Abstract :
In awater distribution network, a change in the water pressure will change the rate of water loss through broken pipes and faulty fittings. High water pressure increases the frequency of leak occurrence and causes leaks to appear sooner. Among the various leakage control methods, pressure control method is probably the simplest and most immediate way of reducting leakage within the water distribution system. In the theorietical orifice equation the flowrate is proportional to the square root of the water pressure. Several experimental studies have been conducted to measure and assess the effect of pressure on leakage rates in water distribution systems. In this work,for comparison purposes, the available experimental data in terms of leakage factor,which is defined as the ratio of leakage level at any given pressure to the leakage level at 1 bar,are plotted versus pressure. The plotted curves as well as the curve representing the theoretical orifice equation show that the theoretical orifice equation does not give a realistic representation of leakage rate with prssure. All the curves of the experimental studies indicate more significant increase in leakage rate than the theoretical orfice relationship. The exprimental relationships presented in this study between leakge factor and pressure can be used to predict the relative change in leakage water loss as a result of a given pressure change in a pipe network.
