Surge Tank and regular Tank properties in WaterGEMS

Question

I'm modeling a stand pipe in a pumping system and currently have it modeled as a Surge Tank. What are the property differences between a Surge Tank and a regular Tank? I seem to get the same results whether I model the stand pipe as a Surge Tank or a regular Tank. 
 
 Amy

Jesse Dringoli · Answer

Amy, 
 
In WaterGEMS (steady state or EPS simulation) the surge tank element acts exactly like a regular tank node. The difference comes when using Bentley HAMMER to do a transient simulation, as there are some additional options seen in the properties that apply with that type of simuation. It's available in WaterGEMS (and WaterCAD) since they share the same file format as HAMMER. If you will be performing a transient simulation later on, you can use the surge tank element now and enter the related surge tank settings. That way the model will be ready for a transient simulation in HAMMER. 
 
See related article here: 
 
 communities.bentley.com/.../13549.why-are-there-so-many-extra-element-types-listed-for-watergems-and-watercad-such-as-surge-tank-rupture-disk-periodic-head-flow