scholarly journals Application of a water balance adapted to intermittent water supply and flat-rate tariffs without customer metering in Tiruvannamalai, India

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miran Mastaller ◽  
Philipp Klingel

Abstract Establishing the water balance developed by the International Water Association (IWA) is a worldwide applied approach to determine and analyse water losses in water distribution systems (WDS). The water balance covers those parts of a WDS within the responsibility of the water utility. Water losses occurring ‘before’ a customer meter are at the expense of the utility, while water lost or wasted ‘after’ the meter is paid for by the customer. This applies to systems where customer metering is in place and/or consumption is charged according to the consumed volumes. However, many WDS in the world lack customer meters, are operated intermittently and apply flat-rate tariffs. In intermittent supplies, a considerable amount of water is lost or wasted within the private properties. The flat-rate tariff might not cover this amount or part of the amount. Thus, actual consumption and wastage should be separately quantified with respect to the utility's water reduction measures. Accepting the described conditions, the authors have developed an adaption of the IWA water balance and the methods to establish the balance. In this paper the application of the developed approach in an initially unmetered WDS with intermittent water supply in the city of Tiruvannamalai, India, is presented.

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 396-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miran Mastaller ◽  
Philipp Klingel

The International Water Association water balance is an approach applied worldwide for determining and analysing water losses in water distribution systems (WDS) up to the point of customer metering. Thus, water losses occurring ‘before’ a customer meter are at the expenses of the water utility while water lost or wasted ‘after’ the meter is paid for by the customer. This applies to systems where customer metering is in place and/or consumption is charged according to the consumed volumes. However, many WDS in the world lack customer meters, are operated intermittently and a considerable amount of water is lost or wasted within the private property, e.g. by overflows of private tanks. The flat-rate tariff applied might not cover this amount or part of the amount. Thus, actual consumption and wastage should be separately quantified or estimated with respect to the utility's water reduction measures and the calculation of revenue water. This paper presents a water balance approach adapted to WDS which are operated intermittently, lack customer metering and charge flat-rate tariffs as well as a methodology for establishing the balance. The application is demonstrated for a district metered area of the city of Tiruvannamalai, India.


Water SA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1 January) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Loubser ◽  
Suzanne Esther Basson ◽  
Heinz Erasmus Jacobs

Various challenges, such as limited freshwater resources, climate change impacts, rapid population growth, urbanisation and underinvestment in water supply infrastructure, have led to intermittent water supply (IWS) in potable water distribution systems. Earlier research has confirmed that IWS negatively impacts the consumers, the infrastructure and the water supply authorities.  Water supply authorities need tools to help understand IWS and the associated implications. A new indexing framework involving the causes and impacts associated with IWS is presented in this paper. In addition, a novel approach allows for quantification of the severity of IWS based on knowledge of a few readily available inputs. The severity quantification is based on two ratios: the intermittency ratio is a temporal measurement, accounting for supply duration; the connection ratio describes spatial aspects, using the number of service connections affected. The indexing framework and quantification tool could lead to improved understanding of IWS and could assist water supply authorities faced with IWS to make informed decisions. Improved planning of remedial actions to mitigate or avoid risks associated with IWS is aided. The tools presented in this paper could be used as basis for future development of a key performance indicator.


Water ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Athanasios V. Serafeim ◽  
George Kokosalakis ◽  
Roberto Deidda ◽  
Irene Karathanasi ◽  
Andreas Langousis

Quantification of water losses (WL) in water distribution networks (WDNs) is a crucial task towards the development of proper strategies to reduce them. Currently, WL estimation methods rely on semi-empirical assumptions and different implementation strategies that increase the uncertainty of the obtained estimates. In this work, we compare the effectiveness and robustness of two widely applied WL estimation approaches found in the international literature: (a) the water balance, or top-down, approach introduced by the International Water Association (IWA), and (b) the bottom-up or minimum night flow (MNF) approach, based on a recently proposed probabilistic MNF estimation method. In doing so, we use users’ consumption and flow-pressure data from the 4 largest pressure management areas (PMAs) of the WDN of the city of Patras (the third largest city in Greece), which consist of more than 200 km of pipeline, cover the entire city center of Patras, and serve approximately 58,000 consumers. The obtained results show that: (a) when MNF estimation is done in a rigorous statistical setting from high resolution flow-pressure timeseries, and (b) there is sufficient understanding of the consumption types and patterns during day and night hours, the two approaches effectively converge, allowing for more reliable estimation of the individual WL components. In addition, when high resolution flow-pressure timeseries are available at the inlets of PMAs, the suggested version of the bottom-up approach with probabilistic estimation of MNF should be preferred as less sensitive, while allowing for confidence interval estimation of the individual components of water losses and development of proper strategies to reduce them.


Author(s):  
А.В. Степакин ◽  
А.Н. Перегуда ◽  
С.Г. Зайцева ◽  
Д.А. Горбачев ◽  
М.Н. Сопыряев

Природный дефицит водных ресурсов в сочетании с высокой степенью износа систем водоснабжения обусловливает напряженную ситуацию с обеспечением питьевой водой в Крыму. За последние несколько лет для решения проблемы на региональном и федеральном уровне были разработаны и реализуются программы модернизации водного хозяйства полуострова. Одной из ключевых задач этих программ является снижение потерь воды, которые в настоящее время достигают 40–60%. Описан комплекс мероприятий, направленных на снижение потерь воды в г. Севастополе. Комплекс мер, разработанный в соответствии с международным опытом и российскими рекомендациями, учитывает существующее состояние системы водоснабжения Крыма. Мероприятия включают в себя создание современного комплекса управления сетями, зонирование водопроводной сети, регулирование давления, мониторинг и устранение утечек. По результатам анализа производственных показателей определено, что первоочередным мероприятием для Севастополя является внедрение современной системы акустического мониторинга на распределительных сетях, которая позволит эффективно обнаруживать скрытые утечки и сэкономить городу тысячи кубометров дефицитной питьевой воды. Описаны результаты пилотного проекта по обследованию 5 км водопроводных сетей системой акустического мониторинга. The natural scarcity of water resources coupled with a high degree of deterioration of water supply systems result in a tense situation with the drinking water supply in Crimea. Over the past few years, a number of programs of upgrading the peninsula's water industry have been developed and are being implemented in order to solve the problem at the regional and federal levels. One of the key objectives of these programs is to reduce water losses that currently reach 40–60%. A set of measures aimed at reducing water losses in Sebastopol is described. The set of measures developed in accordance with the international experience and Russian recommendations takes into account the current condition of the Crimean water supply system. The activities include designing an advanced network management complex, zoning of the water supply network, pressure regulation, monitoring and elimination of leaks. Based on the results of the analysis of the performance indicators, it was determined that the priority measure for Sebastopol was the introduction of an advanced acoustic monitoring system in the water distribution networks that would provide for detecting effectively latent leaks and saving the city thousands of cubic meters of scarce drinking water. The results of a pilot project on the inspection of 5 km of the water supply networks using the acoustic monitoring system are described.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 889-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Lenzi ◽  
C. Bragalli ◽  
A. Bolognesi ◽  
S. Artina

The collection and distribution of drinking water resources generally require large quantities of energy, that vary according to factors related to the characteristics of the served area, as well as to design and management choices. Energy intensity indicators (energy per unit of volume) are insufficient to assess the weight of different factors that affect the energy consumption and appear not suitable for the comparison of different water supply systems. The key step of this work is to define a methodology for assessing the energy efficiency of water supply systems. In particular, water losses in water distribution systems, generally assessed in relation to the quantity of high quality water dispersed in the environment, are herein considered in relation to their energy content. In addition to the evaluation of energy balance using the approach proposed by Enrique Cabrera et al. in ‘Energy audit of water networks’ (see J. Water Res. Plan. Manage.136 (6), 669–677) an overall efficiency indicator WSEE (Water Supply Energy Efficiency) is then proposed. Its decomposition finally leads to the definition of further indicators, which may help to assess how the structure of the network, leakage rate and/or pumps affect the energy efficiency of the water system. Such indicators can be used to compare different water supply systems and to identify the impact of individual interventions. The proposed energy analysis was applied to two case studies in Northern Italy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 07004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manal M. Al-Bulushi ◽  
Maha M. Al Sulti ◽  
Mohammed F.M. Abushammala

One of the problems affecting water supply systems in Oman is the problem of water loss and Non-Revenue Water (NRW). The aim of this research is to carry out water auditing for Al Seeb water distribution network as a case study to estimate the water losses, NRW, water balance, and the resulting financial and operational impacts. Annual data on water supplies, water consumption, system data, and cost data for the years from 2010 to 2014 was collected from the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) and the analysis was done using the American Water Works Association (AWWA) audit software to determine water losses including real and apparent losses, NRW, water balance, and the cost. The results indicated that the average of apparent loss, real loss, and NRW from 2010 to 2014 was approximately 19.5%, 21%, and 40 % respectively. It was estimated that the average annual cost of NRW between the years 2010 and 2014 was approximately 9.4 million USD, which was approximately 33% of the total revenue budget. In conclusion, there is a need for the development of water management systems to provide the best management practice system to further minimize NRW problems in Oman.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1414-1424
Author(s):  
Philipp Klingel ◽  
Axel Knobloch

Using conventional methods and tools for determining detailed zonal water balances and performance indicators involves considerable efforts in manual data collection and processing. Hence, water balances mostly are determined for a whole network only. Unmetered components are often neglected or based on rough estimates. This article presents an approach to the automated determination of zonal water balances and its implementation as a software tool. The approach is demonstrated for the practical case of the Pforzheim water utility (Stadtwerke Pforzheim GmbH & Co. KG).


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Waldron

The application of International Water Association guidelines to control water losses provides a foundation for new methods and psychologies for controlling Water Distribution Systems. Best management techniques utilizing International Water Association water loss control methodologies compared to totally open distribution networks can now be supported for analysis scenarios using both network analysis and genetic algorithms.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Christodoulou ◽  
A. Agathokleous

Faced with extended periods of drought and short supply of water, arid-weather countries have turned to intermittent water supply (IWS) as a means to reduce water consumption and to prolong their national water reserves. Unfortunately, such drastic measures usually fail to consider the effects of intermittent supply on the condition of piping networks and the resulting water losses, inefficiencies and overall maintenance cost on these networks. Presented herein is research work on the effects of IWS on the vulnerability of urban water distribution networks (UWDN) based on a 3-year dataset from major urban centres in Cyprus. The dataset includes information on breakage incidents, operating network parameters, external factors and vulnerability assessment and by use of data-mining and survival analysis techniques evaluates the effects of such intermittent supply strategies on the vulnerability of the water pipes and on the sustainability of the strategy.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna Andreasi Bassi ◽  
Iskandar Tange ◽  
Benjamin Holm ◽  
Alessio Boldrin ◽  
Martin Rygaard

Water supply challenges in emergency situations have increased in recent years and there is a need for analyses targeting economic and environmental sustainability. Our study investigated the end-user water demand, the capital and operational costs, the carbon footprint, the freshwater availability and the risks surrounding water quality for several groundwater supply alternatives in Ugandan refugee settlements. We compared hand pumps, motorised pumps (solar, diesel and hybrid) and water trucking. The end-users’ survey highlighted the significant variability of water access. The economic evaluation showed that the breakeven year for solar and diesel pumps was greatly affected by the length of the water distribution systems (e.g., pipes, storage tanks), the chosen timeframe and the daily working hours of the diesel engine. When excluding capital investment, most alternatives were economically viable at the existing water fee (0.8 USD/m3), and solar driven pumps were down to 0.09 USD/m3. Finally, the combustion of diesel caused the highest CO2-eq emissions per m3. Water trucking is the worst option in both the economic and environmental analysis at 7–8 USD/m3 and >1 kg CO2-eq/m3. The methodology and the results of this paper will support decision-makers to build and finance sustainable water provision solutions in refugee settlements.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document