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Engineering Graduate Student Presentation -- "Evaluation of Hydraulic Infrastructure Projects for Anticipated Urban Expansion"
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The collaborative research partnership between Madison Water Utility (MWU) and UW-Madison’s (UW) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has been in place since September 2002. The thesis work, mutually agreed upon by MWU and UW, is usually conducted over a period of 1½ to 2 years, resulting in a final deliverable of a Master of Science thesis.
The current and 13th overall graduate student for this ongoing partnership, Jaxon Hoffman, has been working with MWU since September of 2023 on analyzing both the MWU infrastructure projects required to accommodate ongoing City of Madison population growth and the energy impacts of those projects. The focus of Jaxon’s work was narrowed further to the City of Madison’s west side, where MWU’s current Master Plan document anticipates the greatest near-term water supply needs relative to anticipated growth.
The objectives of Jaxon’s research were to:
1. Utilize MWU’s hydraulic system model to evaluate future system demand conditions alongside future capital project options intended to address those demand conditions.
2. Contribute to 100% Renewable Madison by comparing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption anticipated for the identified capital project options.
3. Present the findings that can assist MWU in setting and prioritizing future capital projects based on their ability to meet future water demand, water quality expectations, and sustainability goals.
Four capital project alternatives were examined in detail with the above objectives in mind. These projects had been previously identified in MWU’s current Master Plan document and were selected because of how they most directly addressed the expected water supply needs
on the City of Madison’s west side. Two of the projects are categorized as “Transfer Water (TW)” projects and two of the projects are c...
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