Upgraded Analysis and Design Tool Helps Safeguard Water Systems

Haestad Methods has announced that WaterCAD 5.0, the most significant upgrade to the company's flagship product to date, has a unique set of water security modeling capabilities to help combat intentional or accidental contamination to public water supplies.

Utilities can use WaterCAD's commanding set of tools to detect weaknesses in a water distribution network, identify preparedness strategies before disaster occurs and react promptly and decisively in the event of contamination.

A pre-released version of WaterCAD 5.0 was showcased to over 600 water authorities at the first- annual Water Security Summit to demonstrate its technical ability in determining the safest, most effective way to respond to a bioterrorist attack.

"During an emergency situation, water professionals need to be prepared to ask the right questions and make quick, informed decisions," said Dr. Thomas Walski, Vice President of Engineering for Haestad Methods. "When contamination occurs, the usual response of a utility is to turn pumps on or off, close or open isolating valves, or open hydrants to flush the system. However, if these steps are performed incorrectly, the situation can actually be made worse. WaterCAD eliminates a lot of the guesswork by helping water authorities quickly select the appropriate valves to close for isolating contamination, develop efficient flushing strategies, and identify customers who may be impacted," said Walski.

WaterCAD proved to be a valuable tool in responding to accidental contamination as confirmed in the Walkerton, Ontario E.coli forensic study. "WaterCAD was used to help determine the source of E.coli and Campylobacter in the Walkerton community's water supply," said Dr. Jeff Aramini, Senior Epidemiologist with Health Canada. "Combining the data of WaterCAD's modeling scenarios with the characteristics of those who became ill helped to confirm the source of contamination."

For non-emergency events, WaterCAD's data management and decision-support tools enable engineers to evaluate different capital improvements and rehabilitation strategies based on their hydraulic impact, water quality implications and cost.

WaterCAD (a.k.a. Cybernet*) is a water distribution analysis and design tool that offers intelligent data exchange and management solutions. From simple water age computations to source tracing, tank mixing and complex constituent transport analysis, the software has the technical ability to investigate and predict a wide range of water quality characteristics throughout the potable water distribution network.

Source: Haestad Methods