Monitoring Water Distribution Systems

Abstract

Monitoring of water distribution systems has a number of benefits, not the least of which is its use to maintain an up-to-date calibration of the system and to detect leaks. A formal inverse calculation is to the best method of performing these functions. The steady state calculation for leak detection appears to be impractical due to the necessity of knowing accurately the pipe friction factors. The unsteady inverse problem is able to calibrate the system and perform the leak detection simultaneously. Its difficulty stems from a high sensitivity to data error and the need for an accurate forward simulation of the system. Sensitivity analysis is able to determine the necessary accuracy of data for a desired level of exactness of results. High order interpolation and Courant numbers near unity are necessary to keep the forward computation accurate.