CITY ENGINEER INTERVIEW QTNS

GENERAL
1. Can you tell us about yourself in relation to the advertised post?

TECHNICAL: WATER
1. Main Components that affect the pressure of flowing water in a reticulation system.
 Flow velocity
 Pipe size
 Static head
 bends
 Pipeline roughness

2. State the Softwares used in the Design of Water Reticulation Systems?

 Epanet (together with EpaCad)
 Waternet.
 Civil 3D
 AutoCAD

3. What would you want to know on every node when you are designing a water
reticulation system?
 Velocity
 Discharge (m/s)

4. What is a Water Hammer? What are its effects and how can you prevent it?
 A water hammer is an impulse or shock of flowing water as it knocks at an obstruction to its
flow.

 Effects of a water hammer are bursts, cracks and dislocations of pipes at end caps, bends
and valves resulting in water loss.
 A water hammer can be prevented by putting surge chambers and by opening or closing
valves gradually.

5. State four major processes on water treatment process?

 Screening
 Sedimentation
 Filtration
 Disinfection

4. What is super chlorination and why is it done?

 Super chlorination is the excessive dosing of chlorine to water (usually 1mg/l) to safeguard
the quality of drinking water when there is an outbreak of waterborne diseases as cholera,
dysentery or when there is an organic pollution which increases chlorine demand.

5. What is pre-chlorination and why is it done?

 Pre-chlorination is the application of chlorine prior to sedimentation and filtration process.
 Pre-chlorination is useful in the following applications:
a. To improve coagulation and to suppress the decomposition of organic matter in sludge
deposited in flocculation basins,
b. To control algae and other micro-organisms,
c. To destroy taste, odour and colour producing material by oxidation,
d. To retard decomposition in settling basins,
e. To improve filter operation by reduction and equalisation of bacterial and algae load,
f. To control slime and mud ball formation in filters, and
 g. To provide a safety factor in disinfecting heavily contaminated waters.

6. How is sewage pollution detected in water supply?

 By the presence of E – Coli (Escherichia Coliform Bacteria)

7. What steps would you take in servicing a new residential area?

A. Carry out a Feasibility study (Information Gathering, Site reconnaissance)
B. Conduct a Site Survey
C. Design the Services
D. Prepare comprehensive bidding/ tender documents
E. Coordinate with State Procurement Board on advertising to invite bids and on the opening of
bids.
F. Adjudicate tenders to select the most suitable bidder complying with tender procedures and
the relevant statutory instruments.
G. Award the tender
H. Supervise Construction.

8. What are the advantages of PVC piping over asbestos cement piping in water
reticulation?
 Light and Easy to handle in terms of cutting and joining.

9. Where is an Air release valve positioned in a water pipeline?

 Air release valves are mainly positioned on high places on the pipeline.

10. What effect does entrapped air has on hydraulic and energy gradient?

11. What is a mono borehole pump and what factors do you consider when sizing it?
 A mono borehole pump is a positive displacement pump. ( i.e. once water is pumped in the
pump, it must go out and therefore positive displacement pumps cannot pump against a
closed valve and shall not be started against a high head in order to reduce the starting
torque)
 Factors considered when sizing a mono borehole pump.
 Required Water Discharge (cbm/hr).
 Dynamic Head (m)
 Net Positive Suction Head (i.e. Available NPSH must be > NPSH required by the borehole
pump)

12. What do you consider when sizing a water storage reservoir?

(For water supply, 2 day water storage is normally installed .)
 Increase in water demand due to population growth.
 Fire-fighting requirements

13. What do you understand by Non Accounted for Water/Non-Revenue Water?

 Is the difference between the amount of water put into the distribution system and the
amount of water billed to consumers
 Represents the difference between “Net Production” (volume of water delivered into a
network) and “Consumption” (the volume of water that can be accounted for by legitimate
consumption, whether metered or not).
 UNACCOUNTED FOR WATER = NET PRODUCTION — LEGITIMATE CONSUMPTION

14. State typical causes of Non-Revenue Water?

A. Physical (or Real) Losses
This is comprised of:
 1. Leakages from all parts of the system
2. Overflows at Utility’s Reservoirs.
These are caused by:
 Poor operations and maintenance,
 Lack of Active Leakage Control,
 Poor Quality of Underground Assets.

B. Commercial (or apparent) Losses

These are caused by:
1. Customer meter under-registration,
2. Data Handling errors,
3. Theft of Water in Various Forms (i.e. Illegal water connections)

C. Unbilled Authorised Consumption

These include:
1. Water used by the Utility for operational purposes (i.e. backwashing filters),
2. Water used for Firefighting,
3. Water provided for free to certain consumer groups.

15. Many Councils underestimate the technical difficulties and the complexities of Non-
Revenue Water Management along with the benefits of taking action. As a Council
Engineer, how would you address this issue?

16. What can be done to reduce Non-Revenue Water?

 Control Physical (or real) losses i.e. Active Leakage Control,
 Ensure Customer meter accuracy,
 Make all the efforts to keep number of illegal connections within limits.

17. What are the Benefits of Non-Revenue Water Management?

 Efficient Utility Management
 Enhanced Customer Satisfaction (Water Tariff Reduction _ heavy losses make it harder to
keep water tariffs at a reasonable level )
 Postponement of Capital Intensive Additions to capacity.
 Taking water loss control measures can boost revenue by increasing the amount of water that
can be billed while reducing water wastage.
 This also increases profitability and improves the return on investment.
 With larger profits, the utility can then reinvest retained earnings and improve its productivity.

(Wherever active water loss reduction programs have been initiated and sustained, the gains
to consumers and utilities alike have been significant.
The Costs of improved service delivery are much lower when undertaken through investments
in Non-Revenue Water Reduction rather than through investments in Capital Projects to
augment Supply Capacities.
NON REVENUE WATER or UNACCOUNTED FOR WATER is a good indicator for water utility
performance. High levels of NRW typically indicate a poorly managed water utility).

SEWER

15. What softwares are used in the design of sewer reticulation system?
 Civil 3D
 AutoCAD
16. State and explain 3 forms of sewer maintenance categories.
A. Corrective Maintenance
This includes emergency maintenance and is reactive.

Emergency maintenance is categorized into normal emergency and extraordinary

maintenance. Normal emergency involves the daily activities such as repairing pipe bursts
and blockages. Extraordinary emergencies deals with events which cannot be predicted
as floods, earthquakes, heavy storm rains.

B. Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance is proactive and is defined by a programmed, systematic approach to
maintenance activities.
Preventive Maintenance can be scheduled on the basis of specific criteria such as known
problem areas for example:
 A low point that is often first to overflow in a storm event,
 Or even an area prone to blockages
 Equipment operating time since the last maintenance was carried out.
 Passage of a certain amount of time.

C. Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance is also proactive and is method of:

1. Establishing baseline performance data,

2. Monitoring Performance criteria over a period of time,
3. Observing changes in performance so that failure can be predicted and maintenance can
be performed on planned scheduled basis.

17. State the benefits of an effective Operation and Maintenance program?

 Ensuring the availability of facilities and equipment as intended.
 Maintaining the reliability of the equipment and facilities as designed. Utility systems are
required to operate 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and 365 days per year. Reliability is a
critical and facilities are not reliable, then the ability of the system to
 Maintaining the value of the investment. Wastewater systems represent major capital
investments for communities and are major capital assets of the community. If maintenance
of the system is not managed, equipment and facilities will deteriorate through normal use
and age. Maintaining the value of the capital asset is one of the utility manager’s major
responsibilities. Accomplishing this goal requires ongoing investment to maintain existing
facilities and equipment and extend the life of the system, and establishing a comprehensive
O&M program.
 Obtaining full use of the system throughout its useful life.
 Collecting accurate information and data on which to base the operation and maintenance of
the system and justify requests for the financial resources necessary to support it.
 Costs. Planned maintenance and repairs are much more cost effective both in the long and
short term because the work can be done with the proper materials during normal working
hours and under preferred working rain with the wrong materials, while paying time and a half
for labour can not only increase cost manifold but produce a substandard repair and leave the
consumer without service for an unnecessarily long time.

ROADS

18. When there is ’bleeding‘ after a road construction, what could be the problems and
how are the spots or stretches treated?
Problems:
 There could be over-application of the bituminous material,
  The Aggregates Flakiness (FI) and the Averaged Least Dimensions (A.L.D) indices could
have been poorly matched to the tar application rate.
 Temperatures could have soared beyond normal levels.
Treatment:
 The spots must treated by applying quarry dust

19. What do you understand by super-elevation in a road design and what is its main
purpose?
 The raising of a road’s outer edge at a curve. Its purpose is to keep vehicles in track.

20. Name 3 road maintenance categories?

a. Routine
b. Periodic
c. Emergency

21. Define Plasticity Index?

22. Explain a typical Road Construction Procedure?

a. Setting out survey
b. Opening of road using a Dozer
c. Road formation using a grader
d. Subgrade Compaction using grader, compactor, water bowser
e. Bases Construction using grader, compactor, water bowser, tipper
f. Priming using Bitumen Distributor
g. Surfacing using Bitumen Distributor, Tipper, chip spreader, pneumatic roller

CONTRACT/PROJECT MANAGEMENT

23. Define Project Management?

 It is the planning and control of project activities so that goals are achieved on time and within
budget.

24. Name any 2 project planning techniques used in project management?

a) Bar Chart (Gantt chart)
b) Network Analysis (Critical path method)
c) Line of Balance

17. What provisions are made in the contract to safeguard the client’s interests?
 Bid bond,
 Performance bond,
 Retention Maintenance Period,
 Insurance,
 Deed of Suretyship.

18. What comprises a Tender Document?

 Introduction or Invitation to Tender,
 Conditions of Tender,
 General Conditions of Contract,
 Special Conditions of Contract,
 Project Specifications,
 Bill of Quantities,
 Schedules,
 Form of Tender & Appendix,
  Bond Forms

19. Name 3 types of Tenders?

 Formal Tender,
 Negotiated Tender,
 Selective Tender.

20. Name the Engineering Documents which make up a standard Civil Engineering
Contract?
 Bill of Quantities,
 Specifications,
 Conditions of Contract (General and Special),
 Form of Agreement,
 Letter of Acceptance,
 Drawings.

21. Outline 2 major achievements/projects in your previous employment indicating your

involvement, challenges and how you overcame these?

22. State the form of financing arrangement which government prefers for its projects?
 Public Private Partnership (PPP arrangement)

23. Give examples of PPPs

 Build Operate Transfer (BOT)
 Build Own Operate (BOO)
 Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT)
 Turn key

24. Name 2 recently published statutes governing PPPs?

 Joint Ventures Act


GENERAL MANAGEMENT QTNS

25. Council Employees are known for not being productive and there is a general
abscondance rate. How would you deal with this?
 Motivation of Staff,
 Performance Management,
 Total Quality Management.

26. What is a Commitment Register and what is it used for?

 Management tool used to control a budget.

27. List all budget types?

 Capital budget
 Recurrent budget

28. Differentiate between Capital budget and Recurrent budget?

Capital budgets focus on business growth and improvements, while recurrent budgets focus on
standard operations.

29. How do you control expenditure?

  Staff redeployment
 Rationalization of Operations
 Optimization

30. State the wage to revenue ratio in Zimbabwe.

 30% Wages, 70% Productivity

31. In many Councils there are cash flow problems, can you identify four sources of
revenue that can be raised by a City/Town Engineering Department?
 Zinara Funds
 Donations
 Building Plans
 Plan Approvals

32. As a City/Town Engineer can you name four statutes that you would apply in the
discharge of your duties?
 Urban Councils’ Act,
 Roads’ Act,
 Rural Town Country Planning Act,
 Public Health Act,
 Model Building by-laws.