Pilot sites

Through the AQUAKNIGHT pilot projects the partners conduct in-depth analysis of the network and the supply area in the selected pilot district using international best practice. In particular the project will investigate real consumptions which are measured with a very low accuracy in many Mediterranean cities. It is quite common that water meters are broken or inaccurate and that water companies do not measure appropriately the water they use for network operations or public services (road cleaning, watering gardens, fire brigades and schools, etc.). As result the amount of commercial water loss is very high. The AQUAKNIGHT project  demonstrates the use of automatic meter readers to improve the measurement of consumption, and partner water companies are given the means to determine water losses more accurately and manage demand more effectively.

AQUAKNIGHT specifically focuses on enhancing the technical capacity of the participating water operators to reduce Non Revenue Water through the application of Active Leakage Control and automatic water metering techniques. The outcome is improved operational and financial performance of Mediterranean water utilities; water saving; and control of domestic demand.

The AQUAKNIGHT project conducts five parallel pilot projects in the districts (1,000 connections) selected by the end-users with the aim of reducing NRW and increasing the efficiency of day-to-day service management.  The five parallel pilot projects in Cyprus, Italy, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan will foster the joint use of new technologies for saving water, improving the management of water networks and increasing revenues from the sale of water. AQUAKNIGHT project expects to foster exchange of expertise between the EU Mediterranean countries and Mediterranean Partner Countries help to build synergies to improve water services and construct a common knowledge base that supports the future benchmarking and enhancement of water utilities in the Mediterranean basin.

 

The methodology proposed under AQUAKNIGHT stems from over two-decade-long European and worldwide experience in leakage control and management and has been developed by international institutions such as IWA. The activities that will be carried out in the pilot projects of AQUAKNIGHT hinge on three major pillars, namely:

  1. Calculation of water balance to determine the components of Non Revenue Water (commercial and physical water losses);
  2. Implementation of district metering in the selected pilot area and Active Leakage Control to pinpoint leakages that are repaired; pressure in the pilot DMAs is measured in order to establish if pressure management measures are needed to reduce leakage.
  3. Experimentation of advanced water metering technologies (Automatic Meter Reading), analysis of existing meters and assessment of impacts of private water tanks. These activities are aimed at improving the knowledge about the commercial losses in the five pilot projects and develop a Manual of Best Practice that will guide Mediterranean operators to make more reliable and accurate assessment of their commercial water loss.

Each of the pilot locations represents typical situations of Mediterranean cities. All the pilot cities have private storage tanks which cause under-registration of revenue meters installed upstream.

Pilot 1 - Lemesos

Description of the site

 For the pilot project in Cyprus, a domestic area having a representative character of other parts of the urban area of Lemesos has been isolated from the rest of the water network. This District Metered Area (DMA) has the following characteristics:

  • Length of pipework: 19 km
  • Area covered: 1 km2
  • Minimum elevation: 70 m AMSL
  • Maximum elevation: 110 m AMSL
  • Average pressure: 40 m
  • No of consumers: 1,200

This pilot area belongs to a greater district metered area of Lemesos water supply network, Area 921.

 

Description of activities

 Place the District Metered Area (DMA) under Active Leakage Control. This means that a flow monitor is installed in the main that feeds each isolated pilot district area. Pressure is also monitored at the average zone point and at the critical points of the pilot DMA and if necessary the intervention to optimize pressure management is implemented.

Water Loss calculation for the pilot DMAs. The Non Revenue Water will be calculated as the difference between the water fed into the pilot area and consumption. The value of NRW encompasses both apparent (commercial) and real (physical) losses.

Training will be performed to water operators on the calculation and the estimation of Non Revenue Water.

Evaluation of physical losses and active leakage control.  Leakage is calculated based on the analysis of minimum night flow and pressure data collected by the mobile instruments and data loggers. Active leakage control is carried out in the DMA based on the analysis of monitored flows and the legitimate night consumption. Leakages are pinpointed using correlators, geophones and/or mobile noise loggers.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is also used to detect and locate leakages. Once localized, leaks will be repaired and the water recovered will be measured. Pressure monitoring is also carried out.

 

 

Expected Benefit

To reduce and maintain leakage at low levels, a strategy has been implemented which entails the application of pressure management, active leakage control, speed and quality of repairs and asset management. Continuous monitoring of flows and pressures into the zones and districts are of paramount importance in the efficient and effective management of losses from the distribution network. Storage of these measurements and transfer of the data from the site to the office for analysis is affected through modern technology using the World Wide Web. The data provide useful information for action planning and for targeting activities.

 

Pilot 2 - Genoa

Description of the site

The Leamara district is fed from a single node equipped with a storage tank. Downhill the inlet node a PRV and a flow meter are installed for pressure management purposes. Overall distribution area has a length of about 8 Km. And it is characterized by relevant differences in the height of the campaign level (Max 260 meters above the sea level – Min 35 m a.s.l.). We can have quite high pressure (from 70 m till 130 m in the lower part of the distribution network). Pipe burst is quite high in the area comparing them with average literature values.

  • The pilot area has the following characteristics:
  • Surface Area: 1,032 (km2)
  • No. of service connections: 738
  • Number of customers: 6,143
  • Population served: 13,740
  • Water service coverage %: 100% of population served

Description of activities

The pilot activities are aimed to:

Place the District Metered Area (DMA) under Active Leakage Control. This means that a flow monitor is installed in the main that feeds the sub-district. Pressure is also monitored at the average zone point and at the critical points of the pilot DMA and interventions to optimize pressure management are implemented.

Water Loss calculation for the pilot DMA. The Non Revenue Water will be calculated as the difference between the water fed into the pilot area and consumption. The value of NRW encompasses both apparent (commercial) and real (physical) losses.

Training will be performed to water operators on the calculation and the estimation of Non Revenue Water.

Evaluation of physical losses and active leakage control.  Leakage is calculated based on the analysis of minimum night flow and pressure data collected by the mobile data loggers. Active leakage control is carried out in the DMA based on the analysis of monitored flows and pressures. Leakages are pinpointed using correlators, geophones and/or mobile noise loggers.  Pressure monitoring is also carried out.

Expected benefits

The pilot is located in a site where leakage management is particularly difficult due to the presence of a tank feeding a natural district situated in a very steep area: this makes it a challenge to test pressure management methodologies in sloped areas providing customers with adequate levels of service.

Pilot 3 - Alexandria

Description of the site

Pilot site is the Arama area (Mandara branch). Relevant features for the pilot area are the following:

  • Population Count = 4800 capita; Area = 0.15 Km2;
  • The area includes 172 buildings having from 6 to 12 floors and a number of commercial shops;
  • Total Number of master meters = 175;
  • Total number of sub-meters  (single customers’ meters) = 1200;
  • Total Length of Network = 1.3 km;
  • Average pressure = 2.5 bars.

 

Description of activities

Place the District Metered Area (DMA) under Active Leakage Control. This means that a flow monitor is installed in the main that feeds each isolated pilot district area. Pressure is also monitored at the average zone point and at the critical points of the pilot DMA and if necessary the intervention to optimize pressure management is implemented.

Water Loss calculation for the pilot DMAs. The Non Revenue Water will be calculated as the difference between the water fed into the pilot area and consumption. The value of NRW encompasses both apparent (commercial) and real (physical) losses.

Training will be performed to water operators on the calculation and the estimation of Non Revenue Water.

Evaluation of physical losses and active leakage control.  Leakage is calculated based on the analysis of minimum night flow and pressure data collected by the mobile instruments and data loggers. Active leakage control is carried out in the DMA based on the analysis of monitored flows and the legitimate night consumption. Leakages are pinpointed using correlators, geophones and/or mobile noise loggers. Pressure monitoring is also carried out.

Expected benefits

In the networks of Alexandria investments are required to guarantee adequate level of service to customers as well as sufficient pressure in the system. Reduction of Non Revenue Water by means of best practice application of Active Leakage Control, Pressure Management, Efficient Repairs and Reduction of meters inaccuracy and illegal connections are therefore a priority as economically more convenient than rehabilitation.

Pilot 4 - Tunis

Description of the site

The pilot area “Gammarth 90” is part of the northern suburbs of Tunis (Common Marsa). It is located 20km from the capital. The pilot area is fed by gravity from a reservoir with capacity of 2500m3 which receives water from the mains that supply drinking water to the Greater Tunis.

The network “Gammarth 90″ is composed of two distribution sectors: the gravity sector and the rising main sector. The pilot area corresponds to the gravity sector and its features are summarised as follows:

  • Network length: 25.2 km
  • Area: 2.5 km2
  • Minimum height: 10 m above sea level
  • Maximum height:  90 m above sea level
  • Average pressure head: 45 m
  • Number of subscribers: 1,641
  • Average daily volume distributed: 2,100 m3

 

Description of activities

Place the District Metered Area (DMA) under Active Leakage Control. This means that a flow monitor is installed in the main that feeds each isolated pilot district area. Pressure is also monitored at the average zone point and at the critical points of the pilot DMA and if necessary the intervention to optimize pressure management is implemented.

Water Loss calculation for the pilot DMAs. The Non Revenue Water will be calculated as the difference between the water fed into the pilot area and consumption. The value of NRW encompasses both apparent (commercial) and real (physical) losses.

Training will be performed to water operators on the calculation and the estimation of Non Revenue Water.

Evaluation of physical losses and active leakage control.  Leakage is calculated based on the analysis of minimum night flow and pressure data collected by the mobile instruments and data loggers. Active leakage control is carried out in the DMA based on the analysis of monitored flows and the legitimate night consumption. Leakages are pinpointed using correlators, geophones and/or mobile noise loggers.   Pressure monitoring is also carried out.

 

Expected benefits

In Tunis, the network requires improvement and economic management due to high level of losses. Tunisia is water short, and supplies are highly variable from year to year due to inadequate annual precipitation in recent years. Managing this scarce and variable water supply is therefore critical for Tunisia’s development.

Pilot 5 - Aqaba

Description of the site

The selected pilot area in Aqaba is representative of the network structure. It has a wide array of problems to tackle:

  • Illegal connections
  • Old meters
  • PE pipes with frequent leakage and bursts
  • Roof-top tanks
  • Badly maintained sections of old pipes

The District Metered Area (DMA) consists of approximately 700 service connections supplying approximately 2100 customers/water meters over an area of 0.4 km2. The DMA is divided into 5 sections involving 3 chambers, and a bulk meter is installed at the single entry point. Pipe network is composed of 10 km of 1985 DI pipe (100 mm – 200 mm) and 15 km of 2007 PE pipe (2”). Most of customer consumption is through a roof-top tank.

 

Description of activities

Place the District Metered Area (DMA) under Active Leakage Control. This means that a flow monitor is installed in the main that feeds each isolated pilot district area. Pressure is also monitored at the average zone point and at the critical points of the pilot DMA and if necessary the intervention to optimize pressure management is implemented.

Water Loss calculation for the pilot DMAs. The Non Revenue Water will be calculated as the difference between the water fed into the pilot area and consumption. The value of NRW encompasses both apparent (commercial) and real (physical) losses.

Training will be performed to water operators on the calculation and the estimation of Non Revenue Water.

Evaluation of physical losses and active leakage control. Leakage is calculated based on the analysis of minimum night flow and pressure data collected by the mobile instruments and data loggers. Active leakage control is carried out in the DMA based on the analysis of monitored flows and the legitimate night consumption. Leakages are pinpointed using correlators, geophones and/or mobile noise loggers.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is also used to detect and locate leakages. Once localized, leaks will be repaired and the water recovered will be measured. Pressure monitoring is also carried out.

Expected benefits

In Aqaba, the city is in its most part divided into distinct zones. However, the largest of these zones contains a large portion of all residents, and needs to be divided into at least three distinct zones. For successful leak detection and water loss reduction, zones need to be reliably metered, sub-metered, pressure gauged at different points, and monitored for noise for pre-localization of problem areas. The data that is gained from these actions can then be fed into a hydraulic model, where the demand patterns can be compared to actual demand.