How to Find Total Pipe Water Volume and Total Pipe Length

Product(s): WaterGEMS, WaterCAD, HAMMER, StormCAD, SewerCAD, SewerGEMS
Version(s): CONNECT Edition, V8i
Area: Output and Reporting

Problem

How can I find the total volume of water and total pipe length in my network?

Solution

WaterCAD, WaterGEMS and HAMMER

Total Physical Volume and Length

To see the total physical volume and length of pipes in WaterCAD, WaterGEMS or HAMMER, click the Report menu and choose Pressure Pipe Inventory. This will show you the total physical volume of all pipes in the model, broken down by diameter and material. Since pipes are assumed to be pressurized, this also represents the total water volume stored in your network.

If you need to see the length or volume of a subset of elements (selection set) and not the whole model, you can use FlexTables:

  • Length: Double click your selection set (or query) to select the elements, then right click in the drawing, choose "Edit Group", choose the pipe Flextable, add the column "Length" if not already present, then right click on the Length column header and choose Statistics. This will show the sum of the lengths of the selection set of pipes.
  • Volume: First, create a formula derived user data extension (UDX) to calculate the volume of each pipe. If you only have circular pipes, the formula would be  3.14159 * (diameter * 0.5)^2 * Length. For box, it would be Rise * Span * Length. If you have a mix, you can use the "iif" function. Once done, double click your selection set (or query) to select the elements, then right click in the drawing, choose "Edit Group", choose the Pipe Flextable, add your new calculated volume UDX field if not already present, then right click on its column header and choose Statistics. This will show the sum of the volume of the pipes in the selection set.


Note: you will need to account for tank volume separately. See the "Volume Full (Calculated)" or "Volume (Calculated)" fields in your tank(s).

Volume of water that has passed through a particular element

If you need to see the total volume of water that has passed through a particular element, you can instead use the Totalizing Flow Meter, accessible from right clicking on the element, or from the Analysis menu. This will show the volume of flow instead of the physical volume.

Volume of water demanded

If you need to see the total volume of water demanded during a simulation, see the options in the following related article:

Finding total demanded volume for a scenario in WaterCAD and WaterGEMS

StormCAD, SewerCAD, SewerGEMS and CivilStorm

Length

To see the total pipe length per material in StormCAD, SewerCAD, SewerGEMS and CivilStorm, click the Report menu and choose Conduit and Pressure Pipe Inventory. This will show you the total length of all active pipes in the model, broken down by diameter and material.

Volume

In the OpenFlows storm and sewer products, to find the total volume of all pipes (some may refer to this as the capacity) you'll first need to find the total volume of each pipe. You can do this by creating a formula based user data extension (UDX). If you only have circular pipes, the formula would be  Pi * (diameter * 0.5)^2. For box, it would be Rise * Span. If you have a mix, you can use the "iif" function.

Once done, you can add up the volume of all pipes either by copy/pasting the column from a flextable into an Excel spreadsheet, or by adding the newly created UDX field to the flextable then right clicking on the column header and choosing statistics. The directions in the article below outline how to create a formula UDX:

Creating Formula Based User Data Extensions

Note:

1) You will need to account for the volume of wetwells, ponds, manholes, etc separately. See the "Volume Full (Input)" for a wetwell. Manhole volume can be calculated with a user data extension as well, based on the difference between the invert and rim and the diameter.

2) For pressure pipes, the volume can be found under Report > Conduit and Pressure Pipe Inventory > Pressure Pipe Inventory.

3) If you need to see the total volume of water that has passed through a particular element, you can use the Hydraulic Reviewer, located under the Tools menu.

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