Canada Cities Use Computer Models to Plan Water Infrastructure

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Canada Cities Use Computer Models to Plan Water Infrastructure

To help their city with its water and sewer services planning, Abbotsford’s, (B.C., Canada) engineering department uses a computerized system that enables it to model changes to the infrastructure before it actually starts to dig and lay pipe.

To help the city with its water and sewer services planning, its engineering department uses a computerized system that enables it to model changes to the infrastructure before it actually starts to dig and lay pipe.

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Representative image, Labeled for Reuse

Called hydraulic modelling, it enables the city’s water engineers to see on their computer screens an abstract representation of what the changes will look like and what effect they will have on the complex network of pipes, pumping stations, reservoirs and treatment centres.

“We’ve been modelling our network for a total of about 20 years,” said Tyler Bowie, Abbotsford’s senior water engineer. “We installed the latest model in 2003-2004.”

Another rapidly growing city in the Fraser Valley, the District of Mission, has also been modelling its water and sanitary sewer system.

“We use the hydraulic model to find out if there are any deficiencies in the capacity of the system,” said Hirod Gill, Mission’s manager of engineering planning and design. “When changes are made to the municipality’s official community plan, which happens about every five years, then the model gets updated.”

Source: Journal of Commerce

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