Studies and Research on Pipe Networks Water Losses

Abstract

The issue of water losses in pipe networks (transmission mains, conveyance and distribution pipelines) is one of the major problems encountered in water supply systems management. The losses have reached very high values, in some cases up to 60% of the water volumes entering the networks, and therefore they require urgent measures to reduce them. In Romania, the average non-revenue water percentage amounts to 48.3%, ranging from minimum values of 22% and maximum values of about 68%. The significance of addressing this issue properly is reflected in the concern of national and international bodies, such as ARA (Romanian Water Association) and IWA (International Water Association), which analyse the systems’ status and establish appropriate directions of action to be followed. The powerful development of industry and intensive agriculture in the last decades, in conjunction with global warming, has had a major impact on water resources. In the international context of quantitative and qualitative water sources reduction, adequate water loss management must become one of the water - sewerage agencies’ top priority. Solving this issue requires a long-term approach, which involves rehabilitation and modernization measures, appropriate metering for the supply system’s conveying water flows, implementation of hydraulic modeling software and leakage detection equipment. Water losses can be found under commercial and physical aspects. Amongst these, the physical ones have the highest share, as they affect all the water supply system components: transmission mains and distribution networks, storage tanks etc. Water loss management must contribute to the efficient resource usage through prevention and intervention measures, adjusted to the particularities of the situation being addressed.