With population and employment on the rise, the City of Waterloo initiated an update to the previous City-wide sanitary sewer system. As part of this update, Stantec was retained to lead City staff and external software vendors and organizations through a Hydraulic Needs Assessment. The goal was to determine which hydraulic modeling software would best suit the City’s needs by reviewing collected information in the context of industry practices and model functionalities. Questions surrounded the intended primary use of the hydraulic model, the preferred level of hydraulic analysis and infrastructure functionality, whether having integrated storm and sanitary was preferred, the desired output format and perceived use of the software for the City. Based on the City’s input and needs, weighted evaluation criteria were developed and used to compare and evaluate the model software development options. The outcome of this assessment indicated the preferred approach was to develop a dynamic model that includes all pipes within the core area and sewers defined as trunks or sub-trunks for the remainder of the City. Long-term, the City identified the goal of transitioning to an all-pipes model throughout the municipality.Īfter thorough analysis, the selected software for developing the hydraulic model was PCSWMM. This decision resulted from PCSWMM exceeding the base needs, providing superior calibration and advanced topological tools, having a local software provider available for support, offering training and implementation, maintaining solid vendor availability and technical support and being the most cost-effective modeling software of all alternatives. The resulting model was used to identify constraints for development considerations and assess existing and future conditions to refine recommended upgrades. The City is currently in the process of putting measures in place to move toward purchasing PCSWMM and implementing the Waterloo Sanitary Master Plan.Ĭontinuous simulation of collection systems often requires long run times for complex computer models of large sewer system networks. Even still, this method of simulation can be useful for quantifying overflow frequency, pump runtime, storage utilization and dewatering characteristics – as well as other important indicators of wet-weather system performance.
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