Water Quantity Estimation

The quantity of water required for municipal uses for which the water supply
scheme has to be designed requires following data:

1. Water consumption rate (Per Capita Demand in litres per day per
head)
2. Population to be served.

Quantity= Per capita demand x Population

Water Consumption Rate
It is very difficult to precisely assess the quantity of water demanded by the
public, since there are many variable factors affecting water consumption.
The various types of water demands, which a city may have, may be broken
into following classes:
Water Consumption for Various Purposes:
Types of Consumption

Normal Range
(lit/capita/day)

Average

1 Domestic Consumption

65-300

160

35

2 Industrial and Commercial

Demand

45-450

135

30

20-90

45

10

45-150

62

25

3 Public Uses including Fire

Demand
4 Losses and Waste
Fire Fighting Demand:

The per capita fire demand is very less on an average basis but the rate at
which the water is required is very large. The rate of fire demand is
sometimes traeted as a function of population and is worked out from
following empirical formulae:
Authority
American
1 Insurance
Association

Formulae (P in thousand)

Q for 1 lakh
Population)

Q (L/min)=4637 P (1-0.01 P)

41760

Kuchling's
Formula

Q (L/min)=3182 P

31800

Freeman's
Formula

Q (L/min)= 1136.5(P/5+10)

35050

Ministry of
Q (kilo liters/d)=100 P for
Urban
P>50000
4 Development
Manual
Formula

31623

Factors affecting per capita demand:

a. Size of the city: Per capita demand for big cities is generally large as
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.

compared to that for smaller towns as big cities have sewered houses.
Presence of industries.
Climatic conditions.
Habits of people and their economic status.
Quality of water: If water is aesthetically $ medically safe, the
consumption will increase as people will not resort to private wells,
etc.
Pressure in the distribution system.
Efficiency of water works administration: Leaks in water mains and
services; and unauthorised use of water can be kept to a minimum by
surveys.
Cost of water.
Policy of metering and charging method: Water tax is charged in two
different ways: on the basis of meter reading and on the basis of
certain fixed monthly rate.

Fluctuations in Rate of Demand

Average Daily Per Capita Demand
= Quantity Required in 12 Months/ (365 x Population)
If this average demand is supplied at all the times, it will not be sufficient to
meet the fluctuations.

Seasonal variation: The demand peaks during summer. Firebreak

outs are generally more in summer, increasing demand. So, there is
seasonal variation .
Daily variation depends on the activity. People draw out more water
on Sundays and Festival days, thus increasing demand on these days.

Hourly variations are very important as they have a wide range.

During active household working hours i.e. from six to ten in the
morning and four to eight in the evening, the bulk of the daily
requirement is taken. During other hours the requirement is negligible.
Moreover, if a fire breaks out, a huge quantity of water is required to
be supplied during short duration, necessitating the need for a
maximum rate of hourly supply.

So, an adequate quantity of water must be available to meet the peak

demand. To meet all the fluctuations, the supply pipes, service reservoirs
and distribution pipes must be properly proportioned. The water is supplied
by pumping directly and the pumps and distribution system must be
designed to meet the peak demand. The effect of monthly variation
influences the design of storage reservoirs and the hourly variations
influences the design of pumps and service reservoirs. As the population
decreases, the fluctuation rate increases.
Maximum daily demand = 1.8 x average daily demand
Maximum hourly demand of maximum day i.e. Peak demand
= 1.5 x average hourly demand
= 1.5 x Maximum daily demand/24
= 1.5 x (1.8 x average daily demand)/24
= 2.7 x average daily demand/24
= 2.7 x annual average hourly demand
Design Periods & Population Forecast
This quantity should be worked out with due provision for the estimated
requirements of the future . The future period for which a provision is made
in the water supply scheme is known as thedesign period.
Design period is estimated based on the following:

Useful life of the component, considering obsolescence, wear, tear,

etc.
Expandability aspect.
Anticipated rate of growth of population, including industrial,
commercial developments & migration-immigration.
Available resources.
Performance of the system during initial period.

Population Forecasting Methods

The various methods adopted for estimating future populations are given
below. The particular method to be adopted for a particular case or for a
particular city depends largely on the factors discussed in the methods, and
the selection is left to the discrection and intelligence of the designer.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Arithmetic Increase Method

Geometric Increase Method
Incremental Increase Method
Decreasing Rate of Growth Method
Simple Graphical Method
Comparative Graphical Method
Ratio Method
Logistic Curve Method

Lesson 3:
Introduction to Water Treatment Math

Water Demand

Introduction
The rest of this lesson will focus on water demand, the volume of water required by
users to satisfy their needs. Water demand will vary from location to location and
from day to day within a location. Demand will also depend on the time of day (as
shown below), the day of the week, the season of the year, prevailing weather
conditions, manufacturing demands, and unusual events such as fires or mains breaks.

Using the water demand for a region, we can determine the required size of the water
plant, storage tanks, and distribution system components. Below, we have listed the
factors we will use to size each component. The factors themselves will be explained
in later sections.

Capacity of pumps and plants - based on maximum daily water

demand
Capacity of distribution pipes - based on the maximum hourly water
demand
Fire storage volume - based on expected fire flow and duration

Average Daily Water Demand

You may remember from the last lesson that the average daily water use is 100
gallons per person per day. Although this is a good, simple rule of thumb, the value
takes into account only residential uses of water. In most situations, a water plant will
supply residential, commercial, industrial, and public water. So the average daily
water demand (the average amount of water used daily per person excluding fire
fighting) for most regions will be much greater, ranging from 120 to 300 gallons per
person per day.
Average daily water demand for various regions in the United States is shown on the
map below. Demand is reported in gpcd or gallons per capita day, which means the
number of gallons of water used per person per day.

The map only shows general regional values. Average daily water demand can be
much less or much more than that shown on the map and will depend on the specific
situation. The best way to calculate average daily water demand is to compare the
community in question to a community of similar size and type in the region. Rural
communities, for example, tend to use water merely or primarily for residential
purposes, so the water demand is much lower than in urban areas, and can often be as
low as 100 gpcd.
The average daily water demand is sized to the community using the following
equation:
Average community daily water demand =
Average daily water demand Number of people

Plant and Distribution System Capacity

In order to find the capacity of the treatment plant, we must calculate another factor the maximum daily water demand, which is the greatest amount of water which will
be asked for by the users in one day. The maximum daily water demand is calculated
as follows:
Maximum daily water demand =
1.8 (Average community daily water demand)

We will also need to calculate the maximum hourly water demand. This factor
takes into account the daily cycles of water use. At any given time, up to three times
the average daily water demand will be used, so the maximum hourly water demand is
calculated as follows:
Maximum hourly water demand =
3 (Average community daily water demand)

Example
Let's consider a situation in which a water treatment plant in the Rio Grande Region is
being planned to serve 40,000 people. At the moment, we will consider water
demand excluding fire fighting. What should the capacity of the plant and distribution
system be?

The first step is to find the average daily water demand on the map. The value for the
Rio Grande Region is 278 gpcd. Then this value is translated into average community
daily water demand in the following way:
278 gal/(person day) 40,000 people = 11.1 MGD

You will notice that we converted from gal/day to MGD to make the answer more
understandable. 11.1 MGD is the average community daily water demand for the
facility.
In order to determine the required capacity of the water plant, we must calculate the
maximum daily water demand. This value is calculated as follows:
1.8 11.1 MGD = 20.0 MGD

This value determines the the size of the water treatment plant. The water treatment
plant must have the capacity to treat 20.0 MGD in order to support peak demands.
Finally, the maximum hourly water demand is calculated as follows:
3 11.1 MGD = 33.3 MGD

While the maximum daily water demand is used to size the treatment facility, the
maximum hourly water demand should be used to size the distribution system. The
distribution system should be of an adequate size to carry 33.3 MGD.

Fire Flow
Introduction
As you will remember from the last lesson, water treatment plants are sized to deal
with the amount of water used by fire fighters, the fire flow, as well as for residential
and industrial customers. The total flow of the plant is defined as follows:
Total flow = Maximum daily water demand + Fire flow

The total flow is the total amount of water that the water plant has available. This will
include the capacity of the plant and of any storage structures. In most cases, the

treatment plant can be sized to merely deal with the maximum daily demand as long
as the storage facility is large enough to deal with fire flows.

Calculating Fire Flow

The fire flow for a region can be calculated in a variety of ways. Most methods
require a knowledge of the size and type of buildings within the distribution system.
We will use a simple method which is simply based on the population of the
community.
The fire flow is calculated as follows:
Fire flow (gpm) =

Where "P" is the population in 1,000's of people. So, for our community with a
population of 40,000, the fire flow would be:

Duration of Flow
Unlike the residential water demand, water demand for fire fighting typically last only
short periods of time. For insurance purposes the required length of time we should
expect fire flow to last is calculated as follows:

Using the fire flow value calculated above, the duration would be:

Volume
The required storage capacity for fire flow is calculated as follows:
Capacity = Fire flow Duration
After converting the duration to minutes, we can plug our values into the equation:
Capacity = 6,043 gpm 360 minutes
Capacity = 2,175,480 gal
The storage tank must thus have a fire flow capacity of 2.2 million gallons, added to
any other required volumes (for chemical contact time, emergency use, etc.)

Review
This lesson introduces you to a variety of resources you will find helpful while
learning and using water treatment math. Then, in the second half of the lesson, we
learn to calculate average daily community water demand, maximum daily water
demand, maximum hourly water demand, and fire flow amount and duration. These
figures allow us to size various components of the water treatment system, as follows:

water treatment plant capacity - based on maximum daily water

demand
distribution system capacity - based on maximum hourly water
demand

fire storage volume - based on fire flow and duration.

New Formulas Used

Average community daily water demand:
Average community daily water demand =
Average daily water demand Number of people

Maximum daily water demand:

Maximum daily water demand =
1.8 (Average community daily water demand)

Maximum hourly water demand:

Maximum hourly water demand =
3 (Average community daily water demand)

Total amount of water the plant has available:

Total flow = Maximum daily water demand + Fire flow

Fire flow:
Fire flow (gpm) =

Duration of fire flow:

Storage tank capacity for fire flow:

Capacity = Fire flow Duration

Assignment
1. Read section A.9 on pages 642 to 643 in Volume 1 of your text.
2. Answer the following questions. Show all of your work and circle
the answer for each math problem below. If there is insufficient
information to find the answer, write "Insufficient information".
When you are done, either email, mail or fax the assignment to
your instructor.
1. 3 inches of mercury are equivalent to how many inches of
water?
2. You have a bucket containing 5 gallons of water. How
many cubic feet of water are there in the bucket?
3. How much does the water in the bucket above weigh?
4. A water plant is being built to serve a community of
500,000 people with an average daily water demand of 200
gpd. What is the average daily water demand, excluding
fire fighting, of the community?
5. Which value should be used to size the distribution system?
6. Which value should be used to size the treatment plant?
7. What is the fire flow for the treatment plant?
8. What duration of fire flow should be used for insurance
purposes?
9. What is the required storage volume for the fire flow
water?
10. What is the treatment plant's total flow?

Quiz
There is no quiz associated with this lesson.