The effect of the water hammer is investigated to predict the water hammer effect in a wastewater pipeline and to develop the piping system design to overcome the predicted effect. The piping system is sensitive to any effects of the water hammer phenomenon. The sudden change in pressure within pipes or conduits used to transport liquid under pressure may result in serious damage. A modified numerical approach is developed to predict the water hammer effect. The system under study was modified to handle and reduce the effect of water hammer.

By calculating the water hammer's effect, the safe piping system design can be developed. A model was developed to predict the effect of water hammer and the expected pressure drop/increase across the piping system. The pipe properties and measured pressure are the model operating parameters. The maximum and minimum pressure envelopes across the piping system were calculated. By simulating the power failure and/or pump shut down, the model showed a good prediction for the effect of piping system design variations. The optimum design for the piping system was developed and presented.