Experimental and model-assisted investigation of activities in a water supply system

Abstract

This paper presents experimental and model-assisted investigation of activities in a water supply system to manage water transfer using some experiments that are performed on the real system, and simulations obtained from a nonlinear model of the system. The physical system consists of a sequence of pumping stations that deliver water through pipelines to intermediate storage reservoirs. The nonlinear model is obtained using dominant system variables that represent active and passive dynamical elements. The hydraulic models include nonlinear coupling between flow rates and reservoir heads. Validation of the nonlinear model is accomplished through comparing with system observations and using data validation and face validity approaches. The results demonstrate the dynamical behaviour of the system regarding flow stability, water heads in the reservoirs, head losses and measure of the friction at different sections of the water supply system.