Decision support systems for leak control in urban water supply systems: A literature synopsis

Abstract

Pipelines are urban infrastructure used as a means of transporting water (in small or large volume) across cities. One of the major challenges facing the transportation of water through pipeline infrastructure is the water lost through leaks caused by pipeline crack, corrosion, and third-party interference. Water loss through leaking pipes is recognized as a costly problem worldwide, strongly linked with a waste of precious natural resource, environmental pollution and financial loss. The water loss occurs in all distribution systems even though the volume of the losses differs. In severe cases, water loss level as high as 60% of the total input volume may occur. It, therefore, constitutes a major threat to the operation of municipal water services. Owing to its consequential effect, controlling water losses through pipe leakage detection and localisation is a major priority of municipal water service. Therefore, effective control of water losses is highly essential. This requires good leakage detection and localisation methodology as well as active decision making. To achieve this, decision support systems (DSS) have been utilised to detect and control leaks in water distribution systems. To this end, this paper presents a literature synopsis on the DSS utilised for leak detection and control in water supply systems. Research works in this domain are investigated. Finally, future studies are discussed.