Leakage detection in water networks by a calibration method

This paper presented a new method of locating the probable leakage zones in the water distribution networks. The proposed method has consisted of two steps: first, a zone with the most leakages is identified by analysing the results of the pressure metering at different parts of the network. In the second step, the leaky zone is divided into some virtual zones. According to the field pressure or flow metering results in the network, the simultaneous calibration of the nodal demand and the pipes' roughness coefficients are dealt with by the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) at different hours of the day. Considering the implementation results at any time, the probability of the leakage in each virtual sub-zone and the roughness coefficient of the pipes are estimated, simultaneously. The proposed method was implemented on two hypothetical networks and a real network. The results showed that this method could prioritize the leaky zones with good accuracy. The proposed method can be used by the water utilities for leak detection in water distribution networks.