The consumption of water is the driving force behind the hydraulic dynamics occurring in water distribution systems. When simulating these dynamics in your water distribution model, an accurate representation of system demands is as critical as precisely modeling the physical components of the model.

To realize the full potential of the model as a master planning and decision support tool, you must accurately allocate demands while anticipating future demands. Collecting the necessary data and translating it to model loading data must be performed regularly to account for changes to the network conditions. Due to the difficulties involved in manually loading the model, automated techniques have been developed to assist the modeler with this task.

Spatial allocation of demands is the most common approach to loading a water distribution model. The spatial analysis capabilities of GIS make these applications a logical tool for the automation of the demand allocation process.

LoadBuilder leverages the spatial analysis abilities of your GIS software to distribute demands according to geocoded meter data, demand density information, and coverage polygon intersections.

LoadBuilder greatly facilitates the tasks of demand allocation and projection. Every step of the loading process is enhanced, from the initial gathering and analysis of data from disparate sources and formats to the employment of various allocation strategies.

The following are descriptions of the types of allocation strategies that can be applied using LoadBuilder.