Pressure control can be an effective way to reduce leakage
in water distribution systems. The authors present results from
a laboratory study conducted to determine the relative importance
of soil versus orifice head loss in controlling leakage rates
and to determine an appropriate equation to define this flow.
The study demonstrated that the nature of the leak reduction
could be described by a dimensionless orifice/soil (OS) head
loss number.
In most leaks, head loss through orifices is more important
than head loss through soil. For high OS number values, orifice
head loss dominates; for low values, soil head loss dominates. In
most real-world cases, the OS number is large so that modeling
leakage with flow emitters (orifice equation) is appropriate. Computer
models may also be useful in evaluating the effectiveness of
pressure-reduction schemes for reducing leakage.
However, controlling pressure does not only reduce leakage
volumes, it also can have an effect on service pressure for
customers. Thus it is important to determine the effect of any
change on customer pressure before pressure control is introduced.
Using a hydraulic model of the system, a utility manager
can determine the effect of pressure reduction on both leakage
and customer pressures. Includes 16 references, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 98 - No. 4 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 310 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 04/01/2006 |
