Analysis of the effect of pressure control on leakages in distribution systems by FAVAD equation and field applications


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Özdemir Ö., Fırat M., Yılmaz S., Usluer M.

Water Practice & Technology, cilt.16, sa.2, ss.320-332, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Pressure has an important effect on the occurrence of failures/leaks in water distribution systems (WDSs) or the

change of leakage in existing leakages. For this reason, monitoring the pressure is important especially for

analyzing the changes in the day and night, determining the fluctuations and applying pressure management

(PM) to ensure normal operating conditions. In this study, the effect of pressure on water losses and minimum

night flow (MNF) was carried out according to the Fixed and Varied Area Discharge (FAVAD) approach, which

allows the amount of leakage to be calculated based on the change in pressure and field tests. The minimum

flow rate and potential leakage were determined under the network operating conditions before the pressure

control in a region. Then, considering the features of the region, pressure was reduced with the pressure control

system and MNFs and leaks were monitored. By reducing the pressure from 9.10 bar to 3.2 bar in the region, the

MNF rate was reduced from 6.95 l/s to 3.29 l/s. The daily water savings in the system inlet volume is 78.44 m3/

day and the annual saving is 28,624 m3/year. The results obtained are very important for practitioners in terms of

implementing PM in the field.