Flushing

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Flushing in Qatium is designed to work along with the Demand Spike function, assisting you in creating your flushing sequence.

You can use Demand Spike for fire-flow analysis, new development scenarios, criticality analysis, permitting, etc. But in this case, applying different demands to your junctions or hydrants will allow you to check if there are optimal or non-optimal velocities for flushing and the level of discoloration risk .

Design a flushing sequence using Demand Spike

First things first: have a look at what the Demand Spike panel looks like and the tools and insights you can find in there.

Now, to design a flushing sequence using Demand Spike:

1. Switch to the Flushing mode in Work Modes
2. Go to the timeline and select the time you want to test this scenario
3. Select a junction  or hydrant
4. Click or move the slider to increase the demand to reach an optimal flushing velocity in the targeted pipes, or type directly the new value in the box.

If the pipes maintain a velocity between 1.5 m/s (4.92ft/s) and 3 m/s (9.84ft/s), Qatium will consider it optimal for flushing and highlight the pipes in green.

Qatium will also analyze and compare flow and velocities to find potential discoloration issues and show the affected pipes in orange. This indicator only appears when:

1. The flow direction is reversed and the current velocity is >= 0.1m/s
2. There is an enormous increase in velocity

In the Demand Spike panel, you’ll also see the resulting pressure for the selected hydrant in red, orange or green, depending on the pressure range:

All done? You can press the Reset button in the panel to reset the value for a selected junction. If you wish to start again and try new scenarios, click on the trash can  in the Network Versions  panel.

Plan unidirectional flushing

You can also optimize your flushing by making the flow unidirectional. Define the optimal flushing operation by closing valves and forcing the water to flow from a single direction toward your hydrant. This allows you to reduce water waste by lowering the flow rate required and helps ensure you're meeting the correct velocity to clean the main.

Once you’ve completed the steps to design a flushing sequence:

1. Select a valve next to the main you target to flush
2. Switch the toggle OFF
3. Reduce the demand in the Demand Spike panel until finding the minimum value for which your targeted main maintains an optimal velocity

Repeat steps 1 & 2 as many times as valves are neighboring the targeted main.

Same as when changing hydrants’ demand, Qatium will show you optimal or non-optimal velocities for flushing and the level of discoloration risk.