Working Towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
With 2020 upon us, the UN will be ushering in a decade of ambitious action to deliver its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Many of the 17 goals
will depend on the provision of adequate civil infrastructure and the efficient delivery of essential services will lean heavily on technological innovation.
At the same time, in South Africa, the Department of Water and Sanitation has launched a 10 year master plan to tackle the country's water crisis, with the goal of
ensuring the country's water security until 2030 and beyond. Here again, engineering expertise, technology, and innovative software tools
will be vital if the plan is to be successful.
While the challenges are daunting, there are reasons for optimism. Building information modelling (BIM) processes and technologies
that aim to increase collaboration have come a long way. The time and cost saving advantages of sharing a consistent and data rich design model
are better understood and industry case studies reveal that the benefits are not only evident in construction, but also in the design
and delivery of utilities and civil infrastructure.
How Civil Designer Software Meets the Challenge
Civil Designer software upholds an integrated design approach, where all the terrain, roads and pipes infrastructure elements, within a design model,
are spatially and geographically associated. As a result, the software has several unique strengths which serve to assist in the design, analysis and delivery of
effective clean water and foul water networks.
Simulating Water Networks With Actual Data
Civil Designer's water module (for clean water) is a program for the full analysis and extended time simulation of fluid handling networks. The program allows
the engineer to analyse draw-offs using the available pressure at specific points in the network and can model the impact of
consumption changes, such as those imposed by water restrictions, by importing actual consumption data.
The ability to handle billed consumption data is also useful for predicting trends. Data can be graphically
presented for both the daily total and daily use per connection over a given period.
Consumption Data Table (click to enlarge)
Borehole Hydraulic Modelling
Although boreholes are commonly used to supplement water supply, they are poorly represented in the world of hydraulic modelling solutions.
Civil Designer includes borehole modelling functions that allows the designer to easily define and model a borehole column, shaft
and pump within a graphical interface and view the borehole performance quickly and easily.
Borehole hydraulic modelling
Identifying Potential Foul Water System Failures
In drought conditions and where water restrictions apply, reduced consumption results in reduced foul water flows.
Where effective cleansing velocities no longer occur, sewerage cannot be effectively transported from houses and commercial
buildings to treatment facilities. The resulting solid deposition, blockages and sewerage overflow can result in the spread of serious diseases.
Civil Designer's Sewer module allows the engineer to reduce simulated inflow volumes in a given network and then re-analyse the model to pin-point potential blockage locations.
The software alerts the engineer to links that fall below the specified minimum mean velocity.
Water Quality Analysis
Civil Designer's Water Quality analysis functionality determines the spatial and time-based distribution of a given chemical (for example chlorine) in a water network
allowing the calculation of the proper source dosage and potential top-up point requirements. The feature can also be used to determine the age of water at any point
or to trace water spread from any given point to other parts of a network. The video below demonstrates the software's Water Quality Analysis capabilities.
Civil Designer offers essential capabilities to municipal and consulting engineers including comprehensive and accurate modelling tools that allow them
to predict potential supply shortfalls, optimize water networks affected by water restrictions, and prevent the serious consequences of foul water network failures.
Over the next decade, water, sanitation and responsible consumption will be at the forefront of global attention driven by the UN's
Social Development Agenda, and countries such as South Africa will be launching their own water security plan.
Developing and implementing collaborative engineering and design processes will be important components of strategies that
make these goals achievable.
Infrastructure Design Tools for Clean Water and Sanitation Goals | www.civildesigner.com
For further information regarding this post you can email rod@civildesigner.com
