Dead End or Tree System

The system is also known as tree system because as a tree has a trunk and branches and sub-branches at different heights, the system has one main pipe from which a number of sub-mains bifurcate and from each sub-mains several branched pipes separate out which are known as laterals. From lateral house connections are given to different houses and other units as shown in Figure .

                                                        Figure 5: Dead End System

Such type of distribution system is followed for old towns where the houses come up in a much unplanned way and in such cases one water main follows the main road and several water pipes are extended as per requirement. Although the system is easy to design and is cheap and simple and can be extended as per requirement, it has got some drawbacks also. Water can reach at a particular point only through one route hence, if some fault creeps in, water supply gets disturbed in that area because water conveyance is uni-directional only. There are many dead ends which prevent free circulation of water. At the same time stagnant water has to be removed periodically by providing scour valves at dead ends, and these results in wastage of treated water.