Hydraulic model for multi-sources reclaimed water pipe network based on EPANET and its applications in Beijing, China

Water shortage is one of the major water related problems for many cities in the world. The planning for utilization of reclaimed water has been or would be drafted in these cities. For using the reclaimed water soundly, Beijing planned to build a large scale reclaimed water pipe networks with multi-sources. In order to support the plan, the integrated hydraulic model of planning pipe network was developed based on EPANET supported by geographic information system (GIS). The complicated pipe network was divided into four weak conjunction subzones according to the distribution of reclaimed water plants and the elevation. It could provide a better solution for the problem of overhigh pressure in several regions of the network. Through the scenarios analysis in different subzones, some of the initial diameter of pipes in the network was adjusted. At last the pipe network planning scheme of reclaimed water was proposed. The proposed planning scheme could reach the balances between reclaimed water requirements and reclaimed water supplies, and provided a scientific basis for the reclaimed water utilization in Beijing. Now the scheme had been adopted by Beijing municipal government.