Reducing water loss in a water supply system using a district metering area (DMA): A case study of the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA), Lop Buri Branch
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Abstract
Water loss from broken or leaking pipe networks is still a major water management problem for the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) in Thailand. To reduce this loss and benefit from the savings, a district metering area (DMA) was applied as a management measure to control leaking water losses at the PWA Lop Buri Branch. The DMA was divided into 8 zones, covering about 60.47 % of the total service area. A surveillance system was set up that compared the observed flow rates and the upper limit of warning values for each DMA. Comparison of results before and after implementation of the DMA showed that rate of water loss decreased from 34.55 to 30.87 %. To further reduce these losses, sensitive warning values based on seasonal and daily patterns of water consumption were defined and implemented with an increased number of DMAs covering the entire service area. Financial analysis confirmed that the DMA measures are worth the investment because they significantly reduce the operational costs for water production.
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