Pressure-driven demand and leakage simulation for water distribution networks

Increasingly, water loss via leakage is acknowledged as one of the main challenges facing water distribution system operation. The consideration of water loss over time, as systems age, physical networks grow and consumption patterns mature, should form an integral part of effective asset management, rendering any simulation model capable of quantifying pressure-driven leakage indispensable. To this end, a novel steady-state network simulation model that fully integrates, into a classical hydraulic representation, pressure-driven demand and leakage at the pipe level is developed and presented here. After presenting a brief literature review about leakage modelling, the importance of a more realistic simulation model allowing for leakage analysis is demonstrated. Then, the algorithm is tested from a numerical standpoint and subjected to a convergence analysis. These analyses are performed on a case study involving two networks derived from real systems. Experimentally observed convergence/error statistics demonstrate high robustness of the new pressure-driven demand and leakage simulation model developed in this paper.