How does pressure management improve water efficiency?
Pressure management in urban hydraulics can reduce actual water leaks, increase network effectiveness and minimize operating and maintenance expenses. But how does it function in practice?
Idrica manager for Mexico, Nicolás Monterde, claims that there is already a lot of theory on the issue and technical advancements on the market that assist us in making decisions and picking the best course of action.
the International Water Association’s (IWA) four suggested vectors, for instance, indicate the measures that can be implemented to curtail water losses and improve system efficiency.
The first factor the IWA brings up is the significance of fixing faults as soon as possible and to the highest standards.
System pressure management, active leak control, and infrastructure upgrades are the other three equally crucial vectors.
Adhering to these four recommendations will reduce network losses.
According to Monterde, there will always be certain losses that are unavoidable for financial and technological reasons.
However, these must be reduced. This will increase the network’s sustainability and efficiency, which is what operators want.
Analyzing the benefits of it
The IWA defines pressure management as the process of adjusting a system’s pressure to its ideal level while guaranteeing enough, effective service for authorized users and users.
In addition, it should eliminate transient phenomena that shorten the infrastructure’s lifespan and eliminate superfluous and excessive pressure, both of which contribute to leaks that undermine genuine efficiency.
We need to quickly examine how pipes react in water distribution systems to better comprehend the problems with pressure and transients.
For instance, new pipes and gravity systems operate at a range of pressures that are far from any form of breaking point because of the intrinsic design and specifications of the pipes.
In contrast, the safety margin between the system’s maximum pressure and pipe collapse gets smaller and lower in a system that is already experiencing surges.
It will likely still be much below the breaking point, and there won’t likely be a lot of occurrences occurring frequently.
The age of the pipes and corrosion variables that affect their resistance capability start to have an effect when we examine pipes that have been in use for a longer period.
Traffic volumes, ground movements, and even low or high temperatures that alter the pipe’s expansion and contraction ratios can all harm infrastructure.
When pressure and transient phenomena are added, the network’s operations are already dangerously near pipe failure, and bursts happen much more frequently.
This is typically the behavior of any pipeline system constructed of almost any material.
However, the frequency and range of transients are drastically reduced after a pressure control system is used.
The breaking point will still be far away even if there is a surge.
Pressure control also results in a decrease in failure frequency as a result of reduced pressure.
The computation of leakage flow demonstrates that each pressure drop, despite being modest in percentage terms, significantly reduces network losses.
This calculation also indicates that controlling and maintaining network pressure instantly minimizes leakage flow.
In conclusion, implementing measures like adding pressure reduction valves can have a substantial positive impact on the network (PRV).
Advanced pressure management based on the use of technology
With the help of technology, we may implement a variety of pressure control mechanisms, from a straightforward setting that keeps the pressure constant throughout the day to one that distinguishes between day and night (double pilot), as well as the weekends.
In these situations, the settings adjust for consumption in each circumstance.
There are also more advanced systems that control pressure by the current actual needs of the network.
The ability to define a valve’s operating characteristics with a wide range of alternatives at nearly every stage of its working life is made possible by recent considerable advancements in control technology.
Using intelligent algorithms, the GoAigua – Leaks technology solution monitors water distribution networks for the early detection of leaks.
Nicolás Monterde discussed Valencia, where the use of this technology has resulted in a more than 30% reduction in non-revenue water use.
Additionally, response times and network losses were decreased by 18% due to the automatic leak detection in less than 24 hours.
Pressure management and pressure management areas (PMAS)
Pressure has an essential impact on leakage rates in distribution structures and an ever-growing quantity of utilities at the moment are spotting that accurate strain control is the essential basis of suitable leakage and infrastructure control.
The demonstrated advantages of stress control in distribution structures consist of now no longer simplest the water lowering leakage and a few additives of consumption.
However additionally water application and patron advantages bobbing up from decreased numbers of pipe disasters and leaks.
These include lower restore and reinstatement fees, lower public liability and negative publicity, lower costs of active leakage management, postponed infrastructure renewals and extended asset life of mains and carrier connections, as well as fewer issues on customer support connections and plumbing structures, all of which lead to fewer client complaints.
A PMA is a completely remote DMA with stress management and metering that is used to control historical and unreported leaks and reduce damage frequencies.
Pressure management areas (PMAS)
Pressure Management (PM) is executed with the aid of using reducing the hydraulic grade line (HGL) of a carrier region with the use of:
Variable Frequency Drives (VFD)
Conventional Pressure Reducing Valves (PRV)
Smart PRVs.
The preceding determination indicates a Smart PRV is the use of a strain regulating tool that controls the output of a PRV in line with a pre-set manipulation method.
It is equipped with Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) technology, which enables remote information transmission and ‘over-the-air parameter configuration.
The regulating unit adjusts the hole stress of a PRV in one of four methods:
Time Control: PRV outlet adjusted with a pre-set each day or weekly time profile.
Flow Control: outlet strain modulated in line with demand;
Closed Loop: outlet strain adjusted in keeping with actual time strain comments from an essential factor;
Self-Learning: essential factor strain from a strain transducer is used to routinely generate a manipulated profile: within the side, on the occasion that the essential stress falls out of doors within pre-set limits, alarm messages from the transducer are used to accurate the PRV outlet strain
References
[1] Hayes, M. R. (2015). Evaluation of energy-saving alternatives at Madison Water Utility (Doctoral dissertation).
[2] Rajakumar, A. G., Cornelio, A. A., & Mohan Kumar, M. S. (2020). Leak management in district-metered areas with internal-pressure-reducing valves. Urban Water Journal, 17(8), 714-722.
[3] Wright, R., Stoianov, I., Parpas, P., Henderson, K., & King, J. (2014). Adaptive water distribution networks with dynamically reconfigurable topology. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 16(6), 1280-1301.
[4] Dileep, G. (2020). A survey on smart grid technologies and applications. Renewable Energy, 146, 2589-2625.
[5] https://smartwatermagazine.com/news/idrica/how-does-pressure-management-improve-water-efficiency
