Water supply system

Assignment 1

Name: Dhari Alenezi

Student ID: 1098672

Word count: 1715

MARCH 22, 2018

University of the Sunshine Coast
 Contents

1. Project Introduction..........................................................................................................................1
2. Estimation of water demand.............................................................................................................1
2.1 Current and future population....................................................................................................1
2.2 Total water demand calculation..................................................................................................2
3. Flow chart of water supply system...................................................................................................3
3.1 Water Intake (Lake).....................................................................................................................5
3.2 Water treatment process............................................................................................................5
3.3 Distribution system......................................................................................................................6
4. Discussion..........................................................................................................................................6
4 Water Quality:..........................................................................................................................6
4.1 Water losses.........................................................................................................................7
4.2 Water use.............................................................................................................................7
4.3 Long term impact on the project proposal..................................................................................7
5 References..........................................................................................................................................8
1. Project Introduction

This project report presents the preliminary design of the water supply system for the rural
township in Queensland. This design incorporates all the current demands including
domestic, agricultural, small industries and public (which includes demands for the
firefighting, watering parks, and gardens in the public areas) additionally, this design fulfills
the needs of the projected future demands. Among various water demands in the township,
domestic water supply is the major water demand in the township, which need to be
supplied from the lake 3 km away from the township. The elevation of this lake is 50 m
higher than the township, which provides us the idea in designing the treatment plant along
the alignment of the water supply line and helps to design the appropriate distribution
system for the township.

The major objective of this report is to provide the preliminary design of the water supply
system, which provides the reliable, safe and clean drinking water to the small rural
township in Queensland.

2. Estimation of water demand

Almost all water supply system is designed based on current and future demand for water
(Arbues et al., 2003). For this project, the total water demand is estimated based on per
capita water use, which also includes water use for small industries, tourism, public, and
water leakage in the system. The maximum per capita water demand is obtained from the
guidelines provided by the Department of Energy and water supply, Queensland. Similarly,
water use for small industries and public use is obtained from the lecture notes. The design
period of this water supply system is for 40 years until 2050.

2.1 Current and future population

Population projection was estimated based current population using two methods:

(a) Uniform arithmetic method,

(b) Geometric growth method

Township population in the year 2000 = 5000 people

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Township population in 2010 = 5750 people

Considering uniform growth arithmetic method,

∆P
r=
∆t

Where r is the growth rate, ∆ P is the change in population and ∆ t is the time duration
in years.

Pt =P0 +r ×t

(5750−5000)
r= =75 person/ year
10

P2050 =P2010 + 40× r=5750+ 40 ×75=8750 people

Similarly, considering geometric growth method

log e Pt =log e P0 + r ×(t−t 0)

log e Pt −log e P 0 log e 5750−log e 5000

r= = =0.01398
t 10

log e Pt =log e 5000+ 0.01398× ( 2050−2000 )

P2050 =10059Persons in the year 2050

Here we can see that the population estimated for 2050 based on geometric growth
method is higher than uniform growth method. Thus, 10059 population is considered as
the design population for the year 2050.

2.2 Total water demand calculation

Water demand estimation and design flow are based on the guidelines provided by the
Department of Energy and water supply, Queensland and lecture note

Water use/demand data assumption based on the guidelines:

Domestic per capita water demand = 200 lpcd

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There are no major industries in the township, but there is small cottage enterprise, which
are run by the few residents. Let us only 0.5 % of the population own small cottage
enterprise in the township which is equal to about 50 households

Water demand for small cottage enterprise = 150 lit/cottage per day

Total loss and waste in the distribution system = 40 lpcd (This is assumed based on having a
good construction and regular maintenance of the water supply system)

Water demand for public =60 lpcd

As there is a demand of visitors for the bread and breakfast accommodation on Saturday,
this need to be added to the above water demand

Assume 100% increase in visitor by 2050 = 200 people

Water demand for visitor = 240 lpcd

Total water demand = (220+40+60) x 10059 + 50x 150+ 240 x 200 = 3.073 ML/ day

Assuming 10 % of total water demand considered as loss in the distribution network, which
is 3.38 ML/day

Assume maximum daily demand factor =1.5

Assume maximum hourly demand factor = 2

Maximum daily demand = 3.59 x 1.5 = 5.39 ML/day

Total maximum hourly demand = 0.28 ML/hr

3. Flow chart of water supply system

Figure 1 below shows the flow chart of the water supply system proposed for the small
country town in Queensland. This system includes the raw water extraction from the lake,
various treatment process and distribution network to individual households. Treatment
processes are in several stages to make sure that water is treated properly and suitable for
drinking purpose abiding Australian drinking water guidelines at all stages.

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Figure 1: Flowchart of water supply system designed from Small Township in Queensland

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3.1 Water Intake (Lake)
Lake is considered as a source of water supply system for this project, which is 3 km
away from the town. Appropriate intake structure is proposed to be constructed at the
outlet of the lake in such a way that enough quantity of water can be extracted during
the dry season also. Coarse screens are kept at the inlet of the water diversion structure
to prevent leaves and other rubbish flowing downstream to the treatment plants. As the
source is located 50m above the town, water will flow by gravity down to the treatment
plants. Cast Iron pipe mains or the closed conduits are used for transporting water from
the lake to the treatment plants

3.2 Water treatment process

As this project is located in the rural area, the source of the water system is likely to be
less polluted. Even though there is various pollution hazard from animal feces,
agricultural runoff from pesticides and fertilizer and polluted stormwater upstream of
the lake. Thus, raw water extracted from the lake need to pass through various stages:

i) Filtration: This stage protect rubbish and large debris to flow with the water, which
helps preventing developing various microorganism in the water supply system as
well. This the mandatory stage in the water treatment process.
ii) Coagulation: In this stage, a chemical called alum is added to the raw water to
produce the positive charge that attract small particles that are dissolved in water
having a negative charge. This helps to form the larger particles and helps settling
down in other stages of water treatment. The figure below shows the various stages
of water treatment plant.

Figure 2: Water treatment process (Source: World Health Organization)

iii) Flocculation: After the coagulation stage, the dissolved particles form the larger
particles called flocs are allowed to move slowly in the specially designed tanks called

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 flocculation tank to settle down at the bottom of the tank. This stage takes a couple of
hours to complete the treatment cycle.

iv) Sedimentation basin: At this stage of water treatment process, water is kept stand
still and allowed to settle particles on the bottom of the tank. The minimum settling
velocity is maintained in the basins so that sediments can easily settle down. This tank
is proposed to be rectangular with several baffles walls to reduce the flow velocity of
water.

v)Removal of Sludge from the treatment process: Sludge obtained from the filtration
process, coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation basins will be collected and
disposed to separate landfill sites.

vi) Organic control absorption process: This stage removes any organic material
contained in the water. Various algae and microorganisms are also removed in these
stages.

vii) Chlorination/ Disinfection: This stage is primarily meant for keeping the treated
water as it is unit it reaches to the household. The required amount of chlorine is
added in this stage.

3.3 Distribution system

Distribution system includes the reservoir tanks, pipe networks, valves and water meters.
The elevated reservoir is proposed after the treatment processes in order to provide the
enough head at the individual houses. Based on the Australian guideline, it is proposed to
provide a minimum head of 15m at each individual houses. This distribution network is
proposed to provide the continuous water supply system based on the assumption that lake
can provide enough storage of water to meet the demands during the dry season as well.

4. Discussion

4 Water Quality: There are various water quality parameters, which should be measured
and tested before using it for drinking purpose. It includes turbidity, hardness, total

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 dissolved solids, pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen. Based on the Australian water
guidelines turbidity should be less than 5 NTU, pH should in the range of 6-7, total
dissolved solid should be less than 10.
4.1 Water losses
There are two major losses in the water supply system, (i) from the source to the
treatment plant in the pipe mains (ii) in the distribution network through valves and
connections. Following the good construction practice and organizing regular
maintenance of the system helps to reduce these losses of water in the water supply
system. For this system, we have project we have considered as 10 percent of water lost
in the water supply system.

4.2 Water use

For this project, water demands related to domestic water use, public (water use related
to firefighting, watering parks and public places) and water loss is considered. Among
this domestic demand is the major water demand for the township. A small number of
residents are also using water for cottage industries and serving visitors during the
weekend.

4.3 Long term impact on the project proposal

The project aims to provide the safe and reliable drinking water until the year 2050.
Long-term extraction of the lake water will have a subsequent impact on the lake
ecosystem thus this will be studied in detail. Similarly, there is a large uncertainty due
to climate change and variability in weather pattern in the supply side, which is also
considered as a long-term impact on the project.

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5 References

Arbues, F., Angeles, M., & Martinzed, R. (2003). Estimation of residential water demand : a
state-of-the-art review. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 32(1), 81-102.
Department of Energy and Water supply. (2014). Planning Guidelines for water supply and
sewerage, Queensland Government.

Queensland Government. (2015). Safe water on rural properties.

World Health Organization. (2010). Guidelines for drinking water quality. World Health
Organization.

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