rapid mixing unit, 3 mechanical flocculators of vertical
axis, 3 inclined plate clarifiers, as well as 8 declining rate filters and has a capacity of 600 l/s.

Fig. 6.Water Treatment Plants’ location.

3.3. Storage and Compensation Tanks

The system has 64 tanks. Currently, there are 46 of them in service (in color blue – Fig. 7.). The other ones have
been gradually taken out of service due to the operational changes of the water system.
 Mateo Jaramillo Echeverri / Procedia Engineering 186 (2017) 36 – 43 41

Fig. 7. Storage and compensation tanks location.

3.4. Express Pipes

The system makes use of 4 express pipes listed below

• 16 '' AC Conduction - Tank 23 - Chipre Tank
• 18 '' Conduction - Distribution Tank - Cervantes Building
• 24 '' Conduction - Distribution Tank - Cable Tank
• 15 '' Conduction - Cervantes Building - Fundadores Theatre

3.5. Normal Operation

The operation of the water distribution system of Manizales’ city is mostly carried out with its own staff and
distributed to urban and rural areas. There are some activities by outsourcing related to the construction of new
connections and pavement rehabilitation.
The management of work schedule is done through a software program developed for the system operation, with
the support of georeferencing works, GIS maps, and GPS location. The control in tank levels and flow in pipes are
also carried out through telemetry.
The closure management is done through Delfos software and its application closure simulation. This system aims
at avoiding the least amount of population affected, by the control of valves operation in order to ensure efficiency in
service supply.

3.6. Emergency Situations Procedures

During contingent events on the water system, the technical staff of the company concentrates fully on the situation
by forming groups responsible for the system operation (analysis, closures, tanks, supply), as well as constantly
monitoring the affected area through telemetry of storage tanks and operation of drinking water treatment plants.
These measures are implemented according to the current structured emergency plan to attend these events.

4. Distribution Network

4.1. District Meter Areas

The distribution network is constituted by 29 distribution tanks located within the city limits and 17 tanks in rural
areas. This network is currently made up of 51 urban and rural hydraulic circuits or District Meter Areas (DMAs),
which are being rethought within the projects regarding with the infrastructure analysis process.
42 Mateo Jaramillo Echeverri / Procedia Engineering 186 (2017) 36 – 43

The DMA configuration of the system is generally delimited by geographic features, such as ravines and slopes. A
few limits are set due to the intersection of major roads and pressure zones, since its size in number of subscribers or
areas is not uniform.

4.2. Pressure and Flow Rates

Due to the topography of the city, high pressures are handled within the system, which are controlled by 886
pressure control valves located, both in rural (406) and urban (480) areas. The diameters vary from ½'' to 8'' to ensure
adequate pressure ranges in the service.
In turn, there are a series of flowmeters installed on the main pipes of the city and connected to the telemetry, which
provides real-time information about the behavior of these ones.

4.3. Hydraulic Modeling

Currently, the company has licenses for hydraulic modeling (Bentley WaterGEMS and WaterCAD software),
which are being used to go ahead in the formation of hydraulic models of the different DMAs of the city.
Modeling of the eastern zone made up of 14 DMAs, approximately 100 kilometers of network and 25,500
subscribers are being carried out by using the WaterGEMS software and entering information of pressure and flow
collected in the area.

Fig. 8. DMA configuration by Hydraulic Modeling

5. Special Cases

5.1. Special problems

Through the telemetry tool, a work focused on the reconditioning of the optimal levels of operation has been
conducted in order to extend the working life of the control valves by decreasing their operating cycle levels without
affecting the service supply. A weekly monitoring is also carried out with the purpose of detecting potential problems
and deviations in each of the tanks.
The company has been working in the structuring of a project to determine the behavior and characterization of the
resource consumption in industrial customers in real-time through telemetry and in the web platform. This allows the
customer to do a historical consultation.
 Mateo Jaramillo Echeverri / Procedia Engineering 186 (2017) 36 – 43 43

5.2. Segovia Software

It is a comprehensive solution that allows coordinating and controlling efficiently the logistics related to the
management of scheduling work and the resources required for their attention and resolution associated with the repair,
maintenance, suspension and reinstatement of the water distribution and drainage systems by using geographic
information systems and mobile devices.

5.3. Geophony:

Within the analysis process of infrastructure, a program of leak detection with the company staff has been
implemented. This program aims to make a constant review of the water networks to look for leaks. Monthly
inspections of about 17 kilometers have been reached.

5.4. Non Revenue Water Rate

Within the organization there is a unit responsible for the analysis of technical losses, which is oriented by the
technical and commercial sub-management, through the customer service.
The issue of technical losses from an overflow of tanks is being managed through periodic analysis of their behavior
and taking corrective actions. This aims at expanding the telemetry network to all urban tanks in order to continue
with these controls. Additionally, leak detection programs have been implemented, which allows for the correction of
not visible losses on the infrastructure of the system, as well as the reduction of pressures, supported by the constant
monitoring of the regulation system.
On the other hand, the identification and georeferencing of areas of irregular use are being conducted in order to
measure consumption, replace micro-meter that point to the reduction of submetering in the city and prepare the
measurement points for large customers with the optimal characteristics and using the telemetry to control
consumption.

References

[1] Aguas de Manizales S.A. E.S.P. (2016) Manizales, Colombia.

[2] Zulma, L. (2013). El control urbano en zonas de alto riesgo, casos de estudio La Playita, camino viejo a Villamaría y Bajo Andes en Manizales.
Universidad Autónoma de Manizales. Manizales: Facultad de Estudios Sociales y Empresariales.