COLD WATER SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION

Water is essential for occupants of buildings intended for human habitation. Urbanization and
industrialization has caused so much pollution to natural water hence need to purity it before it
gets to the user and this has given rise to water supply works .
Requirements of Water Supply Systems
A suitable water supply should satisfy the following:
1. Quality - should be free from impurities and bacteria.
2. Availability - should be available in adequate quantities.
3. Affordability - cheap means of providing water to the user preferably by gravity, being
within reasonable distance.
Water requirements in a town are divided into the following categories:
i. Domestic consumption – this includes household requirements e.g. drinking, bathing,
cooking, washing, air-conditioning etc. About 135ltrs per day capita is recommended.
ii. Public /civil consumption - This includes public sanitary use, fire-fighting, fountains,
watering of parks etc.
iii. Industrial consumption - Machines cooling and washing, production processes etc.
iv. Commercial/Institutional consumption – Include consumption by schools, hotels,
hospitals, business centres.

NOTE: A certain %age of water supplied falls under “water loses” which could be due to
leakages from pipelines and reservoirs, wastage from taps etc.
*For all these categories listed above tables with average consumption litres per head per day do
exist.
Forecasting Population
Forecasting the population to be served in a town is essential for this serves as the basis for
planning not only the water supply for that town but also provision for other utilities such as
electricity and telephone systems.
Usually planning is done basing on statistics and census records prepared by the local authorities.
Various methods are employed, among which include:
a) Arithmetical increase method.
Formula – Pn =P+nI
Where Pn is future population at the end of n decades
I is the average increase for last decades which is assumed to be constant.
Design is based on population of future decades.
Example
The present population of a city is 100 000. The population for the past 3 decades is given below.

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1st decade before - 95 000
2nd decade before - 90 500
3rd decade before - 85 500
Compute the expected population after 1st, 2nd, and 3rd decades by arithmetical increase method.
1st calculation – 1 = 5000 [i.e.100 000 - 95 000]
2 = 4500
3 = 5000
14500/3 = 4833 [average increase per decade]
1st decade = 100 000+4833 = 104 833
2nd decade = 100 000+ [4833x2] =109 666
3rd decade [future] = 100 000 [4833x3] =114 499
b) Geometrical Increase Method
Method suitable for forecasting population of large cities which have achieved saturation
conditions .The method gives a lower figure than the actual expected.
Formula
Pn = P(1+IG / 100)n
P - present population.
IG - average %age increase/decade assumed constant from decade to decade.
Pn - population at end of n future decades.
The method gives high results but %age increase drops when the growth of city reaches its
saturation point.
Example; use previous figures.
Example: use previous figures 
IG calculation                          1ST =100 000‐95000   X 100 = 5,262 
                                              95000 
                            2ND 95000‐90500 x100 =   4,737 
                                              90500 
                                      3rd = 90500‐85500 x 100 =  5,848 
                                                        85500                  3515,848 
                                                                                       =5,283 
                                                                                      =5% approx 

1st decade = 100 000(1+0, 05)1 = 105 000

2nd decade = 100 000(1+0, 05)2 = 110 250
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3rd decade = 100 000(1+0, 05)3 = 115 763

Sources of Water

Surface sources: - lakes, streams, rivers, reservoirs, run off from roofs and paved areas.
Underground sources - shallow wells, deep wells, artesian wells, artesian springs & land springs.
Due to the contaminants it might have, its quality is tested and possibly purified before it is
supplied to buildings. A classification of water from various sources is based on the degree of
contamination as follows:
1. Wholesome water – springs water, deep wells and uplands surface water.
2. Suspicious water – stored rainwater, surf water from cultivated lands.
3. Dangerous water – river water to which sewage gains access and shallow wells
water.

Quality of Water
Water to be provided to buildings should meet certain standards.
If impure it should be subjected to treatment until it has the following qualities;

• Free from disease carrying bacteria/pathogens.

• Colourless and sparkling
• Cool and tasteless
• Odourless
• Should not corrode
• Should be fresh [i.e. have dissolved oxygen]
• Free from poisonous materials
• Should be soft
• Have a pH =7 [chemically pure]
Tests for Water Quality
a) Temperature
- To of the water should be tested.
- Usually it should be in the range of 10-15°c.
- Its measurement is important in the sense that its properties like density, viscosity, vapour
pressure, surface tension, saturation values of solids and gases dissolved, rate of chemical and
biotical activities can be studied.

b) Colour
- Due to dissolved substances e.g. vegetable leaves, colloids, mineral and organic impurities. For
its testing suspended materials are removed from the water by centrifugal forces in a special
apparatus. After this the colour of water is compared with the standard colour solution or colour
discs.

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NB:
1. The colour produced by one milligram of platinum in a litre of water has been fixed
as the unit of colour.
2. The permissible colour for domestic water is 20 parts per million. Colour on its own
produces no harm but for appearance’s sake it should be taken into consideration.
c) Taste and odours
Odours in water are caused by:
¾ Organic matter 
¾ Living organisms 
¾ Gases e.g. hydrogen sulphide.
d) Turbidity
- Turbidity is a measure of interference caused by suspended matter to the passage of light and it
depends on the size and qty of suspended particles which could be clay soils, algae, and
industrial wastes, liberated products of corrosion etc.
- Measurement of turbidity is done by a Turbidity Rod Tape or Jackson’s turbid meter.
Jackson’s turbidimeter
A sample of water under test is poured up to the level at which the light disappears and that is
marked as the turbidity of the water.
5-10 P.P.M is the permissible limit.

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Turbidity Rod
The rod is dipped in water until the needle disappears due to turbidity of water which is then read
directly on the rod at water level in p.p.m. [one p.p.m ≈ 1 mg per litre]

e) Test for Hardness

This is the property of water which prevents the lathering of soap and is caused by presence of
carbonates, chlorides and sulphates of calcium and magnesium.
Characteristics of hard water are;

• Difficult to create lather with normal soap.

• Scum and dirty marks on baths and basins.

• Chalk staining or streaking on washed glassware.

Tyres of hardness
There are two types of hardness which are; temporary and permanent hardness.
a) Temporary Hardness
- Caused by presence of calcium or magnesium hydrogen carbonates.
- Comes about when water gets in contact with insoluble calcium or magnesium carbonates
which will then react with carbon dioxide to from soluble bicarbonates of magnesium or
calcium.
Removal of temp hardness
1. Boiling
This type can be removed by boiling the water and hence temporary hardness. On heating,
carbonic gas is released and calcium or magnesium carbonates are precipitated.
These precipitated substances cause scaling [scales] or furring of hot water pipes or boilers.
Only suitable on a small scale.

2. Clark’s process
Removal of temp hardness is also made possible by adding small quantities of lime or cream of
lime to the supply and this takes up carbon dioxide from the bicarbonate present, resulting in the
precipitation of the insoluble carbonate and removal of most of the temp hardness.
The precipitated carbonates are either allowed to settle in the tank or are trapped in fine screens.
Ca (HCo3)2 + Ca (OH)2 2CaCo3 + H2O
Calcium bicarbonate + Cal hydroxide Calc carbonate + Water
(In water) (Slaked lime) (Precipitates)

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b) Permanent Hardness
- Produced when sulphates or chlorides of calcium or magnesium dissolve in water. These
compounds do not decompose on heating so this tyre can’t be removed by boiling hence CO2 has
no influence in this.
- Does not cause scaling [furring] but causes corrosion.
Removal of perm hardness
1. Base Exchange process
Raw water from the mains passes through a tank of zeolite chemicals where the Base Exchange
takes place. Zeolites are complex silicates of aluminium and contained in a steel cylinder.
Zeolites have the property of exchanging their own base for magnesium and calcium sulphates
and carbonate hence the term base exchange.
The process
Sodium zeolite + Calc sulphates / carbonates             Calc zeolite + Sodium sulphate /carbonate  
   (In water)             (In tank)                                         (Left in tank)    (In water & harmless) 

After some time sodium zeolite is converted into calcium and magnesium zeolite thus losing its
softening power. It is then regenerated by addition of strong solution or common salt.
Lime soda process.
For industrial use, water which contains both temp and perm hardness may be softened by
addition of soda again settle out.
This is made possible because when lime reacts with sulphates and chlorides of mag, insoluble
hydroxides are formed, which settle at the bottom.
E.g. Mg Cl2 + Ca [OH]2 Mg [OH]2 + CaCl
Mag Chloride      +     Calc hydroxide                             Mag hydroxide        +     Cal chloride 
                                         (Liquid)                                   (Solids‐precipitates)          (Liquid in water) 
 
In these reactions however the sulphates and chlorides of calcium are formed which further
increases the hardness. When soda ash is added it reacts with the hardness and removes it by
precipitation.

CaCl + Na Co3 CaCo3 + NaCl

Cal chloride        +    Sodium Carbonate                   Cal carbonate       +         sodium chloride. 
(Liquid)                          (Liquid)                                         (Solid)                                 (Liquid) 

Hardness of water has the following problems hence need for removal;

• Carbonates compounds forms scales in boilers and pipe work which can cause blockage
with time and use of more fuel.
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 • Chlorides and sulphates cause corrosion to boilers and pipe work resulting in costly
repairs in the long run.
• The two above can have adverse effects on preparation of food and drinks.
• In homes and laundries more soap is required hence wastage.
Merits of hard water

• Decreases incidents of heart diseases

Water Treatment/Purification
The determinant factor of the purification process is the type of source and the amount and type
of contaminants.
Flow Diagram:

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Surface Water Treatment

Intake
A good intake location should be selected on the bases of anticipated variations in water levels,
navigation requirements, sedimentation deposits, temporary variations in water quality and
quality of floating debris. Dams and reservoirs - are subjected to rather wider variations in depth
and this requires intake structures which will permit withdrawal over a wide range of elevations.
Earth dams - are subjected to rather wider variation in depth and this requires intake structures
which will permit withdrawal over a wide range of elevations. Rivers - intake should be designed
where possible to withdraw water slightly below the bed in order to avoid both sediments in
suspension and creeping at lower levels. The water has to pass through a grid first where
suspended solids, organic matter and other contaminants are trapped and removed. In order to
minimize drawing in of large quantities of suspended material the intake velocity of water during
pumping should be about 1,5m/sec.
A typical Intake Structure

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Settlement/sedimentation tank
In this tank the velocity is reduced to 0,3m/sec, these heavier particles settle down.
There are two ways of settling the particles and these are plain sedimentation and sedimentation
with co-angulations.
Plain sedimentation refers to settlement of impurities by the action of natural forces only i.e.
gravitation.
The tanks can be either rectangular or circular with depth of up to 3m.
(a) Rectangular plain sedimentation tank

(b) Sedimentation with Co-agulation

- Aimed at rapid settling of solids by facilitating chemical treatment in which flock –
forming chemicals (coagulants) are added to H20.
- These chemicals cause suspended and colloidal matter e.g. clay and silt particles to
from bigger and heavier particles that can settle down.
- The coagulants that can use include;
• Aluminium sulphate
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 • Sodium aluminates
• Chlorinated copper which is a mixture of ferric chloride and ferric sulphate
- Depending on the design of the tank, during flocculation the mixture can be slowly
agitated to necessitate more contact of particles and the chemical.
Filtration Tank
- Done to further remove other suspended materials that would have passed both the grid
and settlement tank.
- Three types of filtration processes can be used: the slow sand filtration, rapid filtration
and pressure filtration process.
Slow Sand Filter

Rapid Sand Filter

• In this tank H2O is filtered down the layers of sand and gravel. On top of the sand
coagulants can be added which forms a jelly through flocculation. The jelly traps bacteria
and other tiny particles.
• The water then passes down the washed sand that further filters it and then piped to the
chlorination tank.
Pressure Filter

• Water passes thru sand beds under a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. The
trapped impurities are cleaned out after every 24hrs for 10mins thru a process called
backwash.
• Compressed air is fed into tank and the back wash carries trapped impunities up and
deposit into a chamber prepared for that. Rate of filtration is 4-12m3 per m2 per hour.

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To backwash, valve A is closed and valve B & C opened before compressed air is fed.

Chlorination

• Chlorine is injected to H2O as disinfection so as to reduce the level of micro-organisms to

some minimum level.
• When chlorine is dissolved in H2O at 10-100°c at atmospheric pressure H2O reacts with it
to form hypochlorous and hypochloric acid within seconds.
• The hypochloric acid interferes with certain enzymes of bacteria in bacteria cells making
complex compounds that kill the bacteria.
• Can be done either in a chlorination tank or through injection along the water mains.

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WATER FROM UNDERGROUND SOURCES

ƒ It is obtained either from confined or unconfined aquifers thru the use of wells or
boreholes.
ƒ Impunities that might be present are dissolved salts causing hardness and some iron
compounds.

Wells
Wells could be in the form of artesian wells, deep ordinary wells or shallow wells. Function of
these wells is to collect underground water which would be either in confined aquifers or
unconfined aquifers.
Unconfined aquifer - water held between the earth’s surface and impervious rock strata inside the
earth’s crust.
Confined aquifer – water held between two impervious rock strata inside the earth’s crust.
Shallow well - well dug in an unconfined aquifer.
Deep well - well dug into a confined aquifer.
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Artesian well - dug into a confined aquifer and water comes out as a jet merely because the plane
of saturation is well above the ground surface.

Ordinary Well

Health regulations require that a standard ordinary well be constructed thus. The lid/cover
prevents unwanted materials from falling. A concrete lining prevents unfiltered water. It also
prevents (to a certain extent) rats and other barrowing creatures from falling into the well.

SYSTEMS OF WATER SUPPLY INTO BUILDINGS

Mains pipe is installed either by radial distribution or ring mains distribution.

Ring mains-water mains supplying a town or village in form of a grid.

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There are two systems of supplying water into buildings, i.e. direct and indirect system

a) Direct System

In such a system all sanitary fittings, except the water heater, are supplied with cold
water direct from the mains. A cold water cistern with minimum capacity equal to
that of the water is the one that receives cold water from the mains and then feed the
water heater.
Merits
™ All taps are supplied under mains pressure and are suitable for drinking and food
preparation.
™ High pressure supply is more suitable for instantaneous type shower heaters, hose
tape etc.
™ The cistern is small and hence can be accommodated outside the ceiling and this
saves on pipe work.
Demerits
™ Systems requires good source of supply and high pressure.
™ Can suffer problems of back siphon age -backflow caused by siphon age of liquid
from a cistern or appliance back into the feed pipe.

b) Indirect System
In this system all the sanitary fittings, except drinking water at the sink, are supplied
with water indirectly from a cold water storage cistern, minimum capacity doubles
that of direct cistern.
Because of its size it is accommodated in the ceiling and will require legging to
prevent it from gaining heat.
For design purposes, the type of building should be known and no of litres each
resident uses. Total amount to be used is then obtained and it depends on number of
people that occupy the building.
Merits

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 ™ Reserve supply of water available in case of mains failure.
™ Constant low supply pressure reduces the risk and rate of leakages and is suitable for
supply to mixer fittings for low pressure vented hot water supply.
™ Reduces the risk of water hammer and noise from outlets.
™ No risk of back siphonage.
Demerits
™ A lot of pipe work hence expensive.
™ A bigger cistern requiring legging –expensive.
™ Pressure available from the cistern may not be sufficient for some types of taps or
showers.
™ Cistern must be properly protected against entry of contaminants and may need
replacement occasionally.
NOTE - This area to be seriously considered during building layout design (Cost conscious)
compact manor.

Taps and values

Are fittings required to control the flow of fluids either along or at the end of the pipe work.
Valves are usually fitted to control flow along a pipeline whereas taps are fitted at the end.

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Types
Globe valve - used to control flow of water at high pressure. It closes slowly this prevent
possibility of vibration and water hammer.

Gate or sluice valve - control flow of water at low pressure. Has a wheel head has a wedge
shaped gate. Other valves are either fitted onto or close to appliances and cisterns

Drain valve – has several applications and is found at the lowest point in the pipe systems,
boilers and storage vessels.

Safety valve - fitted to release excess pressure in boilers, tanks and pipe work.

Taps
The most common are the screw down type which are designed to shut off supply slowly. These
include;

• Pillar taps
• Bib taps.
• Dual swivel sink taps.
• Spray type –used to discharge cold and hot water that are mixed by connecting them to
the same value.

List of references

1. Hall  F.  and  Greeno  R.,  2007.,  Building  Services  Handbook,  4th  edition,  Butterworth 
Heinemann, Oxford. 
2. Barry R., 1998., Building Services, 3rd edition, Black Science, UK. 
3. Burberry P., 1994., Environment and Services, 3rd edition, Black Science, UK. 
4. Hall F., 1994., Building Services and Equipment One, 3rd edition, London, UK. 
5. Hall F., 1994., Building Services and Equipment One, 2nd edition, London, UK. 
6. Hall F., 1994., Building Services and Equipment One, 1st edition, London, UK. 

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