July 2006, Vol. 18, No.7
Comprehensive Water Distribution Systems Analysis for Engineers and Planners
Paul F. Boulos, Kevin E. Lansey, and Bryan W. Karney (2004). MWH Soft Inc., 300 North Lake Ave., Suite 1200, Pasadena, CA 91101, 584 pp., hardcover, ISBN: 0-9745689-0-2.
This book is a single go-to resource for water distribution engineering. The objective is to present the basic principles of water distribution engineering and management, and the application of these principles to solving practical, real-life problems.
Written by three industry experts, this reference book covers what water professionals and students need to know about planning, designing, analyzing, and operating water systems more efficiently and effectively. The book offers coverage of current theoretical scientific foundations, advanced technological issues, and optimization applications, with support from extensive modeling exercises.
The nine chapters cover hydraulic principles, network principles, components, models, hydraulics, water quality simulation, master planning, optimization techniques, and hydraulic transients. A key strength of the book is that it bridges the gap between modeling theory and practical application of current water distribution system modeling and management knowledge, specifically by offering more than 100 worked-out, realistic application problems (in both English and metric units) with step-by-step detail and guidance.
It also offers a comprehensive overview of water distribution systems modeling from steady-state to more sophisticated transient analysis. The master planning chapter offers a useful start-to-finish guide to the master planning process, including identification of scope and data requirements, hydraulic model development and use, demand projection, and cost determination. This chapter explores the benefits of using a master plan as a roadmap to the future success of a water system.
This reference textbook is suitable for a wide audience, including students, consulting engineers, and municipal and government managers and engineers. It is particularly appropriate for teaching water distribution modeling at an undergraduate or graduate level. A reader with at least some prior familiarity with water distribution systems and mathematical or computer modeling theory and concepts would benefit most from this title.
Jerel J. Bogdan is an engineer in the Orchard Park, N.Y., office of Malcolm Pirnie Inc. (White Plains, N.Y.).