MSU Water Facility Plan

AESI was contracted by Montana State University (MSU) to update their Water Facility Plan. The MSU campus is quickly expanding in both the number of buildings and the number of students/faculty, so planning for the maintenance and upgrades of the water distribution system is an important task. AESI’s engineers utilized Bentley’s WaterCAD computer software to model the existing MSU water distribution system and identify any current issues, which included fire hydrants being unable to deliver the needed fire flow, low system pressures, high velocities in pipes, major system leaks, and areas not receiving sufficient supply. Once any problems with the existing system were identified, scenarios were created in the computer model to analyze the potential solution. AESI engineers then recommended the best solutions for each issue to MSU. Lastly, AESI developed model scenarios based on likely future development within the campus. Campus populations and water usage trends were analyzed in detail to build these scenarios. Future development scenarios analyzed the feasibility of delivering sufficient water supply to new buildings and a continuously growing campus population while still meeting regulatory requirements of minimum/maximum system pressures, system velocities, and fire flow.

The MSU Water Facility Plan Update required intimate knowledge of pressurized water networks and computer-based modeling. It also relied heavily on excellent data management. The project’s greatest challenge was creating and calibrating an accurate model of the MSU water system. This challenge was overcome by isolating the MSU system from the City of Bozeman’s water system. By isolating the private water system from the public network, AESI was able to calibrate the model nearly perfectly to match real hydrant tests and simulate day-to-day conditions, providing confidence that proposed scenarios would be reliable. AESI’s wealth of knowledge with water systems and how to model them made this project a success.

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MSU WaterCAD

The MSU Water Facility Plan Update project presented several challenges that required a combination of technical expertise, innovative problem-solving, and meticulous data management. One of the most significant challenges stemmed from the rapidly expanding MSU campus, which placed increasing demands on the water distribution system. This growth introduced numerous issues, including fire hydrants unable to deliver sufficient fire flow, low system pressures, high pipe velocities, major system leaks, and areas experiencing inadequate water supply. Identifying and addressing these complex issues within an interconnected system required a precise and comprehensive approach.

Another major challenge was developing an accurate and calibrated model of the MSU water system. The task was complicated by the need to isolate the university’s private water network from the City of Bozeman’s public water system, as any overlap could distort the model’s accuracy. Ensuring the model aligned with real-world conditions, such as hydrant flow tests and daily water usage patterns, was critical to building confidence in the reliability of proposed solutions.

Planning for future campus development added another layer of complexity. The project required detailed analysis of population growth, water usage trends, and campus expansion scenarios to predict whether the system could meet future demands. These predictions had to account for regulatory requirements, such as maintaining minimum and maximum pressures, controlling system velocities, and ensuring adequate fire flow for new developments, all while accommodating a continuously growing population and infrastructure.

To tackle the challenges of the MSU Water Facility Plan Update, AESI used Bentley’s WaterCAD software to model the university’s water system, identifying key issues like inadequate fire flow, low pressures, high velocities, leaks, and insufficient supply. By isolating MSU’s private water network from the City of Bozeman’s system, AESI calibrated an accurate model, ensuring reliable solutions.

The team proposed targeted upgrades to resolve current issues and developed future scenarios based on campus growth projections. These scenarios ensured regulatory compliance for pressures, velocities, and fire flow, providing MSU with a comprehensive, adaptable plan for its expanding water system.