CIVE 5038M & 5039M

Water Resources Management and Supply

February 2015

Pipe Network Analysis

See the VLE for more material and coursework
Dr Andrew Sleigh: P.A.Sleigh@leeds.ac.uk

1. FLUID FLOW IN PIPES .................................................................................................................................................... 2

1.1 ANALYSIS OF PIPELINES. .......................................................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 PRESSURE LOSS DUE TO FRICTION IN A PIPELINE. .......................................................................................................................... 3
1.3 CHOICE OF FRICTION FACTOR F AND ....................................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 LOCAL HEAD LOSSES .............................................................................................................................................................. 6
1.5 SINGLE PIPE ANALYSIS EXAMPLE .............................................................................................................................................. 7

2. FLUID FLOW IN PIPE NETWORKS ................................................................................................................................... 8

2.1 ANALYSIS OF PIPE NETWORKS. ................................................................................................................................................. 8

2.2 EQUATIONS OF FLOW ............................................................................................................................................................. 8
2.3 LOOPED NETWORK ANALYSIS: HEAD BALANCE, OR HARDY CROSS METHOD. .................................................................................. 10
2.4 BRANCHED NETWORK ANALYSIS - QUANTITY BALANCE ............................................................................................................... 14
2.5 MATRIX SOLUTION METHODS ............................................................................................................................................... 17

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 1

1. Fluid Flow in Pipes
1.1 Analysis of pipelines.
To analyses the flow in a pipe line we will use Bernoullis equation. You will all be familiar with the Bernoulli
equation and as a reminder it is presented again here:
2 2
p1 u1 p2 u2
z1 z 2 H Constant
g 2g g 2g

Which is written linking conditions at point 1 to conditions at point 1 in a flow (specifically along a streamline). H
is the total head which does not change. When applied to a pipeline we must also take into account any losses (or
gains) in energy along the flow length.
Consider a pipeline as shown below linking two reservoirs A and B with a pump followed by a pipe that expands
before reaching the downstream reservoir.

Examining the energy (head) losses, there will be a loss as the fluid flows into the pipe, the Entry Loss (hL entry),
then the pump put energy into the fluid in terms of increasing the pressure head (hpump). As the pipe expands the
is an expansion loss (hL expansion), then a second expansion loss, labelled Exit loss(hL exit), as the fluid leaves the pipe
into the reservoir. Along the whole length of the pipe there is a loss due to pipe friction (hf).
The Bernoulli equation linking reservoir A with B would be written thus:
2 2
pA uA pB uB
z A h pump z B h L entry h L expansion h L exit h f
g 2g g 2g
(Where pA, uA, zA are the pressure, velocity and height of the surface of reservoir A. The corresponding terms are
the same for B)
This is the general equation we use to solve for flow in a pipeline. The difficult part is the determination of the
head loss terms in this equation. The following sections describe how these are quantified.
Before continuing it is useful to note that the above general equation can be quickly simplified to leave on
expressions for head. Remember that the points A and B are surfaces of reservoirs they moves very slowly
compared to the flow in the pipe so we can say uA = uB = 0. Also the pressure is atmospheric, pA = pB = pAtmospheric. zA
- zB is the height difference between the two reservoir surfaces. So
z A z B h pump h L entry h L expansion h L exit h f

Which is the usual form we end up solving.

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 2

1.2 Pressure loss due to friction in a pipeline.
For a general bounded flow, head loss due to friction can be written
2
fLu
h f

2 gR

More specifically, for a circular pipe, R = A/P = d2/4d = d/4 giving

Lu
2 2
4 fLu
h f

2 gd 2 gd

This is known as the Darcy-Weisbach equation for head loss in circular pipes
(Often referred to as the Darcy equation)

This equation is equivalent to the Hagen-Poiseuille equation for laminar flow with the exception of the empirical
friction factor f introduced.
It is sometimes useful to write the Darcy equation in terms of discharge Q, (using Q = Au)

4Q
u
d
2

LQ
2 2 2
64 fLQ fLQ
h f

2 g d
2 5 5 5
3 . 03 d 12 . 1 d

Or with a 1% error

LQ
2 2
fLQ
h f
5
5
3d 12 . 1 d

NOTE On Friction Factor Value

The f value shown above is different to that used in American practice. Their relationship is
f American = 4 f
Commonly is used in place of f For clarity:

f American = 4 f

Consequently great care must be taken when choosing the value of f with attention taken to the source of that
value. If you look for "darcy friction factor" on Wikipedia it uses the f American , but does not use this terminology,
just f. To be certain you must go back to check the original definition of f in the Darcy equation.

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 3

1.2.1 Hazen-Williams equation
In American practice it is most common not to use the Darcy-Weisbach formula but to use an empirical formula
call the Hazen-Williams equation. I will quote it here to give you the knowledge of this equation - that is in
common use but we shall not be using it further in this course.
Unit are very important to note. The usual form is to express the pressure loss in pounds per square inch (psi)
which results in this form of the equation:
4 . 52 L
Pd
1 . 85
1 . 85 4 . 87
Q
C d
where L = length in feet, Q = flow in gallons per min, d = diameter in inches
The equation can be re-written in SI units and in a form similar to the Darcy-Weisbach equation giving head loss in
m:
10 . 67 L

1 . 85
h f 1 . 85 4 . 87
Q
C d
where L is in m, Q is in m3/s, d is in m.
The value of C is found by looking in tables. Typical values are:
Pipe Material C
Cast Iron 100
Concrete 100
Copper 130
Steel 90
Polyethylene 140

1.2.2 A general Head loss formula

These formula can be written in the general form:
h f kQ
n

Where for the Darcy-Weisbach formula n = 2, and the Hazen-Williams n = 1.85.

1.3 Choice of friction factor f and

The value of the friction factor f or must be chosen with care or else the head loss will not be correct.
Experimental analysis has shown that the friction factor varies as show on this chart

Which shows that there are three general regions, laminar, smooth and rough turbulent. Rough turbulent
increases in roughness as the relative roughness value ks/d (mean height of roughness over pipe diameter)
increases. Most water pipe flow will be in the rough turbulent region and we need to find values for roughness
coefficient in this region.

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 4

1.3.1 Colebrook-White equation for f (or)
Colebrook and White did a large number of experiments on commercial pipes and they also brought together
some important theoretical work by von Karman and Prandtl. This work resulted in an equation attributed to
them as the Colebrook-White equation:
1 k 1 . 26 1 2 . 51 ks
4 log s
2 . 0 log
10
3 . 71 d 10

f Re f Re 3 .7 d
It is applicable to the whole of the turbulent region for commercial pipes and uses an effective roughness value
(ks) obtained experimentally for all commercial pipes.
Note a particular difficulty with this equation. f (or) appears on both sides in a square root term and so cannot
be calculated easily. Trial and error methods must be used to get f (or) once ksRe and d are known. (In the
1940s when calculations were done by slide rule this was a time consuming task.) Nowadays it is relatively trivial
to solve the equation on a programmable calculator or spreadsheet.
Moody made a useful contribution to help, he plotted f (or) against Re for commercial pipes see the figure
below. This figure has become known as the Moody Diagram (or sometimes the Stanton Diagram). [Note that the
version of the Moody diagram shown uses for friction factor. The shape of the diagram will not change if f were
used instead.]

Moody Diagram.
He also developed an equation based on the Colebrook-White equation that made it simpler to calculate f (or)
:

1/3 1/3
200 k s 10
6 6
ks 10
f 0 . 001375 1 0 . 0055 1 20000

d Re d Re

This equation of Moody gives f correct to +/- 5% for 4< Re < 1and for ks/d < 0.01.
Barr presented an alternative explicit equation for f in 1975
1 ks 5 . 1286 1 ks 5 . 1286
4 log 2 log 0 . 89
10 3 . 71 d 0 . 89 10
f Re 3 . 71 d Re
or
2 2
ks 5 . 1286 ks 5 . 1286
f 1 4 log 10 0 . 89
1 2 log 10 0 . 89

3 . 71 d Re 3 . 71 d Re
Here the last term of the Colebrook-White equation has been replaced with 5.1286/Re0.89 which provides more
accurate results for Re > 105.
Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 5
The problem with these formulas still remains that these contain a dependence on ks. What value of ks should be
used for any particular pipe? Fortunately pipe manufactures provide values and typical values can often be taken
similar to those in table 1 below.
Pipe Material ks (mm)
Brass, copper, glass, Perspex 0.003
Asbestos cement 0.03
Wrought iron 0.06
Galvanised iron 0.15
Plastic 0.03
Bitumen-lined ductile iron 0.03
Spun concrete lined ductile iron 0.03
Slimed concrete sewer 6.0

Typical ks values

1.4 Local Head Losses

In addition to head loss due to friction there are always head losses in pipe lines due to bends, junctions, valves
etc. For completeness of analysis these should be taken into account. In practice, in long pipe lines of several
kilometres the effect of local head losses may be negligible. For short pipeline the losses may be greater than
those for friction.

A general theory for local losses is not possible; however rough turbulent flow is usually assumed which gives the
formula
2
u k
hL k k LQ
2 2
2
Q
2g 2 gA

or

Where hL is the local head loss and kL is a constant for a particular fitting (valve or junction etc.)

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 6

1.5 Single Pipe Analysis Example
Consider the two reservoirs shown in figure 16, connected by a single pipe. The surfaces of the two reservoirs
have a difference in level of 25m. The pipe has a length of 1km and diameter of 200mm.

For the entrance use kL = 25 and the exit kL = 50. For friction use = 0.04.
Total head loss for the system H = height difference of reservoirs
hf = head loss for 200mm diameter section of pipe
hL entry = head loss at entry point
hL exit = head loss at exit point

So
H = hf + hL entry + hL exit = 25m
All losses are, in terms of Q:
LQ
2

10330 Q
2
h f 5
12 . 1 d

25 Q
2
h Lentry

h Lexit 50 Q
2

Substitute these into

10330Q2 + 25Q2 + 50Q2 = 25
and solve for Q, to give Q = 0.05 m3/s
If we decided to ignore local losses what would be the error? Is it valid to ignore local losses?

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 7

2. Fluid Flow in Pipe Networks

We are now going to look at how to determine flows and pressures pipe networks, in particular water
distribution networks. Piped water distribution systems are widespread. In a city there may be millions of pipes
and interconnects that need to be accounted for if the flow and pressures in the system are required. These
networks connect large storage reservoirs via water treatment plant to houses and businesses. On the way the
water will encounter pumps, valves, smaller storage reservoirs, flow measuring devices etc.
Water demand is quite variable both between day and night, but also from season to season, the supply
reservoir volumes and levels on the other hand are relatively stable. To maintain sufficient water and pressure
for the varying demand means a distribution system must include small reservoirs to maintain constant pressure
lower down the system and the whole systems must be flexible capable of switching supply to and from
different sources. It is usually aimed to keep water pressure at a maximum of 70m head and minimum of 20m
head. These levels ensure that demand can be met, yet are not too high so that too much leakage would occur.

2.1 Analysis of pipe networks.

The understanding of the network flows and pressures are essential if any improvement or changes are to be
made to an existing system. Traditionally this analysis has split the networks in to manageable sections one
perhaps that can be separated by reservoirs or connections of relatively constant pressure or flow. Then
subsequent analysis of this smaller sub-network would be done by hand. Nowadays this is more likely to be done
on a computer. We will see in this section of the module how the hand calculations are performed then how
computer simulations differ. This approach will demonstrate how the governing equations are used and what
solution techniques are necessary. A clearer physical understanding of the problem and appreciation of sensible
solutions will results from undertaking these hand calculations.
There are essentially two types of network to analyse (although most are in reality a combinations of both) they
are a looped system and a branched system as shown.

Looped system Branched system

2.2 Equations of flow

The equations of flow in either of these systems are no more than what you have seen before: Bernoulli, Head
loss i.e. Darcy-Weisbach and local loss terms plus continuity at junctions.
We will neglect local losses in this initial analysis, but they can be easily added later once the basic ideas are
understood.

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 8

Continuity: At each junction the sum of the flow into the junction is zero. For a junction of n pipes whose flow
in each pipe is qi then
n

qi 0
i 1

Note how this implies a direction and a sign convention e.g. flow into the junction is positive, out is negative.
The second equation we have already seen is that for head loss in a pipe i.e. the Darcy-Weisbach equation:

Lu
2 2
4 fLu
hf
2 gd 2 gd

Or in terms of Q in the metric system

LQ
2 2
fLQ
hf 5
5
3d 12 . 1 d

We will assume a constant f or now, but it is simple to include this as a variable dependent on the flow and be
calculated by an appropriate equation e.g. Colebrook-White at each step of the solution.
Assuming constant f or it is convenient to gather the (constant) terms other than Q on the right-hand-side and
label them k. So which ever friction value we are using we get a form of equation:

h f kQ
2

Continuity at a junction and the head loss for each pipe are the basic equations we have available.
Energy conservation: Head loss round any loop is zero. For any loop in a system then the sum of the head
losses around that loop is zero. For a loop such as that shown here, with 4 pipes (m=4), then

hf
j
0
j 1

Note again how this implies a direction head is lost in the direction of flow. Care must be taken to write the
equations such that hf is calculated according to the direction of flow in the pipe.
To do this we will normally write the head loss equation as

h f kQ Q

(where Q means the absolute value of Q) this ensures negative flows give a negative hf.

Another way of stating this energy conversation is that head loss between any two junctions (not necessarily
adjacent ones) is the same whatever the path taken between the junctions.
Summary:
For any network we can write out our continuity equations for each junction and head losses for each pipe and
we will have a large number of non-linear equations to solve. Their solution is not trivial. A systematic approach
must be defined to solving them. There are several methods that have been proposed. We will look at a few.

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 9

2.3 Looped Network Analysis: Head Balance, or Hardy Cross method.
This method is the most well know and was developed around 1935 and has been in use ever since. The method
can be undertaken by hand and has now also been programmed into software for easy of solution.
Assuming the head loss equation for a pipe, h f kQ 2 , where Q is the true solution. We can write Q as
j
Q q j q

Where qj is the estimate of the flow in the jth pipe in a loop and q is a correction required to make it the true
value.
k q j q
2
So the true head loss in pipe j will be H f j

Expanding the term in the brackets using the binomial theorem gives:

2

q 2 2 1 q
H kq j 1 2
2
...
f j
qj 2! q
j
As q is very small compared to q, the third term in the brackets will be small and we can ignore it, giving
H f j
kq
2
j
1 2 q / q j

For any loop the sum of the heads will be zero

m m m

H f i
0 kq
2
j
2 q kq 2
j
/q j

j 1 j 1 j 1

or, substituting in for the estimate of head loss, h f kq 2

m m

0 hf
j
2 q h f
j
/q j
j 1 j 1

We can rearrange this to get an expression for the required update q

hf
j
q
2 h f j
/q j

Note, had we chose the Hazen-Williams equation as our starting point for representation of head loss i.e.
h f j
h f kQ our update equation in the Hardy-Cross method would be: q
1 . 85

1 . 85 h f j
/q j

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 10

 B 20 litres/s
inflow 1
2.3.1 An example of Hardy Cross for a single loop: A

All pipes of length 1km, diameter 300mm, and

constant friction factor = 0.017.
2
4
a) Calculate the flow in each pipe.
b) Calculate the head at each node if the head at A = 70m D 3 C
40 litres/s
40 litres/s
Steps:
1. Calculate inflow to A from continuity of network
2. Choose a direction of flow for positive (it doesn't matter if it is wrong, the answer will simply be
negative)
3. Identify loops in the system (in this case there is only one)
4. Estimate flows in each pipe so that continuity is satisfied at each junction
5. Perform Hardy Cross method for each loop to calculate q
6. Add this q to each estimated flow in each pipe
7. Go back to 5, repeat Hardy Cross method. Keep repeating until q is sufficiently small

From Continuity of the whole system, flow in = flow out. Inflow to junction A = 20+40+40 = 100 litres/s

The directions chosen are drawn on the figure

The loop is indicated on the figure. Note the direction of flow relative to the loop. For pipe 3 and pipe 4 it is in the
opposite direction to the clock-wise loop, so head losses will be negative for that loop.

You are free to choose any set of initial flows as long as they satisfy continuity at each node. In this example
selecting a flow of 70 litres/s in pipe 1 (A-B) then the others follow:

Pipes 1 2 3 4
Q (litres/s) 70 50 -10 30

Note how in pipe 3 the flow is negative; this is in the opposite direction to the direction of flow chosen (the thick
arrow on the diagram).

To perform the Hardy Cross step you should organise all calculations into a table. The first step for this network
would give:

Pipe k q (m/s) q2 hf hf /q q qnew

1 578.2 0.070 0.0049 2.833 40.47 -0.020625 0.04938
2 578.2 0.050 0.0025 1.445 28.91 -0.020625 0.02938
3 578.2 0.010 0.0001 0.058 5.78 -0.020625 -0.01063
4 578.2 -0.030 -0.0009 -0.520 17.35 -0.020625 -0.05063
sum = 3.816 92.51
L
Note that k 5
and that q is negative if the chosen direction of flow relative to the loop direction.
12 . 1 d

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 11

Calculating q 2 q q q abs q conveniently gives the correct sign for the head loss hf.
3 . 816
q 0 . 0206 m / s
3

2 92 . 51
The correction of flow q = -0.0206 m3/s is added to each estimated flow in the loop to give a new flow, as shown
in the last column. This correction, 20 litres/s, is quite large, around 20% of inflow, so a second iteration step of
Hardy Cross should be performed. The table would look like this:

Pipe k q (m/s) q2 hf hf /q q qnew

1 578.2 0.049 0.0024 1.410 28.55 -0.00223 0.04714
2 578.2 0.029 0.0009 0.499 16.98 -0.00223 0.02714
3 578.2 -0.011 -0.0001 -0.065 6.14 -0.00223 -0.01286
4 578.2 -0.051 -0.0026 -1.482 29.27 -0.00223 -0.05286
sum= 0.361 80.94

The correction this time is 2.2 litres/s, which is much smaller than the previous step. So we can stop here. Had this
been larger we would simply carry on performing Hardy Cross steps until the correction reduced to a sufficiently
small value. If it does not reduce it is likely that a mistake has been made.

b) Head calculation.
To calculate the heads at each node we need to calculate he head losses n each pipe with these final flows:
Pipe k q (m/s) q2 hf
1 578.2 0.0471 0.0022 1.285
2 578.2 0.0271 0.0007 0.426
3 578.2 -0.0129 -0.0002 -0.096
4 578.2 -0.0529 -0.0028 -1.615
The known head at A is 70.0m so the head at each node can be calculated:

Node Head (m) Head (m) A check can be made to see if the head at A is that started with.
A 70.000 70.000
B HA - hf1 68.715
C HB - hf2 68.289
D HC - hf3 68.385
A HD - hf4 70.000

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 12

2.3.2 Further Examples
1. Perform the calculation on the network in the example above using flows at the junctions: QB = 30 litres/s,
QC = -50litres/s and QD = 100 litres/s. Use a value of
2. Repeat question 1 using the Moody formula to calculate with ks = 0.03mm.
The Moody formula is given by:

1/3

6
ks 10
0 . 0055 1 20000


d Re

(The calculation is much the same as the previous examples, but you will need more columns in the table
to take account of the variable .)
3. Use the hardy Cross method to calculate the flow in each pipe in the network below that contains two
loops. Assuming a head of 100m at junction A, what would be the head at the other 5 junctions.

inflow A B 60 litres/s C
40 litres/s

D 30 litres/s

F E
50 litres/s
40 litres/s
Use a constant value of = 0.018 for all pipes.
Pipes AB BC CD DE EF AF BE
length (m) 600 600 200 600 600 200 200
Diameter (mm) 250 150 100 150 150 200 100
Note: The solution is performed as described in the example of a single loop above, but there are two
loops. The pipe BE will be in both loops, but it will be in the opposite direction for each loop. This means
that the q must be added during one loop update and subtracted during the other.
4.
If in the pipe network below the flows and head losses for a particular demand are:
Pipe AB BC CD DA
3
Q (m /s) 0.2 0.05 0.05 0.13
Head loss (m) 7.0 2.0 2.0 7.0
a) Calculate the demands at B, C and D
b) If the demands were as shown in the diagram, perform two iterations of Hardy Cross to calculate the new
flows and head losses in each pipe. (As a starting point assume that the inflow splits half and half down pipes
1 and 4).
200 litres/s
B
inflow A 1

2
4

D
3 C
140 litres/s
100 litres/s

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 13

2.4 Branched Network Analysis - Quantity balance
n

This quantity balance analysis takes the continuity equation for each junction qi 0 and head loss equations
i 1

for each pipe h f kq 2

and combines them to give a set of equations in terms of head losses only. It may be
applied to loops or branches where the external heads are known and the heads within the network are required.
(From these heads the flows can, of course, be calculated.)
In this technique the head is corrected at each node by the formula:
n

2 qi
i 1
H n

q i
/hf
i

i 1

Note how the summations in this formula are summations of the pipes connecting at a junction. The H is applied
to that particular junction only. (Though not worked through here, the formula is derived in a similar way to
Hardy Cross)

Steps:
1. Assume a value of head (Hj) at each junction
2. Calculate the flow, qi, in each pipe using the Darcy-Weisbach equation i.e. for this pipe
Lq
2 2
fLq
hf H H kq
i i 2
A B 5 5 i
3d 12 . 1 d
qi HB
HA
1/2
H H
qi A B

k
Note that care must be taken with this formula. (HA HB) must be positive else no solution is
1/ 2
H H
possible. To avoid this problem it could be written as q i sign H
A B
H . In
A B
k

this form the sign of the flow will indicate the direction of the flow: A to B if qi is positive, B to A if
negative
n

3. If qi 0 for each junction then the solution is correct,

i 1

n
2 qi

i 1
4. If qi 0 for each junction calculate the correction to the heads using H n

q
i 1
i
/hf
i
i 1

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 14

2.4.1 An example of the quantity balance method
This method works very well for the three reservoir problem we saw earlier. This iteration scheme works
efficiently and is applicable to networks of many more pipes and reservoirs.
Consider this network with the heights and pipe data given below:
A
B

ZA 800 m 1 J 2

ZB 780 m C ZB
ZC 700 m ZA
3
ZJ 720 m
ZJ
ZC

Pipe Length (m) Diameter (mm)

1 5000 300 0.015
2 2000 150 0.015
3 4000 350 0.015

An initial value HJ is required. You could choose any suitable value, anything between zA and zC would be normally
be fine. In this case as we know the height of J is 720m, we should choose a H just above this, say 750m.
Care must again be taken with the direction of flow. A sign convention must be adopted. e.g. If the flow into the
junction it is positive, and away from the junction negative.
For the first step a table of calculation may look like:
HJ 750 m

Pipe hfi k qi qi/hfi

1 (A-J) 50 2550.8 0.1400 0.0028
2 (B-J) 30 32649.7 0.0303 0.0010
3 (C-J) -50 944.1 -0.2301 0.0046
sum = -0.0598 0.0084

2 0 . 0598
Thus H would be H 14 . 22 m ,
0 . 0084

and the next estimate for HJ becomes: H J

750 14 . 22 735 . 78 m

The then next iteration step should be performed:

Pipe hfi k qi qi/hfi
1 (A-J) 64.218 2550.8 0.1587 0.0025
2 (B-J) 44.218 32649.7 0.0368 0.0008
3 (C-J) -35.782 944.1 -0.1947 0.0054
sum = 0.0008 0.0087

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 15

 2 0 . 0008
H would now be H 0 . 18 m ,
0 . 0087
and the next estimate for HJ becomes: H J
735 . 78 0 . 18 735 . 96 m

As this H correction is small at 18cm, we can stop iterating. (If you were to perform one more iteration the next
H would be 0.01mm; definitely not worth the extra calculation!)
Notice that with this method you do not have to calculate a balanced flow to start with (i.e. continuity at nodes is
not necessary.) You are reasonably free to choose you own initial values of unknown heads - if you were to
choose values wildly different from the solution the system may not converge to an answer.

2.4.2 Further examples

4. Perform the calculation on the network in the example above to calculate the head at the junction and
the flow in each pipe. Use zA = 1000m, zB = 500m zC = 100m and a constant value of for each pipe
5. Repeat the question using the Barr formula to calculate with ks = 0.03mm.
1 ks 5 . 1286
The Barr formula is given by: 2 log 10 0 . 89
3 . 71 d Re
6. For the network of 5 reservoirs and two junctions shown calculate the flow in each pipe and the head at
each junction. Assume a constant

Pipe AB BC BD BE EF EG
Length (m) 10000 3000 3000 6000 3000 3000
A
Diameter (mm) 500 300 300 400 300 300

C
Level (m)
zA 150
D
B zC 100
F zD 80
zF 75
G zG 60

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 16

2.5 Matrix Solution Methods

We have seen the quantity balance method that combined continuity and the head loss equation for each pipe. In
a similar way it is possible to write out all continuity equations and head loss equations for any network and solve
them as a set of (non-linear) simultaneous equations. This solution method is not usually possible by hand but
relatively straight forward for a computer when the equations are written in matrix form.

However, because the equations are non-linear it is still an iterative process requiring the matrix solution of the
large set of equations and at each step the flows and heads are updated and the solution recalculated until the
updates are small. qC
HC
Consider the simple two pipe network shown. HB
It consists of 2 unknown flows in the pipes and
HA
3 unknown heads at the junctions.
qA q2
q1
From Darcy-Weisbach we have for each pipe:
H kq 1
2
H A B

H kq
2
H B C 2

or
kq 1 H H 0
2
A B

H H 0
2
kq 2 B C

In matrix form we could write these as

q1 0

q2 0
kq 1 0 1 1 0
H A 0

0 kq 2 0 1 1
HB 0


HC 0
There are three continuity equations that can be written, one for each node:
q A q1 q1 q 2 q2 qC

Incorporating these into the same matrix equation gives:

kq 1 0 1 0
1 q1 0

0 kq 2
0 1 1 q2 0
1 0 0 0 0 H A qA

1 1 0 0 0 HB

0


0 1 0 0 0 H C qC

This formulation and matrix forms the basis of the Gradient Method. The Gradient Method further manipulates
this matrix to get it into a form for easier solution with computer based matrix solvers.

Actually the set of equations / matrix as it stands cannot be solved. There must be in any network solution a fixed
head. We saw this in the head calculation of the hand calculations above. In this case we need to adjust the above
matrix, fixing one head which results in one equation being removed.

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 17

Assume we know the head HB. This can not be in the vector of solutions as it is no longer a variable. The equations
that includes this could be written
kq 1 H H
2
H H
2
A B
kq 2 C B

And replacing these in the matrix we get:

kq 1 0 1 0 q1 H B

0 kq 2
0 1 q2 H B

1 H A qA
0 0 0


0 1 0 0 H C qC

This method can easily be expanded to include local losses and pumps, valves etc. The resulting matrix can be
solved quite easily for large complex networks. For example a 1000 pipe network would only take a few seconds
to solve with the appropriate matrix solver.
Commercial programs for network analysis use this method - some still use the Hardy-Cross method but the
Gradient Method seems more robust and more suited to computer implementation than Hardy-Cross.
A popular solver for complex pipe networks is EPANET (http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/dw/epanet.html)
This is available free and is very comprehensive in the range of features it will solve for on large water networks.
The basis of the solution method in this software is the Gradient Method.

Water Resources Management and Supply Pipe Network Analysis 18