QGISRed is a freeware QGIS plugin developed to assist in building and analyzing hydraulic models of water distribution networks of any complexity, up to the level of detail required by Digital Twins. The plugin works seamlessly with QGIS which enables the user to georeference all network elements, use geographic background layers, edit graphical and alphanumeric data, use geoprocessing tools, visualize data by layers, customize the symbology, etc.

QGISRed relies on an easy-to-use relational database of SHP and DBF files based on the EPANET data model, which has been extended to add new capabilities. Starting from the EPANET data model significantly reduces the learning curve.

In fact, the previous skills required on QGIS are minimal because QGISRed provides numerous tools to help build hydraulic models, to manage demand scenarios and to analyze the results without the need to use the QGIS environment, such as:

- Project manager for easy project loading and storage
- Automatic creation of new empty projects
- Import/export EPANET INP files
- Import basic network components from Shapefiles and other auxiliary components managed by the Digital Twin (DT) such as service connections, isolation valves and sensors.
- Automatic generation of topological relationships between all the network elements
- Graphical editing tools for all network elements including those of the DT (add, delete, move, edit vertices and nodes, reverse links, multiple selection, etc.)
- Tools to debug the network layout and verify its connectivity
- Default values for newly created elements
- Property editor for all model and DT component attributes, including a browser
- Complete editor of analysis options and default values
- Automatic calculation of pipe lengths from the coordinates of the vertices
- Automatic interpolation of node elevations from DTM
- Automatic estimation of pipe roughness from the material and age of pipes
- Conversion of roughness coefficients between different headloss formulas and unit systems
- Visualization of multiple demands and quality sources as distinct layers and edition of their properties integrated with those of nodes
- Automatic nodal demand allocation from punctual or sectoral consumptions
- Managing scenarios with multiple demands by category
- Automatic pattern and hydraulic efficiency allocation by sector
- Scenario builder for various model parameters by importing/exporting files
- Powerful editors for curves, patterns, controls and rules
- Validation of any of the model properties against typical data entry errors
- Management of service connections and isolation valves as differentiated elements
- Load of demands to service connections from the meter readings, and move them to the closest nodes
- Detection of isolated zones when closing the isolation valves and cancelling the demands on them
- Optional integration of service connections into the model
- Declaration of the meter sensors as distinct elements and the association of signals to them
- Reading field data for the simulation period from files and exporting to EPANET
- Automatic identification of hydraulic sectors and demand zones
- Model simulation by using the EPANET toolkit 2.3
- The inclusion of a timeline to view how results have changed over time, along with the status report
- Visualization of simulation results by means of tables, colour-coded layers, arrows and floating or static labels
- Automatic creation of legends and symbols for the data and results (customizable with QGIS tools)
- Exploring the properties of any element—whether data or results—from a permanent window
- Running queries based on one or more criteria, either on the data, the results, or both
- Analysing the trends in the results over time, for one or more variables on the same graph

Nevertheless, if the user decides to use the QGIS tools to edit the data, QGISRed provides powerful facilities to detect potential editing errors before simulating the model, or to fill in the missing information.

The development of the new QGISRed plugin is an initiative of the REDHISP (https://iiama.webs.upv.es/en/research/research-groups/hydraulic-networks-and-pressurised-systems/) Research Group of the Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) (https://iiama.webs.upv.es/en/home/) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, UPV (http://www.upv.es/index-en.html) (España), led by Professor Fernando Martínez Alzamora (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fernando_Martinez_Alzamora). Its implementation was carried out up to 2022 by the WaterPi (https://waterpi.com/) company under the direction of Néstor Lerma (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nestor_Lerma), PhD Eng. Subsequently, Ingeniousware (https://ingeniousware.com/) GmbH has collaborated in the development. QGISRed versions after 0.17 are being funded by the InterAmerican Development Bank (https://www.iadb.org/en) (IDB) through contract C-RG-T4041-P001.

The QGISRed extension for QGIS is an update of the old GISRed application developed by our group for the ArcView 3.1 environment (see launching paper) (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336170857_Upgrade_of_the_GISRed_application_for_the_free_analysis_of_WDN_under_GIS_environment). Currently, the name GISRed has been kept in relation to the libraries developed in .net, which are used by QGISRed to improve the processing time and constitute the core of the GISRed standalone application.

For more information the user can check the official website of QGISRed (https://qgisred.upv.es/en) or the section of QGISRed (https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/QGISRed/) in the official QGIS plugin repository.

Requeriments .Net Framework 4.8 - Windows OS.