Abstract:
Water supply distribution systems are facing several challenges in delivering acceptable quality and adequate quantity of water with the required velocity and pressure. These challenges come from rapid population growth, urbanization, scarce water resources, poor design, poor operation, and poor maintenance of the systems. These also expose infrastructural decay, inefficient distribution systems, and increasing water demands on pipelines every day. Kebri-bayah Town in Somali Regional State is a rapidly growing commercial town with many refugee camps. Hence, the main objective of this research is to evaluate the hydraulic performance of the water distribution system based on widely accepted key standards. Primary and secondary data was collected. Hydraulic network simulation with Water GEMS was carried out to track water supply, water demand, flow velocity, and pressure at each node. Steady state simulation was carried out. In this study, the average per capita domestic water supply was 17.41 l/c/d. The existing water supply coverage of Kebri-bayah Town was 34.31% with the water loss (NRW) rate of 32.24%. From the hydraulic analysis of the distribution pipeline for the peak hour demand and minimum consumption hour or night flow, 100% of the nodes in the distribution pipeline have a pressure in the range of 15 to 70 m. Similarly, during the peak hour demand scenario, only 57.73% of the distribution pipelines had a velocity in the range of 0.2 to 2 m/s that satisfied the minimum and maximum permissible velocity. However, 42.13% of the distribution pipelines have a velocity less than 0.2 m/s. Therefore, to increase hydraulic performance Pipes with smaller diameter, mainly OD63 and 75 mm, and need improvement by increasing their diameter and to meet the current demand of community additional water sources should be investigated and add to system.
Key words: Water Supply System, Performance Evaluation, Water Demand, Water loss, Coverage, WaterGEMS