Abstract
AbstractStrategies for managing leakage from water distribution systems require the ability to effectively evaluate such real losses through the understanding of the behavior of individual leaks, including their response to changes in pressure regime due to demand or management strategies. This paper presents the results from an innovative experimental investigation aimed at understanding the response of longitudinal slits in pressurized viscoelastic pipes, specifically considering the interaction between the structural and leakage dynamics. For the first time, leakage flow rate, pressure, leak area, and material strain were recorded simultaneously, providing new knowledge of the complex interaction of these factors. The paper shows that strain and area are directly related, hence it is possible to employ strain as a predictor of leak area, calculated using a calibrated viscoelastic model. Using such an approach, the leakage flow rates under a range of quasi-static pressures were accurately predicted and ...
Highlights
Leakage remains a key sustainability issue faced by water utilities around the world
Field data and analyses at the district metered area (DMA) level (DMAs are manageable divisions of a larger distribution networks), as summarized by Farley and Trow (2003), found that the leakage exponents in Brazil, Japan, and the United Kingdom lay in the range 0.52–2.79
The conclusion drawn from these studies was that leaks are more sensitive to pressure than is described by the simple orifice equation but that the additional pressure-dependent behavior can be modeled by the definition of a single-leakage exponent once the leak-specific behavior is known
Summary
Leakage remains a key sustainability issue faced by water utilities around the world. Leakage modeling plays a major part in the process of leakage management in water distribution systems This includes the quantification and/or estimation of leakage levels in operational systems (Thornton and Lambert 2005; Cheung et al 2010), application of leakage detection methodologies (Pudar and Liggett 1992; Vitkovsky et al 2000; Koppel et al 2009), and the development of effective pressure management schemes (Awad et al 2008; Nazif et al 2009).
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