Investigating effect of pipe closure as pressure deficient condition on water distribution network using EPANET

Water distribution network of water supply system is one of the important and critical components of public works. Pipeline network requires high installation cost, around 75% of total investment cost. The analysis of water distribution network (WDN) consists of computation of flow and pressure at nodes. It should be designed carefully and maintained properly to serve the purpose. It is used for supplying water from source to consumer. Water is supplied by means of collecting, storing, pumping and transporting water through water distribution network. The customer will get water if pressure at nodes is maintained i.e. under normal conditions. But in most cases water is not supplied due to lack in pressure. This may be cause of abnormal conditions like fire demand, pipe outage, and leakage, pump failure, pipe burst etc. These are called as pressure deficient conditions which if occurred may affect pressure and ultimately demand at node. There are two approaches namely demand driven and pressure driven approach. Demand driven approach does not produce realistic results in abnormal conditions. The objective of this paper is to study effect of pressure deficient condition on pressure head at node and discharge in pipe. This is achieved by simulating water distribution network for pipe closed as pressure deficient condition. The case study is simulated using EPANET software. The observations of this study are interpreted and discussed in detail in paper.