The influence of simultaneous operation of plumbing appliances on water consumption and conservation inside residential buildings

Abstract

The different simultaneous operation scenarios of plumbing appliances inside buildings fluctuate their flows. This study aims to investigate the influence of the simultaneous operation of plumbing appliances on water consumption and conservation inside residential buildings. Different simultaneous operations scenarios of each study-case's appliance, starting with individually opened appliance and ending with all appliances are simultaneously opened with street pipe pressure 50, 40, 30, and 20 psi were simulated using the EPANET program. It was concluded that the appliance flow and pressure decrease with the increase of the simultaneous open appliances, and the values of this decrease are depends on the street pipe pressure and the distance from the street pipe. Also the excess in flow and pressure at individually opened appliance were ranged from 0 to 53% and from 0 to 136%, respectively and this excess flow and pressure can be saved by means of appliances simultaneous operation management.