The Effect of Water Distribution Network Zoning on Pressure Management and Network Leakage Reduction (Case Study: Dorud City)

فصلنامه آب و توسعه پایدار

Article 10, Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 36, September 2025, Pages 131-142   

Document Type: Technical paper

DOI: 10.22067/jwsd.v12i2.2501-1400

Authors

Pari Maleki^{* 1}; Khashayar Namdarian²

¹Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Office of Operation and Development of Water Distribution Network, Lorestan Water and Wastewater Company, Lorestan, Iran.

²Office of Operation and Development of Water Distribution Network and Reduction of Non-Revenue Water, Lorestan Water and Wastewater Company, Lorestan, Iran

Abstract

In order to deal with the challenges caused by the limitations of water resources in the path of social and economic development, various models of pressure management methods have been proposed and developed all over the world. One of the pressure and leakage management methods in water distribution networks is the use of Pressure Reducing Valves and the creation of District Metered Areas, for the effective operation of these valves, it is very important to determine the appropriate position and regulated pressure. In the present study, the effect of the pressure zoning method on pressure management and network leakage reduction was investigated using a hydraulic model. For this purpose, with the help of WaterGEMS software, the hydraulic model of the water distribution network of Dorud city was designed and the model was calibrated using the information of flow measurement and pressure measurement, then the hydraulic analyses were performed. Based on the obtained results, the distribution network of this city was divided into 4 zones, and in addition to the existing pressure reducing valves, 4 new pressure reducing valves were proposed for pressure regulation. The results showed that applying zoning reduced the average pressure across the network by 17%, which led to an average leakage reduction of 17%. According to the results of the presented method, it has a proper efficiency in managing the pressure and leakage of the water distribution network.

Keywords

Pressure Management; Zoning; Water Distribution Network; Leakage

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