Hydraulic transients, commonly known as water hammer, pose a serious threat to water distribution systems, as they can often cause catastrophic pipe bursts. Simulating hydraulic transients remains a challenge due to the nonlinear governing equations, limited field data, and a host of operating conditions and requirements. We designed this session based on the adage that "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.” The purpose is to emphasize the importance of the topic, introduce the fundamentals of water hammer simulation, and caution against common pitfalls that could lead to catastrophic failures of pipes and appurtenances in hydraulic systems. In the session, you will explore case studies that show how InfoWater Pro is used to protect piping infrastructure from potential harm by transients. You will also acquire a solid understanding of InfoWater Pro software's Surge functionality, which will help you analyze and mitigate transients within your own systems.

Service disruptions are inevitable regardless of your water source, and they often result in chaos for operators, administrators, and residents. Even as communities move toward more proactive water system management, unanticipated disruptions will always occur. Utilities should be as prepared as possible to respond quickly and effectively. This presentation will explore the innovative ways the City of Livonia, located outside Detroit, is planning for and exploring potential water service disruption scenarios with hydraulic modeling through InfoWater Pro and ArcGIS Dashboards. With aging assets the city has experienced increasingly severe water system failures. Susan Knepper (OHM Advisors) will share the tools and practices she used to help the city plan for its water service disruptions, and she’ll cover the creative way she documented the city’s disruption protocols. Tim Medearis (Autodesk) will briefly share how Info360 can make this workflow even easier in the future.

Water distribution models are used throughout the world to provide customers access to clean, reliable drinking water, as well as sufficient pressure for fire suppression in emergencies. These models are only as valuable as they are accurate. The old process of updating the model every five years for a master plan is outdated and inefficient. The infrequent updating is a byproduct of the many sources of data needed to update your model. Using built-in tools for InfoWater Pro and incorporating telemetry data from Info360 Insight, we will walk through some of the many workflows that are involved in updating models and we’ll explore how much faster they can be accomplished with the right tools. Additionally, we will discuss the important analysis being done with water distribution models and how outdated models can be costly in social, environmental, and financial ways.