ABSTRACT
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana
ABSTRACT: The unsustainability of small water reticulation networks (WRNs) in many Southern African communities continues to be a reality. This is significant in light of the efforts by governments to provide a minimum quantity of potable water to its citizenry at the least possible cost while constrained by suboptimal systems, tight budgets and inadequate skills. Presented herein is a generic WRN design algorithm within a decision support software called Wadessy (an acronym for Water decision support system). Wadessy comprises a suite of computer programs that facilitate the optimal design and operation of small water distribution systems. The validity of Wadessy is proved by comparison with a well-known example from literature and a practical case study in Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana. Wadessy achieved a 1,91% cost saving in comparison to the example, and a 32,52% cost saving (about 1497190,00 Pula) for the Selebi-Phikwe WRN based on October 2001 pipe costs.
