6: Geometric Shapes
In the waterworks industry geometric shapes are prevalent. For example, a pipe is a cylinder with the opening of a circle, a sedimentation basin can be a rectangle, and an aqueduct might be a trapezoid. These are a few of the shapes that we will cover in this text. It is important to understand how to work with these shapes to be able to calculate areas, volumes, perimeters, and circumferences.
We will first look at geometric shapes and how to calculate the corresponding area of these shapes. The answer when determining the area of a geometric shape should always be given in square feet (sqft or ft\(^2\)). Other units can be used such as, square meters or square inches, but these are not typically used in the waterworks industry. Remember though that the units you are given in a question (or in “real life” for that matter, may not be the units you need to calculate square feet. Therefore, you should always convert the “given units” to feet before calculating the area. The first shape we will look at is the CIRCLE. Pipes are the backbone to water distribution systems and can also be found in treatment plants. Pipe lines carry raw water to the treatment plant, transmission lines can carry water from treatment plants to storage tanks, and distribution pipe lines delivery water to customers.