Modelling the Water Supply System of the National Palace of Queluz Gardens

Abstract

Abstract The gardens of the National Palace of Queluz, built in the eighteenth century, are supplied by a complex branched water supply system. The aim of the current research is to analyse the hydraulic behaviour of the pressurised supply systems, namely the water pathways, the available pressure-head at the fountains and the water consumption at the gardens, by means of computational simulation for different operating scenarios. Results show that the difference of elevation was sufficient to assure the water transport by gravity from the surrounding water sources to the ornamental fountains, cascades and lakes and to provide 8-12 m water jets. Several scenarios are analysed showing that the fountains and cascades water consumption are in the range of 12.4 to 42.2 L/s, available water sources are enough to satisfy these demands for several hours per day and the two existing tanks, Curro and Miradouro, have sufficient capacity to store water to be used in the ornamental fountains and cascades and in the irrigation of the botanical garden and the horticultural area.