Economic Pipe Sizes for Water Distribution Systems

The method for determining the economic size of a single pipe line is well established and has been used for some time. In the past some efforts have been directed toward the extension of this method to a water distribution system, but the procedure to be used was not sufficiently developed for practical application. Had the method been available, it would have been of little use in design because of the difficulty of determining the distribution of flow in a pipe network. Practical methods for analyzing the distribution of flow in pipe networks have been published by the writer elsewhere as well as by Hardy Cross, M. Am. Soc. C. E., and James J. Doland, M. Am. Soc. C. E. In order to apply one of these methods to the actual design of a distribution system, it becomes desirable to give further thought to the economic sizes of pipes. It is the purpose of this paper to develop methods for determining the proper sizes of pipes in distribution systems for best economy.