Water Supply Systems

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Water Supply Systems

Water Supply Systems and Evaluation Methods

Volume II: Water Supply Evaluation Methods

U.S. Fire Administration

October 2008


This topic has two primary objectives: The first is to understand the evaluation of an installed municipal water supply delivery system by identifying all the physical components of any specific water distribution system. The same basic concepts and principles apply to small community water systems and large city water systems. For a basic understanding of these concepts, two illustrations are provided that include a relatively small water distribution system and a medium size water distribution system. These concepts will cover 92 percent of all the water supply systems in the United States. While there are similarities to all water systems, it should be recognized that the likelihood of two water systems being exactly alike in physical features is remote because the raw water sources in relation to the water delivery demands can hardly be the same.

The second objective is to provide recognized practices for conducting water supply tests at prescribed intervals to measure the water system delivery capability and ensure that the system is meeting the water supply demand. An important part of this second objective is to use the results of water supply tests to monitor the performance of the water delivery system in relation to the existing water supply and the constant changes in demand on the water system. The following material will illustrate the broad features of water supply systems in order to understand how this can be accomplished. Chapter 2 presents a basic understanding of hydraulic fundamentals needed to accomplish water supply testing and evaluation accurately, and Chapter 3 presents water supply system evaluation methods for determining existing water supplies for consumer consumption and especially for fire protection

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