World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2014: Water without Borders © ASCE 2014 417

LEAKAGE CALIBRATION OF WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

Matan Maskit1 and Avi Ostfeld2, Fellow ASCE

1
M.Sc. Student, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, e-mail: mmaskit@tx.technion.ac.il,
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
2
Associate Professor, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, e-mail:
ostfeld@tx.technion.ac.il, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
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Abstract

Water leakages in a water distribution system may vary from 5% to 55% of total
supply. Hence, leakage has an important impact on the system operation, where water
losses through leakage generally increase with pressure. Several studies modeled the
interrelationships between leakage and pressure, where the most common connection
is described as: q k-leak = β k l k Pkα where P is the pressure in pipe k, l is the pipe length, and
k

α, β are the leakage model coefficients.

A method is proposed in this study for calibrating the leakage parameters α, β.

Previous studies suggested that these parameters could be connected with the pipe age
and its material rigidity. For searching the model parameters, the pipes in the network
are partitioned according to their properties, and for every group of pipes, the α, β
values are searched.

Hydraulic parameters as well as the leakage are computed, and the results are
compared with experimental data of the network. Through using a genetic algorithm
(GA) and EPANET the values of α, β are modified until appropriate calibration
matching is attained.

Introduction

Water losses through leakage generally increase with pressures raise (Germanopoulos,
1985). Several studies modeled the connection between leakage and pressure. The
most common experimental relationship between leakage and pressure is described
as: (e.g. Giustolisi et al. 2008):
qk −leak = β k lk Pkα k
(1)
where:
Pk – is the average pressure in pipe k
lk - the length of pipe k;
qk − leak - is the water losses in pipe k
α,β are leakage model parameters.

Pipe age and material type have been identified as primary variables influencing the
leakage parameters. Few studies tried to evaluate the values of α,β and it's dependence
in the pipe age and it's material, Jowitt and Xu (1990) and Vairavamoorthy and
Lumbers (1998) suggested that =1.18 from field data. Later on, Lambert (2001)
inferred a range of values ranging from 0.50 to as high as 2.50, depending on the
mixture of leaks and the dominant type of leaks. Greyvenstein & Van Zyl (2007)

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showed experimental results for the leakage exponent (α) using 3 different materials
(cement, PVC, steel) while different types of cracks have been examined. Range of
values between 0.79-1.04 associated with longitudinal cracks in the cement pipes,
while wider ranges found for PVC and Steel (0.5-2.3) in different types of cracks.

So far, no reliable functions found to reflect an appropriate dependent between α, β

and the pipe characters. It seems that only network calibration along with real field
data could achieve reliable values. A method is proposed in this study for such a
calibration for background leakage in water distribution networks, combines pipes
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from different materials.

Model formulation

The values of α, β are calibrated using a genetic algorithm (GA). The pipes in the
network are classified into groups (according to the pipe material), where the goal is
to get the suitable value of α, β for every group of pipes. The method to find them
uses optimization technique with an objective function (equation 2) to be minimized:
N T
Z = (VLR − VLC )2 + ∑∑ ( PRi ,t − PCi ,t )2 (2)
i t
where:
VLR - known total leakage volume in the network. Calculated by the experimental
data along 24 hours (the difference between the total flow that pumped into the
network and the sum of all the demands in the network).
PRi,t - known pressure value in node i in every time step.
VLC (αi,βi) – The calculated total leakage in the network, depends on the values of αi,βi
in every iteration and combines iterative calculation with the EPANET along with the
pressure-Leakage connection (equation 1) for every pipe and time step.
PCi,t(αi,βi) - Calculated pressure in node i, calculated for every time step with
EPANET.

The Objective function represents the "distance" between the field data values and the
calculated results, where αi,βi are the decision variables.
The constraints are (equations 3-6):

α i min ≤ α i ≤ α i max (3a)

β i min ≤ β i ≤ β i max (3b)

The ranges of α, β for every material could be estimated on the basis of previous
experiments (if exist). Otherwise - wider ranges could be given.

[PVP]R = [PVP]C (4)

[PVP] – is a Boolean matrix represents the pumps valve patterns (PVP) with
dimension of nxT, (n is the number of pumps and T is the number of time intervals,
e.g. – 24 hours). The R index represents the real data and c represents the proposed
solution. This constraint forces the proposed solution to be under same operational
conditions as the field data.

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SkR (t =0) = S kC (t =0) (5a)

S kR ( t =tfinal ) − S kC (t =0) ≤ ε (5b)

This constraint (equations 5a, 5b), as well as the former one, forces the proposed
solution to be under same operational conditions as the field data. Sk (t =0) Represents
the water level in tank k at the beginning of the operation (the real and the proposed
values must be identical), and Sk (t =tfinal ) is the water level in tank k at the end of the
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operation (the real and the calculated values at the end should be close enough).

Pmin ≤ Pj (t ) ≤ Pmax (6)

The pressure at every node should be bounded between Pmax and Pmin

Solution Scheme

The solution scheme is shown in figure 1. It is a GA framework tailoring EPANET

(2002) with a genetic algorithm engine. GAs are adaptive search techniques
introduced by Holland (1975), and further implemented by Goldberg (1989). GA is a
heuristic independent global search technique that imitates the mechanics of natural
selection and natural genetics of Darwin’s evolution principle.

Real field data GA: producing a new STOP after no

(operation conditions, generation of solutions significant
flows, demands, by: selection, mutation, improvements
pressures, total leakage) crossover, fitness
evaluation

Decision variables:
Iterative leakage
αi EPANET –
Hydraulic simulation calculation
iβ

Reliable values of α,β

Figure 1, Solution scheme framework

Table 1: Genetic algorithm parameters

GA Parameter description
Decision variable Real matrix, (size npt x 2) where
nm=number of pipe types in the network, 2
columns for α and β.
Population size 20
Max no. of generations 100
Selection method Roulette
Crossover 2 points
Elite count 2
Crossover fraction 0.8

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Migration fraction 0.2

Example application

The example application is based on EPANET Network example 1. The pipes in the
network classified to 3 groups by its material. In this case the red pipes chosen to be
cement pipes, the black pipes from steel and the blue pipes from PVC. The
classification could also be done with other materials, or with uniform materials with
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classification by pipes age. The classification and the network are shown in figure 1.
The system consist of constant head source, one elevated tank, 12 pipes, 9 nodes and
one pumping station. The data for the pipes and demands is as that of Example 1 in
EPANET. The pump curve of the station is provided in figure 2.

Figure 2, EPANET example 1 with classification

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Figure 3: Pumping system curve of EPANET ex. 1

The absence of real experimental data in this example has forced to generate dummy
experimental data with EPANET. In this example, random feasible solution was
chosen to represent the experimental data: In Figure 4 some of the characters of this
dummy scenario are described: The water level in the tank during 24 hours along with
the pump flows. The total leakage in the network in this scenario measured to be 15%.
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Figure 4: Tank head and pump flows in the dummy field data

The ranges of α, β were selected to be:

Table 2: Selected α, β ranges

Material α range β range

Cement 0.75 ≤ α ≤ 1.1 10 −7 ≤ β ≤ 10 −5
Steel 1 ≤ α ≤ 1.3 10 −6 ≤ β ≤ 10 −4
PVC 1.1 ≤ α ≤ 1.5 10 −5 ≤ β ≤ 10 −4

Base run and sensitivity analysis

After using the solution scheme described in figure 1 - The best GA solution obtained
after 51 generations. The leakage found to be 15.22% (reflects 0.22% error relative to
the field data) and its parameters were found for every group of pipes:

Table 3: Results for α, β (using field data described in Figure 4):

Cement (red) Steel (black) PVC (blue)

α 1.01 1.19 1.24
β 7 *10 −6
1.1*10−5 1.4 *10 −5
Total Calculated Leakage: 15.22 %

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In order to analyze the results, the leakage division between different groups of pipes
has been examined. In fig. 5 below the leakage percentage is shown in 6 represent
pipes, along with their average pressure:
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Figure 5: Leakage percentage and average pressure in 6 represent pipes

Figures 6a, 6b shows the values of α,β after sensitivity analysis for different Leakage
scenarios between 15-30%.

(6a) (6b)

Figure 6: Values of α, β for different scenarios

Different classification has also been examined. In this case the pipes in the network
classified by 2 groups. The pipes in the network now considered identical by it's
material and the classification reflects differences in the pipe age (for example,
expansion of city with new neighborhood). 2 groups of pipes have been defined:
"New pipes" (age<30, green pipes in fig. 7), and "Old pipes" (age>30, black pipes in
fig. 7). The ranges of α,β proposed as:

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Table 4: α, β new ranges

α range β range
"New" Pipes 0.75 ≤ α ≤ 1.2 3*10 −7 ≤ β ≤ 3*10 −5
"Old" Pipes 1.1 ≤ α ≤ 1.5 5*10−5 ≤ β ≤ 10 −4
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Tank

Pump

10 11 12

Legend
Source
New Pipes
Old Pipes

21 22

31

Figure 7: New Classification of the pipes

Dummy experimental data was compared again with GA, the total leakage in the
experimental data was 20% and the the computed found to be 19.92%. The results of
α, β, received after 49 generations of GA:

Table 5: calculated values of α, β, in the network described in Fig. 8

Old (black) New (green)

α 1.29 1.11
β 5*10 −5 0.7 *10 −5
Total Leakage: 19.92%

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Figure 8: Leakage percentage and average pressure in represent pipes

Conclusions

In this study a method is presented for calibrating the leakage parameters α, β as

described above. The pipes in the network are partitioned according to their
properties, and for every resulted group of pipes, the α, β values are computed using a
genetic algorithm (GA) link with EPANET. Results showed reliable matching for the
α, β values, which generated similar hydraulic results to that of the experimental data.
Next steps will use the outcomes of this work in a multi-objective framework, for the
inclusion of leakage, optimal operation, and water quality.

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by the Technion Grand water Research Institute.

References
1. EPANET, A USEPA extended period simulation program of hydraulic and water-quality behavior
within pressurized pipe networks. (2002) Available online at:
www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/wswrd/epanet.html
2. Germanopoulos, G. (1985). Technical note on the inclusion of pressure dependent demand and
leakage terms in water supply network models. Civil Engineering Systems, 2(3), 171-179.
3. Giustolisi, O., Savic, D., and Kapelan, Z. (2008) "Pressure-driven demand and leakage simulation
for water distribution networks,". Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 134, no. 5, , pp. 626-635.
4. Goldberg, D.E. (1989) "Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning",
Addison-Wesley: NewYork.
5. Greyvenstein, B., & Van Zyl, J. E. (2007). An experimental investigation into the pressure -
leakage relationship of some failed water pipes. Journal of Water Supply: Research and
Technology - AQUA, 56(2), 117-124.
6. Holland, J.H., (1975) Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems, University of Michigan Press:
Ann Arbor.
7. Jowitt, P. W., Xu, C. (1990). “Optimal valve control in water distribution networks.” Water
Resour. Plann. Manage. 116 (4), 455–472.
8. Lambert, A. O. (2001). “What do we know about pressure: Leakage relationships in distribution
systems? ” Proc., IWA Conf. on System Approach to Leakage Control and Water Distribution
Systems Management".

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9. Vairavamoorthy, K., Lumbers, J. (1998). “Leakage reduction in water distribution systems:

optimal valve control. ”J. Hydraul. Eng., 124(9), 1146–1154.
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World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2014