Abstract:
Intermittent water supply is a series problem for utilities in many developing countries,
including Ethiopia. This thesis focused on the evaluation of the hydraulic performance of
the existing water supply distribution system in Werabe town, Ethiopia. A model has been
developed for analyzing the hydraulic parameters of the existing water distribution system.
Water GEMS V8i was used to determine the pressure junctions, velocity, and head loss
through the pipe. To analyze the data, which was collected from different sources,
descriptive statistical methods like percentages, graphs and cross tabulation were used.
Water supply coverage of Werabe town was found to be 52.43%, and the average per capita
consumption was 42.09 l/day, and water loss from the system accounts for 31.10% of the
total water production. Hence, this result indicates that there is a gap between demand and
supply. Modeling results showed violations of maximum and minimum pressure, velocity,
and head loss criteria at different junctions and pipes. Generally, the result of the analysis
of the overall hydraulic performance of the distribution system in Werabe town has
revealed that it was poor, with a high level of non-revenue water, low service coverage,
velocity, pressure, and head loss not being in the permissible range. As a result, it is critical
to rehabilitate and improve the capacity of the distribution system. Thus, the distribution
main pipes in the development of the model were modified, and pressure reducer valves
were incorporated into the system to reduce the maximum pressure, but the head loss
exceeded the maximum allowable value, which has been adjusted or modified by resizing
pipe diameters. As a result, 18.11% of the total distribution networks have been resized.
