NUMERICAL SIMULATION MODEL OF THE HYDRAULIC WATER TREATMENT LINE TO SUPPORT THE EXSTENSION PROJECT OF UDINE’S CITY WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT

Abstract

The availability of increasingly high-performance computers and of sophisticated hydrological - hydraulic models for the numerical simulation of urban drainage systems enables the detailed analysis of networks of any size and complexity. It also means we can move away from traditional and simplified hypotheses to which classical analysis methods are subject. These tools have found a wider application when modeling largescale hydraulic infrastructures at the urban level, such as in the numerical simulation of urban sewer networks. The aim of this paper is to show how urban drainage numerical models can be considered a valid and important tool for the verification and /or planning phases of projects, including smaller ones, beyond the conventional areas of application of these models, such as in the design of the water line of sewage treatment plants. In particular, the use of numerical modeling tools has proven to be extremely helpful for works being placed in a pre-existing system or when structural or hydraulic constraints (e.g. the receiving water body) are present upstream or downstream and cannot be modified. In order to achieve a proper design, interferences and their effects on the entire system must necessarily be considered and therefore simulated. This paper describes a practical application of the EPA's Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) in the planning of the hydraulic water treatment line upgrade to Udine's wastewater treatment plant.