Volume 2 Issue 3 | 2025 | View PDF
Paper Id:IJMSM-V2I3P109
doi: 10.71141/30485037/V2I3P109

Tool for Modelling and Sizing Drinking Water Distribution Networks Using the Rough Model Method (RMM) - Application to a Numerical Mesh Model

Ludovic Ivan Ntom Nkotto, Joberthe Vanny Meno Tegue, Blanche Marcelline Manjia, Alpha Ali Mohamadou, Jordan Valdès Sontia Metekong

Citation:
Ludovic Ivan Ntom Nkotto, Joberthe Vanny Meno Tegue, Blanche Marcelline Manjia, Alpha Ali Mohamadou, Jordan Valdès Sontia Metekong, "Tool for Modelling and Sizing Drinking Water Distribution Networks Using the Rough Model Method (RMM) - Application to a Numerical Mesh Model" International Journal of Multidisciplinary on Science and Management, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 75-91, 2025.

Abstract:
In Cameroon, the growing demand for drinking water requires optimum planning of distribution networks. The availability of an adequate supply of drinking water is crucial to the health of the population. At present, sizing methods are based on rules of thumb, without taking account of local constraints such as topographical variations and hydrological conditions. This study proposes a tool for sizing drinking water networks using the Rough Model Method (RMM). It applies to all relative roughness ranges between 0 and 5x10^-2 and for all Reynolds number values above 2300. This is the only analytical method allowing the calculation of the normal depth in free-surface channels. The tool has been codified using the MATLAB programming language. RMM is based on the principles of hydraulics, and is used to calculate flow rates, pressures and heights of water in pipes. Unlike hydraulic simulation software such as WaterCAD, Epanet, GHydraulique, ProNET Water Network Analysis and Porteau, which are based on the Hardy-Cross method, this tool uses a four-dimensional hydraulic model ((x, y), (y, z), (x, z) and (x, y, z)) and calculates network parameters (rather than simulating them), taking into account the contextual parameters of the site (topographical and hydraulic parameters) and without the use of abacuses. The tool takes various parameters into account to generate optimum configurations, minimising pressure losses and optimising construction and maintenance costs. In this work, the hydraulic network previously studied by B. Achour (2014) was simulated using the EPANET application in order to confirm the functionality of the network. Then, the said network was dimensioned by the implemented tool. The results showed that the graphic modelling was accurate in terms of the direction of water flow. Standard diameters, which are essential for network design, were calculated and rounded off precisely, in line with industry standards. The pressures assumed at the theoretical diameters showed values similar to the work of B. Achour (2014), attesting to the reliability of the tool implemented. However, discrepancies were observed in the pressures assumed at commercial diameters, particularly in some meshes, due to the sensitivity of the roundings.

Keywords: Distribution networks, Drinking water, Rough Model Method, Modelling and sizing drinking water.

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