Innovyze President Dr. Paul F. Boulos Assumes Presidency of American Academy of Water Resources Engineers

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Innovyze President Dr. Paul F. Boulos Assumes Presidency of American Academy of Water Resources Engineers

Broomfield, Colorado, USA, October 29, 2013 — Innovyze, a leading global innovator of business analytics software and technologies for smart wet infrastructure, today announced that its President, COO and Chief Technical Officer, Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEEM, Hon.D.WRE, Dist.D.NE, F.ASCE, has assumed the position of President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He succeeds Robert G. Traver, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, Director of the Villanova Center for the Advancement of Sustainability in Engineering and Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Villanova University (Villanova, PA), who will now serve as Past President. Dr. Boulos was first elected to the AAWRE Board of Trustees in 2009. In his new role, Dr. Boulos will continue working to strategically position AAWRE as the leading national and global expert certification organization for water resources engineering professionals. Dr. Boulos is one of the world’s foremost experts on water resources and navigation engineering and author of nine authoritative books and more than 200 technical articles on issues critical to the water and wastewater industry. He is the recipient of numerous honors from national and international scientific and engineering societies, governments, universities, and NGOs. Among them are notable technical awards for excellence in scholarship from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Water Works Association and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He also received the U.S. Ellis Island Medal of Honor, one of America’s highest accolades; the Pride of Heritage Award from the Lebanese American Foundation; and the Alumni of the Year Award by the Lebanese American University, and was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Engineering Hall of Distinction, the highest honor the university bestows on its alumni. He was given Honorary Diplomate status by AAWRE as well as Distinguished Diplomate status in Navigation Engineering by the Academy of Coastal, Ocean, Port & Navigation Engineers (ACOPNE), both academies’ top honors. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a Diplomate (by Eminence) of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. Dr. Boulos serves on the Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American University (New York, NY and Beirut, Lebanon) and ACOPNE; the Boards of Directors of Innovyze, MWH Global (Broomfield, CO), America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, Inc./AMIDEAST (Washington, D.C.); and the Dean’s International Council of the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago (Chicago, IL). He has been a member of advisory boards and councils for many organizations, including the Buck Advisory Council of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging (Novato, CA), the Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, MI), the USEPA Science Advisory Board, the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI), and the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. Dr. Boulos received his Doctorate, Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Kentucky and his Bachelor degree in General Science from the Lebanese American University. He has also completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. “The strength and influence of AAWRE are a direct result of the tireless dedication shown by its Board members and staff,” Boulos said. “This distinguished circle of industry leaders has shown a passionate level of commitment to sharing its time, talent and resources with our members and the entire water resources profession. Being a part of this organization and its work is a privilege. I am honored to build on the superb work of Dr. Traver, and I look forward to collaborating with him and the Board to initiate and support innovations that improve the practice, elevate the standards, advance the cause and future of the water resources engineering profession.” The American Academy of Water Resources Engineers was created by the American Society of Civil Engineers and its Environmental and Water Resources Institute to improve the practice, elevate the standards, and advance the profession of water resources engineering. Key AAWRE goals are to identify and certify engineers with specialized knowledge in water resources for the benefit of the public; recognize the ethical practice of water resources engineering at the expert level; enhance the practice of water resources engineering; support and promote positions on water resources issues important to the public health, safety and welfare; and encourage life-long learning and continued professional development. For more information on AAWRE, visit www.aawre.org.

About Innovyze Innovyze is a leading global provider of wet infrastructure business analytics software solutions designed to meet the technological needs of water and wastewater utilities, government industries, and engineering organizations worldwide. Its clients include the majority of the largest UK, Australasia and North American cities, foremost utilities on all five continents, and ENR top-rated design firms. With unparalleled expertise and offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, the Innovyze connected portfolio of best-in-class product lines empowers thousands of engineers to competitively plan, manage, design, protect, operate and sustain highly efficient and reliable infrastructure systems, and provides an enduring platform for customer success. For more information, call Innovyze at +1 626-568-6868, or visit www.innovyze.com.

How to Use the Compare Report Command in H2OMap SWMM and InfoSWMM

How to Use the Compare Report Command in H2OMap SWMM and InfoSWMM

1.       Run all of your scenario using Batch Simulation and Select Conduit Summary from the Report Manager
2.      Select all of your scenarios using  the Compare Report Icon
3.      You will have a lot of columns so Using the Format Report Icon select a few report variables to view
4.      You will now have a table with the Peak flow or Peak Depth for all Scenarios
5.      h/t MJ for the suggestion

How to Use the Compare Report Command in H2OMap SWMM and InfoSWMM

ALCOSAN Wet Weather Plan Link

A link to the ALCOSAN Wet Weather Plan for Allegheny Country, Pennsylvania

http://www.alcosan.org/Portals/0/Wet%20Weather%20Plan/Section%204.0%20thru%204.4.pdf

How InfoSWMM uses Calibration or monitored data during a Simulation

How InfoSWMM uses Calibration or monitored data during a Simulation

The calibration data is used in the Calibrator Addon (which uses a Genetic Algorithm  to calibrate RDII, Subcatchment, Infiltration, Groundwater, Pipe, Node or Pump input data to calibration data) by running a model many times to optimize the fit (Figure A).  The fit between measured and simulated results can be viewed in the Output Report Manager with comparison statistics on the graph (Figure B).  The monitored data is linked to your model using the Calibration Tool (Figures C, D and E) and the GA Calibration process is controlled by many best fit options (Figure F). 

Figure A.  GA Calibration in InfoSWMM, Each of the Calibration parameters in your model have Min and Max Constraint levels

Figure B.  Calibration data and Flows or Node depth are compared directly in the Output Manager of InfoSWMM.

Figure C.  How to Enter the Calibration Data in the Tools Menu.

Figure D.  Calibration data can be node depth, node head, inflow, flooding, quality, link flow, link velocity, link HGL, Runoff, Snow Depth and Groundwater in ASCII files.

Figure E.    The Calibration data can be selected and Editing in the Tools Dialog.

Figure F.  The options for running the Calibrator Addon to InfoSWMM

How to Define Green Ampt Infiltration in ICM

Here are the steps to make a Subcatchment with Green Ampt Infiltration in ICM:

1.       You use the Subcatchment, Land Use and Runoff Surface Tabs in the Subcatchment Grid (Bullet 1)
2.      The Subcatchment Tab has three Runoff Areas for Impervious with Depression Storage or Initial Loss, Impervious with no Initial Loss and Pervious Area (Bullet 2)
3.      The Runoff Surface percentages on the Subcatchment are connected to the Land Use Tab by the Land Use ID, in this example we are using Runoff Surfaces 22, 23 and 24 (Bullet 3)
4.      The Runoff Tab defines the Runoff Surfaces defined in the Subcatchment Tab and Land Use Tab (Bullet 4)
5.      You can define the Routing Model per Runoff Surface or SWMM in this case (Bullet 5)
6.      The type of Runoff Surface and Surface Type for each Runoff Surface or GreenAmpt for Runoff Surface ID of 24 (Bullet 6)
7.      The Depression Storage or Initial Loss Value for each Runoff Surface in the Runoff Surface Tab (Bullet 7)
8.     The Green Ampt Infiltration Parameters are defined to the right in the Runoff Surfaces Tab (Bullet 8)

a.      Suction in inches or millimeters

b.      Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity in inches/hour or mm/hour

c.       Deficit as a fraction

  

Figure 1.  Steps in defining Green Ampt Infiltration for ICM

Hazen Williams and Force Mains in SWMM 5

A few tips for using Hazen Williams and Force Mains in SWMM 5.   A key fact is to remember ONLY one flow in the middle of the link is computed in SWMM 5 so you may have to add Break nodes, use a smaller time step and use a flap gate depending on how often your pumps turn on.  If you do not have numerical problems with the time step you should get exactly the same head loss as you do in steady state Hazen Williams calculators when you use InfoSWMM, H2OMap SWMM and SWMM 5.

Figure 1.  Larger Tip Image 

Figure 2.  SWMM 5 compares well to the Hazen Williams Head loss calculators

Ganesh ji and Modelling

I have always thought that Ganesh ji is an ideal God or Symbol for modellers or even modelers.    Here are a few of his characteristics including a large stomach, which you can combat by exercise - I love walking but find what works best for you.

Knowing How to Change Your Mind: A Three Minute Guide to Bayesian Reasoning       

NEW LESSON

with Julia Galef

Since you cannot really be 100 percent certain of a theory, a better way to put it to yourself is to say "I think this is very likely to be true."     http://bigthink.com/big-think-mentor/knowing-how-to-change-your-mind-a-three-minute-guide-to-bayesian-reasoning

My History with Various Versions of SWMM: SWMM3, SWMM4, SWMM5, XP-SWMM and InfoSWMM

Subject:   My History with Various Versions of SWMM: SWMM3, SWMM4, SWMM5, XP-SWMM and InfoSWMM

I first learned about SWMM in a brochure from the University of Florida when I was just a 17 year old senior in High School.  Water resources and the description of SWMM seemed to be worthy career goals at the time and I have been extremely lucky to have the opportunity to work and develop many SWMM related products in my working life.   I am especially proud that SWMM 3, SWMM 4 and SWMM 5 are both public domain and open source software.  You can open up and look at the code and add features and internal tests on your own.   You can customize the input and output of SWMM 5 if you want to but most importantly you have direct access to the source code so you can verify the computational algorithms.

InfoSWMM is an Arc GIS extension that works in Arc Map but we at Innovyze are proud that we have superb import and export features to SWMM 5 from Arc Map and use the SWMM 5 engine as our engine solution.   You can look at the internal workings of the InfoSWMM engine by downloading the current SWMM 5 C code from the EPA website http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/wq/models/swmm/   InfoSWMM also has all of the Arc GIS programming tools, Python programming,  editing and drawing features and Table of Contents attribute features to make a better model but that model will still use the open source SWMM 5 engine inside of InfoSWMM.    When you use InfoSWMM you are using the SWMM 5 engine  but with many extra input and output features to help prepare the data for the current SWMM 5 engine and analyze the SWMM 5 engine output  in maps, tables and graphs.

The following was edited to reflect the passage of time:
PS in 2013/2016. I am now at my 45th anniversary of 1st hearing about SWMM, my 41th anniversary of seeing Wayne Huber or Jim Heaney mention SWMM in an Introduction to Environmental Engineering Course at UF, my 39th anniversary of 1st seeing the SWMM 2 punch cards for a mainframe computer, my 37th aniversary of meeting Bill James of UG and the Future CHI and Larry Roesner of CDM and now with CSU, my 36rd anniversary of being a coauthor and coprogrammer of SWMM 3, my 28th anniversary of being a coauthor of SWMM4, my 24st anniversary of being a XP-SWMM developer, my 18th year anniversery of being a Visual SWMM developer at CAiCE, 18 years since I first heard of Paul Boulos and MWH Soft, 17 years since I first meet Lew Rossman, 16 years since I first started working on SWMM 5 while at CDM with all of my great CDM colleagues (Jim Smullen, Ted Burgess, Carl Chan, Khalid Khan etc) and Lew Rossman and Trent Schade at the EPA and now 9+ years at Innovyze with our worldwide network and dedicated engineers and developers.   I have also learned very much from our really good customers and their important/interesting models.

Odd, I thought I had a lot of experience before I joined Innovyze in 2008 but dealing with the synergy of support, development, sales and training for multiple software products around the world brings it with another level of understanding and insight into modeling and model development.  Thanks very much to all my Innovyze customers, Innovyze Management, Innovyze CSM's, Innovyze Developers, Innovyze Support Engineer and Innovyze in general. My special thanks to Paul Boulos, Roger Ro, Fayu Lai and Chun-Hou Orr for their support, brilliance and creativity.  I could also thank hundreds or customers but Stewart and MJ stand out in my mind as being the best and most creative and I wish them both well in their future.  Keith Hodsden and Paul Hsiung are also standout CSM's at Innovyze and I owe them a lot as does the engineering community in general.

I would be amiss if I did not mention my wife and three children/offspring who have had to live with the world SWMM for her whole married life or literally their whole lives in the case of my children.  I could not have done it without my wife's organizational skills, hard work and patience.  We have learned from our children their whole lives - they are also hard working, brilliant engineers and writers/developers who have always impressed me as being smarter their parents, which made them easy to raise.  Here is a short video about how they helped me with SWMM: A Short Film: What Is The Meaning of Life? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRQAIRBDVxw&feature=youtu.be … [inspired by @RDickinson & shot with @googleglass & edited w/ @givit] Thanks @boonsri

Best Regards,
Robert Dickinson

Edward Burtynsky's Water

Edward Burtynsky's Water  

Photographer Edward Burtynsky's latest project is called Water.

While trying to accommodate the growing needs of an expanding, and very thirsty civilization, we are reshaping the Earth in colossal ways. In this new and powerful role over the planet, we are also capable of engineering our own demise. We have to learn to think more long-term about the consequences of what we are doing, while we are doing it. My hope is that these pictures will stimulate a process of thinking about something essential to our survival; something we often take for granted -- until it's gone

via Kottke 

A Dark Day/Week/Month? in SWMM History

EPA SWMM 5 Download Site on October 3rd, 2013

How the Steady State option works in H2OMap SWMM and InfoSWMM

How the Steady State option works in H2OMap SWMM:

1.       Use Keep, a Time Step lengthening of 10 seconds, a time step of 60 seconds and iterations as shown in Bullet 1
2.      Use the Steady State Option of Skip Steady State Period when the total inflow between time step is less than 0.05 cfs or the equivalent in lps or cms units
3.      A time step of 10 seconds will be used during Wet Weather, a time step of 60 seconds will be used during the transition between dry and wet weather or Bullet 3
4.      You should be able to speed up your by a factor of 10 to 2o to 1 depending on the frequency of rainfall  or Bullet 4
5.     This was 10 year simulation using the dynamic wave option of SWMM 5

This was 10 year simulation using the dynamic wave option of SWMM 5

The Effect of the Wrong Raingage Interval in H2OMap SWMM and InfoSWMM

Here is an example showing the Runoff, Rainfall and Infiltration losses when you use the wrong interval based on the hyetograph time series.

1.       Figure 1 shows the Rainfall, Runoff and Infiltration for a time interval of 5 minutes which matches the hyetograph interval, the raingage has units of mm and is the total volume over the interval

a.      The volume of rainfall is 20.03 mm as it the total rainfall over the interval

b.      The rainfall, runoff and infiltration graphs are smooth

2.      Figure 2 shows the Rainfall, Runoff and Infiltration for a time interval of 1 minutes which does NOT match the hyetograph interval, the raingage has units of mm and is the total volume over the interval

a.      The volume of rainfall is 20.03 mm as it the total rainfall over the interval

b.      The rainfall, runoff and infiltration graphs are not smooth as there is a gap of no rainfall between minute 1 and 5 for all of the hyetograph time intervals

c.       The peak rainfall is higher as the rainfall is over 1 minute instead of 5 minutes

d.      The peak runoff and infiltration rates are also higher but this difference depends on the roughness, depression storage and infiltration parameters of the catchment

e.      The slower the runoff the more Figure 1 and Figure 2 runoff will look alike even though the rainfall is the spiky versus smooth (Figure 3).

Figure 1.  The Rainfall, Runoff and Infiltration loss for a gage interval of 5 minutes which matches the Time Series Interval

Figure 2.  The Rainfall, Runoff and Infiltration loss for a gage interval of 1 minutes which does not  match the Time Series Interval

Figure 3.  The Rainfall, Runoff and Infiltration loss for a gage interval of 1 minutes which does not  match the Time Series Interval, the Subcatchments Width is smaller than was used in Figure 1 and Figure 2