Analysis of Pressure Management Economics in Water Distribution Systems

Pressure management in water distribution systems (WDS) is an important issue for water companies as it can lead to substantial savings. This paper presents a mathematical model for evaluating the associated benefits and costs assuming the use of Pressure Reducing Valves (PRVs). The model is developed as a stand-alone methodology which subsequently could be used to provide the objective function for an optimisation algorithm that will be developed to automate the process of selecting, locating and setting up PRVs. The methodology addresses benefits and costs arsing from reduced water leakage, reduced pipe burst frequency, reduced pressure-sensitive demand, reduced energy consumed, reduced active leakage control effort, reduced frequency of customer contacts and installation/operation of PRVs. The methodology developed is tested on two real-life District Metering Areas (DMAs) in the UK where pressures are reduced by installing different types of PRVs at each DMA's entry point. The results obtained demonstrate the importance of quantifying other benefits and costs in addition to those conventionally analysed, e.g., leakage reduction benefit and the cost of PRVs.