CEBU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY - UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
CETE - 4 (M1)
FOUR TYPES OF WATER DISTRIBUTION
NETWORK
QUIJANO, LORIE MAE C.
BSCE-5
ENGR. JUNE CARLO ENCABO
INSTRUCTOR
In order to have an efficient water distribution system, the layout of pipeline
main routes should be properly selected considering the pressure requirement,
operation and maintenance, cost of the project, and the length or coverage of
the proposed water distribution system. There are four types of water distribution
network namely: grid system, ring system, radial system, and dead end system.
Any of which can be used singly or in combination depending on the location of
the project and the orientation of the road.
Grid system
This is known as interlaced or reticulation system since water flows
continuously unlike the tree system which has dead ends. Connections are being
interlaced from all the lines to avoid the stagnation of water and deposits of any
sediments. This is appropriate to apply on cities where locations of structures are
properly planned. Since the pipelines are continuously laid, head loss is reduced
and if fire emergency rises, it can supply enough discharge for the firefighting.
Unlike dead end system, grid system uses more cut off valves but the advantage
of this is that whenever some pipe connections need to be repaired, only those
cut off valves of those affected lines will be closed and doesn’t affect other
consumers’ water flow.
Ring system
Ring or circular system is suitable for areas where streets and roads are well
planned since the main line of this system is placed around whole coverage area
to be served. It may be circular or rectangular in shape. Just like the dead end
system, the distribution of water of the area are grouped into circular or
rectangular blocks as well. In every block, branch lines are interconnected from
the main line similar to that of grid system to ensure that every street of the area
are supplied with enough water for the consumers or for emergency purposes
demand. With the design of pipe networks for system, stagnation if water is
avoided and can do repair works without causing much inconvenience to the
whole system. It is costly since it requires more cut off valves to be installed, longer
length of pipes, larger diameter of pipes, and skilled workers to lay the pipes.
Radial system
In this system, the entire coverage area is divided into small zones and
each of which is provided with distribution reservoir. A main pipe is laid out at the
center of the city which is connected from the individual distribution reservoir
which then supplies its designated zones. This is preferable to cities where roads
are radially designed because pipe lines are being laid out radially to the streets.
Advantages of this system is that water flows with high pressure and velocity and
head loss is decreased. It is more costly than the other systems due to the
distribution reservoirs provided.
Dead end system
This is also known as tree system. It is composed of a main line, sub-main
lines, branch lines, and service connections. For the lay-out of this system, a main
line pipe is laid at the center of the service coverage and sub-main lines will be
determined at different points to group the connections of the whole service
area. Sub-main lines are then divided into branches that will lead the distribution
of the water to different service connections. At each starting point of the sub-
main lines, a cut off valve is provided which will be controlled whenever there are
repair works. This is one of the disadvantages of this system since all the service
connections that are connected on that particular sub-main line will be affected
when any damages will occur in the pipes. Also, from the name itself, stagnation
of water at the dead ends of connections is common. The dead end system is
used for areas where structures are built anywhere without planning. Though the
cost for this system can be reduced, this is not preferable at present days since
the pressure at different areas will vary and is expected to be very low when it is
very distant from the main pipe.
CONCLUSION:
From the four types of water distribution network, pipes can be laid out from the
area based on how the roads and structures for service connections are planned
and designed. We cannot identify what is the best and effective network system
if we were not able to grasp on how the roads and structures are located. LayIng
out the networks properly is just one of the steps to have an effiective yet lesser
cost of water distribution system not just for the current population but for the
future generation consumers.
