INTEGRATING HYDRAULIC MODELS IMPROVES MODELING ACCURACY OF COLLECTION SYSTEMS WITH COMPLEX PUMP STATION INTERCONNECTIONS

In many applications, wastewater hydraulic models can simulate flow through pump stations using simple relationships among parameters, such as pump station discharge being correlated to wet-well elevation and pump characteristic curves. However, for wastewater systems with complex layouts and flow routing schemes, using simple relationships to simulate flow through pump stations is difficult. In contrast, water distribution models are well suited to perform pump simulations more accurately in complex pressurized systems and can simulate pressurized portions of wastewater systems, although they lack the appropriate governing equations to simulate gravity-flow conditions.This paper examines the pump station modeling capabilities of four common software packages (EPANET, XP-SWMM, MOUSE and INFOWORKS), and presents engineering considerations necessary for models to represent actual conditions and their projected impacts on the public and environment. A prototype test model was created based on real system data and analyzed using these software packages.