Accounting for seasonality in district metering areas design and leakage management in water distribution networks

Leakage reduction aims at preserving the longevity of the infrastructure, pursuing reliable service to consumers and efficient use of natural resources. District metering areas (DMAs) are of strategic importance to support leakage management activities from the early detection of anomalies to the prioritization of survey and rehabilitation works. The present work tackles the problems of district metering areas design in those water distribution networks characterized by seasonal fluctuations of spatial distribution and average daily water consumptions, which determines significant changes in network hydraulic regimes. The novel strategy expands a two-phases district metering areas design procedure, originally developed for a unique consumption scenario, for adapting DMA design to minimize the volume of water losses and the number of flow meters, while minimizing the number of manoeuvres needed to accommodate the seasonal changes. Results on a real water distribution network are discussed in terms of leakage management, operations and effective monitoring.