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Urban Water Solutions were delighted to share recent project experiences at the Innovyze User Days in November 2018.
Irene Estrada-Subirats and Ann Pugh presented on modelling work undertaken to determine what impact a customer’s internal plumbing will have on their experience of supply pressure.
Using assumptions about different pipe roughnesses and demands it was possible to generate a series of plots showing the potential impacts of a customer’s pipework. The ‘pressure related demand’ function within InfoWorks WS Pro was used to determine the impact that competing demands would have on each other. Examples included the impact of garden watering on showering, and two showers in a double storey house competing for water.
Graduate Engineer, Aidan Sloggett, showed how an InfoWorks ICM model was used to determine the sizing of a dry weather pump at Rotary Park Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) which is estimated to save over 80% of the annual energy costs at this site.
He also demonstrated how Failure Based Assessments can be used to provide operations with information regarding time and location of spill in the event of pump station failure. The presentation also showed how operational controls such as ‘interlocks’ can be developed to optimise the use of SPS storage in minimising spill volumes in the event of pump failure or during wet weather events.
In early August Urban Water Solutions attended the Pacific Water and Waste Association (PWWA) Conference in New Caledonia.
The conference’s focus this year was on sharing information and experience that will inspire local communities to implement innovative and forward-looking solutions.
Neil Moody presented a well-received paper highlighting the success of a recent project undertaken by UWS in Apia, Samoa, followed by a discussion of the benefits Pressure Sewer Systems (PSS) can bring to coastal communities – particularly around improved public and environmental health, minimised up front capital expense, improved system operations (particularly at the treatment plant and associated pumps) and increased resilience to impacts of climate change.
For more details on this Apia PSS project use the following link (Apia project)
In July 2018 UWS hosted a Year 10 Work Experience student. Liam quickly got to work on MapInfo, creating plans for site works, reviewing CCTV data and analysing pump curves.
Also starting in late June was Tom, our engineering intern. Tom has been learning about hydraulic models, specifically InfoWorks ICM, starting with the collation of raw data and data entry for pressure sewer network design.
From left to right: Irene, Davide, Kim, Liam, Kerry, Tom, Kiara, Brad and Aidan
On May the 4th a crowd gathered at Level 1, 8 Gipps Street to celebrate Urban Water Solutions’ eleventh anniversary.
Past employees, colleagues, clients and friends were all welcomed and Neil provided a summary of the past eleven years.
Reminiscences of past office locations, time spent working on projects in Asia, the Pacific Islands and the Americas, as well as the many varied domestic projects.
Many memories were shared, including the following ‘blasts from the past’.
AWA 2010 Dinner
Movember
On the 17th April 2018 Urban Water Solutions employees (and a few friends) volunteered an evening at FareShare kitchens (https://www.fareshare.net.au/) in Abbotsford. We prepared meals for people in need from rescued and donated food. In just under 2 hours over 1000 vegetarian sausage rolls were made and baked and cooked sausage rolls were packaged for distribution. Read more “Annual Community Volunteering”
Urban Water Solutions have extensive experience in the design and optimisation of Pressure Sewer Systems across the world and presented a session at the Water NZ Modelling Symposium on ‘Optimising the Design & Operation of Pressure Sewer Systems’.
Pressure sewer systems have been in use since the early 1970s and are now an established alternative to gravity sewers for difficult to sewer areas. By using time-based pump operation rules, it is possible to control the timing of pump operations. This allows the modulation of flows in the system and reduces the peak flows to the discharge point. Modulating the flow by controlling how many pumps will operate simultaneously throughout the day, results in smaller pipe diameters across the system and reduces the detention time of the sewage in the PSS pipe network. Read more “Ann Pugh presents at Water NZ Modelling Symposium in Christchurch.”
Just in time for the Christmas-New Year close Urban Water Solutions have completed the move into their new office at Level 1, 8 Gipps Street Collingwood.
With ample space for our growing team of modelling specialists the new office is located just around the corner from our old office.
While undertaking a recent modelling study Kiara undertook a sensitivity analysis comparing the use of the Ground Infiltration Model (GIM) and Fixed Runoff hydrology models within InfoWorks ICM to achieve calibration.
The flow data recorded indicated that there was a slower infiltration process occurring in the sewer, however as the GIM could only be calibrated to a small recurrence interval event there was little confidence in its ability to predict infiltration from the 5year design storm without further calibration.
The presentation discussed the theory behind the GIM, how it was applied for this project and why it was ultimately not adopted.
