A Methodology to Estimate Leakages in Water Distribution Networks Based on Inlet Flow Data Analysis

Water loss control and reduction is a major issue in Water Distribution Network (WDN) management worldwide. In many WDNs, the infrastructure monitoring in terms of flow/pressure measurements through the network, is not implemented yet and only few data (e.g. measurement of WDN inflow) are available to estimate the current leakage rate. Cheap and easily applicable procedures are needed to estimate current water losses in WDNs aimed at understanding the actual magnitude of the phenomenon and planning interventions. This work presents a simple methodology, inspired by the analysis of WDN inflow data records collected in several real water distribution networks, which permits to assess leakages based on the seasonal fluctuation of water consumptions. The methodology is tested on two synthetic case studies based on the Apulian WDN, which hydraulic status is simulated by an advanced WDN model that includes a realistic pressure-dependent background leakage model. The analyses of case studies verifies the effectiveness of the methodology under fully controlled WDN configurations (e.g. neglecting measurement inaccuracies that might happen in real WDN and/or possible alterations of asset conditions over the analyzed period). The resulting estimates of leakages proved to be accurate under the analyzed condition, thus making the methodology promising for next applications on real WDNs. © 2016 The Authors.