Mass Balance Calibration of Water Distribution Networks: application to a real case study

Abstract

Calibration of Water Distribution Networks (WDN) hydraulic models is mandatory to effectively support their analysis and management. As such, it should not be intended as the mere matching between model outputs and filed data but, rather, as a tool to understand WDN behavior under several different hydraulic functioning scenarios. The latest advanced hydraulic models encompass a phenomenological representation of the physical behavior of based on pressure-driven analysis. From such perspective, the problem variables include the parameters of the leakage model, the observable demand patterns and the average values changing day by day, as well as pipe hydraulic resistances, especially of the main water paths feeding the system. According to global mass-balance, the total water inflow recorded at source point (i.e., tanks, reservoirs, pumps) can be used to separate the stochastic component of water outflow, i.e., consumers’ demands, from the deterministic component, i.e., pressure-dependent leakages at single pipe level. This work demonstrates the innovative mass-balance paradigm applied for the calibration of few sub-networks of a large real WDN, which uses measurements collected in five characteristic days including summer, winter, holidays and working days. The resulting model allows a more robust prediction of the real system physical behavior and provide a reliable basis to support several design and management activities.