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There is quite a bit of information about piped water supply schemes available from the World Bank Water and Sanitation website, such as:

 

https://www.wsp.org/sites/.../328200711859_RuralPipedWater.pdf

 

I seem to remember a manual they produced about gravity water supply schemes in Malawi, but this does not seem to be available any more. There is also quite a lot of information about spring protection and piped schemes elsewhere on the internet.

 

Regarding the pressure and material issues there are a number of factors to consider besides the pressure class of the pipe. Generally it would be better to control pressures in the system as this will reduce losses and with a large head difference there is the possibility of creating substantial negative pressures in the pipe, for instance if there is a burst at the lower end. I visited Tuum in Kenya many years ago and the water points higher up the mountain only admitted air during the day because of the high demand lower down. My advice would therefore be to install one or more break pressure tanks to reduce the pressure in the system so that it is no more than necessary to provide sufficient head at all standpipes and connections. Depending on the complexity of the distribution system some simple modelling may be required and there is free software available for this from the US EPA: https://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/dw/epanet.html

 

Laying pipes on the surface is not generally recommended, plastic pipes degrade and are easily damaged, steel pipe is better but expensive and difficult to lay and the Outward Bound School in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe had their entire water supply pipe stolen during the night!

 

Regards,

 

Jeff

There is quite a bit of information about piped water supply schemes available from the World Bank Water and Sanitation website, such as:

 

https://www.wsp.org/sites/.../328200711859_RuralPipedWater.pdf

 

https://www.wsp.org/sites/.../328200711859_RuralPipedWater.pdf

I seem to remember a manual they produced about gravity water supply schemes in Malawi, but this does not seem to be available any more. There is also quite a lot of information about spring protection and piped schemes elsewhere on the internet.

 

Regarding the pressure and material issues there are a number of factors to consider besides the pressure class of the pipe. Generally it would be better to control pressures in the system as this will reduce losses and with a large head difference there is the possibility of creating substantial negative pressures in the pipe, for instance if there is a burst at the lower end. I visited Tuum in Kenya many years ago and the water points higher up the mountain only admitted air during the day because of the high demand lower down. My advice would therefore be to install one or more break pressure tanks to reduce the pressure in the system so that it is no more than necessary to provide sufficient head at all standpipes and connections. Depending on the complexity of the distribution system some simple modelling may be required and there is free software available for this from the US EPA: https://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/dw/epanet.html

 

Laying pipes on the surface is not generally recommended, plastic pipes degrade and are easily damaged, steel pipe is better but expensive and difficult to lay and the Outward Bound School in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe had their entire water supply pipe stolen during the night!

 

Regards,

 

Jeff

There is quite a bit of information about piped water supply schemes available from the World Bank Water and Sanitation website, such as:

https://www.wsp.org/sites/.../328200711859_RuralPipedWater.pdf https://www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/328200711859_RuralPipedWater.pdf

I seem to remember a manual they produced about gravity water supply schemes in Malawi, but this does not seem to be available any more. There is also quite a lot of information about spring protection and piped schemes elsewhere on the internet.

Regarding the pressure and material issues there are a number of factors to consider besides the pressure class of the pipe. Generally it would be better to control pressures in the system as this will reduce losses and with a large head difference there is the possibility of creating substantial negative pressures in the pipe, for instance if there is a burst at the lower end. I visited Tuum in Kenya many years ago and the water points higher up the mountain only admitted air during the day because of the high demand lower down. My advice would therefore be to install one or more break pressure tanks to reduce the pressure in the system so that it is no more than necessary to provide sufficient head at all standpipes and connections. Depending on the complexity of the distribution system some simple modelling may be required and there is free software available for this from the US EPA: https://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/dw/epanet.html

Laying pipes on the surface is not generally recommended, plastic pipes degrade and are easily damaged, steel pipe is better but expensive and difficult to lay and the Outward Bound School in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe had their entire water supply pipe stolen during the night!

Regards,

Jeff