Application of a novel leakage detection framework for municipal water supply on AAU water supply lab

Abstract

Water scarcity is an increasing problem worldwide and at the same time, a huge amount of water is lost through leakages in the distribution networks [1]. Detecting and isolating leakages fast is very important not only to save water but also to avoid destruction of roads and houses. This paper deals with isolation of leakages using a reduced network model. We propose a heuristic leakage detection/isolation algorithm which uses the reduced network model to estimate nominal behaviour. The model is adaptive and thus adapts slowly to changes in the network. However, some leakages change the behaviour instantly, and the deviation between pressures estimated by the reduced network model and the actual measured pressure indicates the location of the leakage. The proposed algorithm is tested on a specially designed laboratory setup that emulates a water distribution network. The test shows that the algorithm is in fact able to indicate in which area of the network a leakage has appeared.