Investigating the Behavior and Pattern of Optimal Water Consumption in Continuous Water Distribution Networks

Abstract

Due to the complexity of water distribution systems and the large scale of decision-making in their analysis, design, operation and maintenance, the need to use optimization methods in upgrading and calibrating the model has become more important than in the past. The most important issue in the simulation modeling of these systems is the consistency between the calculated and measured data. The review of records showed that in the absence of the results of unaccounted water studies in the network, the use of recommended and empirical statistical methods is still needed as one of the main elements in model calibration. The current research was carried out with the aim of improving calibration methods, investigating the effects of different patterns of unaccounted water based on the calculated water consumption pattern and determining the optimal pattern of unaccounted water within the scope of the water distribution network covered by the number of 6 ground reservoirs. Due to the fact that the exact determination of unaccounted water was not available, and on the other hand, the model calibration was affected by the amount and behavior of unaccounted water, so the difference in water production and all measured uses was considered as unaccounted water and its different behaviors in the network, it was investigated according to the behavior (pattern) of water consumption. 3 different hypotheses were evaluated based on the behavior of the network (reservoir output flow rate in the hydraulic model) with the actual behavior of the reservoir output (according to the data and statistics of the tank output meter).

The comparison of three statistical and graphic parameters of pressure distribution showed that the use of the inverse model option of the customers' consumption was not considered as a water model, for calibrating the hydraulic model of the distribution network, more acceptable limits for the closeness of the predicted values to the recorded values of the hourly output reservoirs provided. The confirmation of the hypothesis of the model according to consumption as the pattern of unaccounted water for the studied network indicated that the amount of unaccounted water (unlicensed and unregistered consumers) changed along with the amount of consumption. The present research-applied method in obtaining the results can be a very effective help in designing and optimizing distribution networks for urban water and sewage management organizations (especially in big cities).