Survey of pressure management in water distribution systems

Abstract

A survey was conducted to assess pressure management practices in water distribution systems. Most of the surveyed utilities agreed on the need to avoid low‐pressure episodes (< 20 psi). However, 56% of the utilities had no requirements for the maximum pressure delivered to customers, and 67% did not manage peak pressures in their systems. Only 13% of surveyed systems conducted pressure monitoring at critical locations—e.g., sites of highest or lowest pressure. Approximately 50% of systems reported at least one occurrence of negative pressure during the previous year; however, many more incidents of low and/or negative pressure may have gone undetected. The authors recommend that distribution system pressures be monitored in at least two locations in each pressure zone, representing the highest and lowest pressures. The recording interval could be set to 5–10 min with a 10‐s sampling interval. Impulse recording (when available) should be enabled to capture momentary pressure changes.