This page cites two computer programs that simulate hydraulic and water quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers EPANET version 2.0, which models the hydraulic and water quality behavior of water distribution piping systems. EPANET is a Windows 95/98/NT program that performs extended period simulation of hydraulic and water quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks. A network can consist of pipes, nodes (pipe junctions), pumps, valves and storage tanks or reservoirs. EPANET tracks the flow of water in each pipe, the pressure at each node, the height of water in each tank and the concentration of a chemical species throughout the network during a simulation period comprised of multiple time steps. In addition to chemical species, water age and source tracing can also be simulated. For more information on EPANET and how to download the software, visit EPA's Web site:  http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/wswrd/epanet.html.

While EPANET is a free hydraulic software program, KY Pipe is a more robust hydraulic modeling program that links to the EPA water quality data. There is a licensing fee for use of the KY Pipe software program. The current version has the most advanced and intuitive graphical interface available for network modeling, the Pipe2000 graphical user interface (GUI). The Pipe2000 GUI is an advanced 32-bit Windows95/NT version, which is fully compatible with popular CAD packages and will provide an easy link to GIS databases and auxiliary modules. KY Pipe was developed and maintained by a team of eight professional engineers at the University of Kentucky. KY Pipe has developed and provided support for pipe system hydraulic flow analysis software for 30 years. Their software development includes the 2000 Series models, KYPIPE, SURGE, KYGAS, KYSTEAM and KYFIRE and they directly support the software. If interested in KY Pipe, visit their Web site at:  http://www.kypipe.com/.