• MWH Soft InfoWater UDF helps bring the power of unidirectional flushing to reality for award-winning Gold Coast Water, Australia
BROOMFIELD, CO, May 26, 2010 -- MWH Soft, a leading global innovator of wet infrastructure modeling and simulation software and technologies, today announced that Gold Coast Water, Australia, has chosen MWH Soft's industry-leading InfoWater UDF software for designing its unidirectional flushing program. The decision helps leverage the utility's investment in MWH Soft water modeling technology and gives Gold Coast Water an advanced solution for maintaining high levels of water quality and customer service.
Unidirectional flushing (UDF) is the most effective way of cleaning water mains, maintaining water quality, and restoring system capacity. It also requires the least amount of water of any cleaning method. In this approach, valves are closed and hydrants opened to create a one-way flow. This high-speed flushing increases the swiftness of the water flow in the mains, maximizing shear velocity near the pipe wall. This produces a scouring action that effectively removes sediment deposits and biofilm.
UDF can help improve water quality by restoring the disinfectant residual, reducing bacterial regrowth, dislodging biofilms, removing sediments and deposits, controlling corrosion, restoring flows and pressures, eliminating taste and odor problems, and reducing disinfectant demand throughout the distribution system. These benefits can also prolong the life expectancy of the system and reduce the potential for waterborne disease outbreaks.
Gold Coast Water is one of Australia's largest water and wastewater service providers, providing service to 500,000 permanent residents and an annual tourist population of close to ten million. Based in Queensland, its potable water system includes 1970 miles (3170 km) of potable water mains, 62 reservoirs, and 55 pumping stations. The utility and its employees are the recipients of many international and national awards, including 2009 Global Water Intelligence Public Water Agency of the Year.
For the past ten years, drought conditions have prevented Gold Coast Water from utilizing its treated water for flushing operations. With the recent return of normal water levels, the utility has been able to reevaluate flushing options. After long-term strategy planning, it was determined that unidirectional flushing was the most cost-effective option and that InfoWater UDF would be used to execute the design work.
"The key to safe flushing is to control the flushing velocity," said Guillermo Capati, Manager of Infrastructure Planning for Gold Coast Water. "If the flushing velocity is too high, it can cause major damage to valuable pipe infrastructure. If the flushing velocity is too low, the flushing will not be successful in removing the buildup of solids and bio-films from the pipe wall. One of the primary benefits of InfoWater UDF is its ability to accurately simulate the flushing velocity. This is critical in that it allows engineers to model and analyze various flushing scenarios, ensuring that a safe flushing velocity can be achieved without the risk of damaging pipe infrastructure."
Unique in its class, MWH Soft InfoWater UDF capitalizes on the intelligence and versatility of the GIS geodatabase architecture in combination with advanced network hydraulics theory. Its advanced capabilities can help water utilities develop effective unidirectional flushing sequences for each flushing zone, quickly identifying which fire hydrants and water main valves should be manipulated for proper cleaning while avoiding excessive pressure drops and maintaining the desired level of hydraulic performance in the system.
The program also computes minimum flushing time, total flushing volume and pipe length, flushing velocity and shear stress for every pipe in the sequence, and available flow at the minimum residual pressure. The hydraulic impact of each flushing sequence is monitored to ensure that the desired minimum pressure is maintained throughout the system. InfoWater UDF also generates detailed reports of flushing sequences, showing which fire hydrants and water main valves should be manipulated to assure optimal cleaning. Both minimum velocity and minimum shear stress criteria can be specified.
InfoWater is a fully GIS integrated network modeling and design application using the latest ESRI ArcObjects component technologies. While it addresses all the operations of a typical water distribution system, it also allows engineers to accurately perform the most difficult hydraulic analyses -- including multi-point and extended period fire flow simulations, variable speed pumpings, and advanced water quality calculations. Users can then employ a rich array of ArcGIS presentation tools to powerfully showcase the results.
"Creating a unidirectional flushing program with InfoWater UDF gives utilities a superior solution for both pipe and water quality maintenance," said MWH Soft Asia Pacific Business Development Director Justin Hanson. "Gold Coast Water's use of InfoWater UDF gives the utility a superior technological advantage that will lead to measurable improvements in productivity, system performance, and customer satisfaction. We're proud to have been among the first companies to deliver these benefits."
About MWH Soft
MWH Soft is a leading global provider of wet infrastructure modeling and simulation software and professional solutions designed to meet the technological needs of water/wastewater utilities, government industries, and engineering organizations worldwide. Its clients include the majority of the largest UK, Australasia and North American cities, foremost utilities on all five continents, and ENR top-rated design firms. With unparalleled expertise and offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, the MWH Soft connected portfolio of best-in-class product lines empower thousands of engineers to competitively plan, manage, design, protect, operate and sustain highly efficient and reliable infrastructure systems, and provide an enduring platform for customer success. For more information, call MWH Soft at +1 626-568-6868, or visit www.mwhsoft.com.
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