
Kurtz Engineering (KE) has worked on numerous master planning and distribution system modeling projects. Examples of our work are below.
KE completed a master planning study for Indiana American Water’s Northwest District, which supplies water to the 14 municipalities and their surrounding townships in Lake and Porter counties, including the city of Gary. The system includes two water filtration plants that treat surface water from Lake Michigan, 12 pressure gradients, 15 storage tanks, 14 booster pumping stations, and over 1,100 miles of piping. Average and maximum day demands are approximately 39 mgd and 60 mgd, respectively.
Customer growth and demand projections were developed for the 15-year planning horizon. The hydraulic model was updated to reflect the current distribution network and facilities, demands were allocated across the model nodes for both existing and target year model scenarios, calibration was performed under steady state and extended period simulation, and the model was used to analyze the distribution system and develop prioritized recommendations. The supply and treatment facilities were evaluated and recommendations developed to increase capacity and improve treatment performance for meeting future water quality regulations.
The recommendations included capacity and treatment improvements at both plants, construction of an additional 3.5 MG of distribution storage volume, transmission and pumping improvements for delivering water to growth areas, and realignment of some of the pressure gradients for improved operation and service pressures.