An Effective Sensor Placement Strategy to Quantify Multiple Small Leaks in Water Distribution Networks using Lean Graphs

摘要: Leaks in water distribution networks are a major problem for both economic and environmental reasons. Large leaks can be detected by external observation, but small leaks are hard to detect and can have a significant impact on water loss since they are oenften undetected for years. An effective method is required that quantifies (detects and localizes) small leaks. One way to quantify small leaks is by observing flow changes in pipes. If there is a leak in the network, then water flow into a network is higher than the recorded demands. Since the extra flow must end at the source of the leak, then, the leak location can be found by observing the propagation of the extra flow in pipes. One way to obtain the flow data would be to deploy flow sensors in every pipe in the network. However, this method is not feasible due to installation and maintenance costs. Normally, only a limited number of sensors is provided. The …