EPANET
Encyclopedia
EPANET is a public-domain, water distribution system
modeling software package developed by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency's Water Supply and Water Resources Division. It performs extended-period simulation of hydraulic and water-quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks and is designed to be "a research tool that improves our understanding of the movement and fate of drinking-water constituents within distribution systems". EPANET first appeared in 1993.
EPANET 2 is available both as a standalone program and as an open-source toolkit (Application Programming Interface
in C). Its computational engine is used by many software companies that developed more powerful, proprietary packages, often GIS-centric. The EPANET ".inp" input file format, which represents network topology, water consumption, and control rules, is supported by many free and commercial modeling packages. Therefore, it is arguably considered as the industry standard
.
simulations, and viewing the results in a variety of formats. EPANET provides a fully equipped and extended period of hydraulic analysis that can handle systems of any size. The package also supports the simulation of spatially and temporally varying water demand, constant or variable speed pumps, and the minor head losses for bends and fitting. The modeling provides information such as flows in pipes, pressures at junctions, propagation of a contaminant, chlorine concentration, water age, and even alternative scenario analysis. This helps to compute pumping energy and cost and then model various types of valve
s, including shutoffs, check pressure regulating and flow control
.
EPANET’s water quality modeling functionality allows users to analyze the movement of a reactive or non-reactive tracer
material which spreads through the network over time. It rates the reactive material as is grows, tracks the percentage of flow from the given nodes. The package employs the global reaction rate coefficient
which can be modified on a pipe-by-pipe basis. The storage tanks can be modeled as complete mix, plug flow
or two-compartment reactors.
The visual network editor
of EPANET simplifies the process of building piping network models and editing their properties. These various types of data reporting visualization tools are used to assist to analyze the networks, which include the graphics views, tabular views, and special reports.
Water supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
modeling software package developed by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Environmental Protection Agency's Water Supply and Water Resources Division. It performs extended-period simulation of hydraulic and water-quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks and is designed to be "a research tool that improves our understanding of the movement and fate of drinking-water constituents within distribution systems". EPANET first appeared in 1993.
EPANET 2 is available both as a standalone program and as an open-source toolkit (Application Programming Interface
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
in C). Its computational engine is used by many software companies that developed more powerful, proprietary packages, often GIS-centric. The EPANET ".inp" input file format, which represents network topology, water consumption, and control rules, is supported by many free and commercial modeling packages. Therefore, it is arguably considered as the industry standard
De facto standard
A de facto standard is a custom, convention, product, or system that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance or market forces...
.
Features
EPANET provides an integrated environment for editing network input data, running hydraulic and water qualityWater quality
Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
simulations, and viewing the results in a variety of formats. EPANET provides a fully equipped and extended period of hydraulic analysis that can handle systems of any size. The package also supports the simulation of spatially and temporally varying water demand, constant or variable speed pumps, and the minor head losses for bends and fitting. The modeling provides information such as flows in pipes, pressures at junctions, propagation of a contaminant, chlorine concentration, water age, and even alternative scenario analysis. This helps to compute pumping energy and cost and then model various types of valve
Valve
A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically pipe fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category...
s, including shutoffs, check pressure regulating and flow control
Flow control
In data communications, flow control is the process of managing the pacing of data transmission between two nodes to prevent a fast sender from outrunning a slow receiver. It provides a mechanism for the receiver to control the transmission speed, so that the receiving node is not overwhelmed with...
.
EPANET’s water quality modeling functionality allows users to analyze the movement of a reactive or non-reactive tracer
Tracer
Tracer may refer to:* Histochemical tracer, a substance used for tracing purposes in histochemistry, the study of the composition of cells and tissues...
material which spreads through the network over time. It rates the reactive material as is grows, tracks the percentage of flow from the given nodes. The package employs the global reaction rate coefficient
Coefficient
In mathematics, a coefficient is a multiplicative factor in some term of an expression ; it is usually a number, but in any case does not involve any variables of the expression...
which can be modified on a pipe-by-pipe basis. The storage tanks can be modeled as complete mix, plug flow
Plug flow
In fluid mechanics, plug flow is a simple model of the velocity profile of a fluid flowing in a pipe. In plug flow, the velocity of the fluid is assumed to be constant across any cross-section of the pipe perpendicular to the axis of the pipe...
or two-compartment reactors.
The visual network editor
Visual networking
Visual networking refers to an emerging class of user applications that combine digital video and social networking capabilities. It is based upon the premise that visual literacy, "the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented in the form of a moving image," is a...
of EPANET simplifies the process of building piping network models and editing their properties. These various types of data reporting visualization tools are used to assist to analyze the networks, which include the graphics views, tabular views, and special reports.
Pressurized Pipe-flow Headloss Formula
EPANET hydraulics engine computes headlosses along the pipes by using one of the three formulas: the Hazen-Williams formula, the Darcy-Weisbach formula, or the Chezy-Manning formula.Network Solver
The network hydraulics solver employed by EPANET uses the "Gradient Method" first proposed by Todini and Pilati, which is a variant of Newton-Raphson method.External links
Some modeling software built on this package include:- EPA Webpage (Download from here)
- http://www.epanet.org Epanet and Development discussion group
- http://www.epanet.es Epanet y Cooperación al Desarrollo (Reliefwork use of Epanet in Spanish)
- http://www.epanet.es/foro.html Foro U-epanet: Epanet y Cooperación al Desarrollo (List Reliefwork use of Epanet in Spanish)
- MIKE URBAN by DHI includes customized EPANET in ArcGIS
- HydrauliCAD Info-Water by MWHsoft, runs inside AutoCAD
- Bentley WaterGEMS, from Bentley Systems, Inc
- EPAnet in Spanish
- Epanet Z: GoogleMaps, YahooMaps and Microsoft VI images within Epanet
- Free EPANET Tools
- MWH Soft InfoWater
- Download Epanet in French
- ROSIE Epanet - ArcGIS extension with increased functionality
- Pipe2010; KYPipe and Surge
- EPA-Surge EPANET Transient Analysis