Developing a probable guideline for in-house pressure management at a selected South African municipality to reduce water loss: a case study of Mabopane, Tshwane municipality.
Rakgotho, Kgothatso
Rakgotho, Kgothatso
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Abstract
Pressure management (PM) is one of the most important water demand management (WDM) interventions that can be considered when attempting to reduce water loss in municipal water distribution systems (WDS). This is because leakage is pressure-driven. However, many municipal water distribution systems in South Africa are operating at high pressures, which results in unusually high-water loss levels. As water becomes a scarce resource in South Africa, the traditional approaches used by water utilities to prevent water loss and conserve water are becoming unsustainable. As a result, national policy is geared towards WDM, which aims to influence demand as well as improve water distribution efficiency. However, water utilities that seek to implement WDM typically find the concept to be complex. The aim of this study was to contribute to the further development and improvement of WDM interventions to make pressure management user-friendly for municipalities with limited financial resources to manage water loss in-house in a sustainable and cost-effective manner In this study, PM is implemented across five selected and prioritised district metered areas (DMA) or zones in the township of Mabopane. The results obtained from the implementation of PM were evaluated to identify factors that make pressure management an effective tool for water loss reduction through analyses of flow and pressure logging data. To highlight the level of water loss in the study area, the total water loss was evaluated for selected WDM zones. However, the evaluated water loss provided an outlook on monthly volumes of water loss without providing the root causes of the water loss. As a result, a mathematical model for estimating the source and magnitude of water loss and its components was developed. In a quest to contribute to the development and improvement of WDM interventions, the study recommends a probable guideline that is cost-effective and user-friendly for the implementation of in-house pressure management by municipal water authorities to reduce water loss from water distribution systems that are similar to those in the study area. In addition, a formula for estimating the minimum required downstream settings of a pressure-reducing valve (PRV) or control valve in the water demand management zone was developed to supplement the recommended systematic method for in-house PM. The study demonstrated the pressure-leakage relation and found that PM alone does not eliminate water loss to the lowest possible level and that other WDM interventions, such as timely leak repairs, are necessary to reduce water loss to the lowest possible levels.
Description
A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering: Civil at the Department of Civil Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the Tshwane University of Technology.
Date
2024-03-19
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Pressure management, Water loss, Water demand management