Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890

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Sustainable Cities and Society

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scs

Optimal assets management of a water distribution network for leakage T

minimization based on an innovative index
Giovanna Cavazzini*, Giorgio Pavesi, Guido Ardizzon
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 1-35135, Padova, Italy

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Leakage reduction in water distribution networks is an absolute priority and several pressure management
Pressure management strategies have been proposed in the literature to tackle this issue. However, the definition of an effective re-
Leakage lationship between leakage and relevant and measurable parameters still represents a challenge.
Energy performance indicators This paper presented a novel performance parameter, the Leakage Performance Index (LPI), to minimize
Optimization
leakages starting from pressure and flow rate measurements. This parameter creates a ranking among the dif-
Water distribution network
ferent nodes in the network, by properly weighting the pressure of each node with the output flow from the node
in order to focus the pressure management strategy on those nodes whose impact, in terms of leakage, is ex-
pected to be greater.
To verify the effectiveness of the proposed LPI, a model of an existing water distribution district in Italy was
developed in EPAnet and validated by comparison with experimental results. The valve settings of the model
were then used as variables of time-dependent optimization procedures aimed at minimizing different objective
functions. Different scenarios were considered by varying the minimum guaranteed pressure at the customer
points.
The LPI minimization strategy was efficient insofar as it indirectly minimized the leakages, achieving the
same results of the leakage minimization strategy.

1. Introduction this percentage can reach up to 50%. Therefore, leakage reduction in

Reduction of leakage and water losses is an absolute priority for
WDN owners since it increase the resiliency and sustainability of the
cities of the future. Indeed it is not only a matter of an efficient use of
water resources but also of energy since a water district network with
reduced leakages requires less pumping energy to serve final consumers
(Mutchek & Williams, 2014; Romano & Akhmouch, 2019; Savic &
Walters, 1997). The importance of the water management in the crea-
tion of the future sustainable and resilient cities is so evident that a
“sustainable city water index” has been created to rank the cities de-
pending on their all-around ability in managing water, even in terms of
leakage reduction (Batten, 2019).
According to 2016 ISTAT data, in Italy water losses reach an
average level of almost 37.4%, which means that a considerable
amount of water entering in the water distribution networks does not
reach the users. The leakage percentage in the Italian water distribution
networks presents a remarkable variability depending on the geo-
graphic area and network characteristics, but with a general increasing
trend due to aging of the water network. There are even areas where
such systems is an absolute priority for increasing cities resiliency and
sustainability (Ociepa, Mrowiec, & Deska, 2019) and the significance of
the challenge is so evident that even a competition was organized on
the topic in 2014 in order to identify effective solutions (Giustolisi
et al., 2014).
Innovative approaches, mainly based on optimization algorithm
combined with hydraulic softwares, were proposed to identify struc-
tural and design improvements (such as pipe and pump substitution,
PRV introduction in optimized locations, new pressure control system,
etc.) for increasing network performance (Eck, Arandia, Naoum-
Sawaya, & Wirth, 2014; Giustolisi, Campisano, Ugarelli, Laucelli, &
Berardi, 2015; Roshani & Filion, 2014; Saldarriaga & Salcedo, 2015;
Shao, Yao, Zhang, Chu, & Liu, 2019; Tolson & Khedr, 2014). Improved
systems for real time pressure control were also proposed in order to
reduce control errors and control reaction time (Galuppini, Creaco,
Toffanin, & Magni, 2019), as well as leakage detection approaches
based on comparisons between artificial and real network behaviour
(Sophocleous, Dragan, Asce, & Kapelan, 2019).
However, at the time being, it is difficult for the WDN owners to

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: giovanna.cavazzini@unipd.it (G. Cavazzini).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101890
Received 18 May 2019; Received in revised form 1 September 2019; Accepted 12 October 2019
Available online 14 October 2019
2210-6707/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
G. Cavazzini, et al.
establish management strategies effective in leakage reduction since
leakages are not directly measureable and hence to define effective
strategy means identifying a proper performance index (to minimize or
maximize) having a direct impact on leakage losses but dependent on
quantities measurable by the WDN owners, such as pressure and flow
rates.
The review paper of Vicente, Garrote, Sánchez, and Santillán (2016)
provides an overview of the most interesting publications in the sectors
in recent years. Many studies deal with leakage reduction in Water
Distribution Networks that focus on the problem of its identification
and on the possible development of repair campaigns (Nicolini,
Giacomello, Scarsini, & Mion, 2014).
The relation between hydraulic quantities in pipes and leakages has
received great attention (Ferrante, Massari, Todini, Brunone, &
Meniconi, 2013; Ferrante, Brunone, Meniconi, Capponi, & Massari,
2014; Samir, Kansoh, Elbarki, & Fleifle, 2017) in recent years as well as
the relation between pressure and leakages in each node of the grid
(Deyi, van Zyl, & Shepherd, 2014; Samir et al., 2017; van Zyl, 2014).
The main challenge is to identify an effective method of detecting
leakages in the grid (Ruzza, Crestani, Darvini, & Salandin, 2014) and to
minimize the number of meters installed on the grid for its identifica-
tion (Ruzza, Crestani, Darvini, & Salandin, 2015).
Within this context, several papers have focused their attention on
the use, the setting and/or the location of PRV for reducing leakages by
pressure management (Iglesias-Rey, Martínez-Solano, Meliá, &
Martínez-Solano, 2014; Mckenzie & Wegelin, 2009).
Dai and Li (2016) studied a representative model of PRV operation,
whereas other studies obtained the best setting of PRV by means of an
optimization procedure (Nicolini & Zovatto, 2009).
The pressure minimization by optimal management of PRVs is not
the only approach proposed in the literature. Some studies analysed the
possible introduction in the network of hydraulic turbines for exploiting
the water pressure energy instead of dissipating it with PRVs (Bonthuys,
van Dijk, & Cavazzini, 2019).
Another well-known strategy for leakage reduction is the so-called
"worst-case node” method (Abdel Meguid & Ulanicki, 2011), which is
aimed at minimizing the required pressure at the most unfavorable
node in the district. However, when dealing with water losses man-
agement in a given district, regulating the pressure levels in only one
node isn’t enough. This is especially true for extensive water districts or
for those without a predictable water demand. In this case, it is very
important to have control of the whole district through a representative
model and an effective control parameter that considers many critical
points of the network and that is able to control the district pressure
more reliably over a wider area.
Performance parameters indirectly related to leakage water losses
have been also proposed (Muranho, Ferreira, Sousa, Gomes, & Marques,
2014; Bolognesi, Bragalli, Lenzi, & Artina, 2014). They were defined
starting from pressure and flow rate data, measured during the grid
operation. Even if this approach was still based on measurable (and
generally already measured) quantities, they were ineffective in mini-
mizing water district leakages.
The definition of an effective relationship between leak outflow and
relevant and measurable parameters is still a challenge for pressure
control and inverse analysis techniques.
This paper focuses on the identification of an effective parameter,
based on relevant and measurable network parameters, able to properly
control network leakages. To overcome the limits of the literature
strategies, an innovative parameter for leakage indirect control
(Leakage Performance Index - LPI) has been proposed. Its formulation,
similar to the resilience factor proposed in the literature to establish the
grid robustness (Di Nardo & Greco, 2012), was defined on the basis of
easily measurable network parameters (pressure and flow rates) and
was used to optimize the PRV settings for the leakage minimization.
The optimization was carried out by using a recent evolution of the PSO
algorithm developed in a Matlab environment. Matlab interacts with
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Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890
the EPAnet model through a dedicated and free dynamic library
(Eliades, Kyriakou, Vrachimis, & Polycarpou, 2016).
To validate the effectiveness of proposed Leakage Performance
Index in minimizing leakages, the novel LPI-based management
strategy was compared with the pressure management strategies pro-
posed in the literature on the model of a real water network distribution
district.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents a detailed
description of the water distribution network model and a brief de-
scription of the optimization algorithm. In Section 3, the optimization
results are presented and the innovative parameter for leakage control
(the Leakage Performance Index - LPI) is introduced.
2. Model
A model of real water distribution network (WDN) was developed
by means of the open-source EPANET hydraulic modelling software
(Alac, 2008). This software adopted a Demand-Drive (DDM) approach
for modelling the water network and it is one of the predominant
modelling technique together with the Pressure-Driven Model (PDM).
The DDM was presented for the first time in 1936 by Cross (1936),
whereas the PDM was theorized in 1988 by Wagner, Shamir, and Marks
(1988), Wagner, Shamir, and Marks (1988), starting from the idea that
outflow at demand nodes is not fixed but rather a pressure-dependent
boundary condition. The studies of J.M. Wagner et al. (1988), B.J.M.
Wagner et al. (1988) were followed by several studies, developing
pressure-outflow relationships (Giustolisi, Savic, & Kapelan, 2008).
Since pressure is certainly one of the factor affecting leakage and/or
pipe rupture, the PDM approach is more suitable than the DDM to ac-
curately predict leakage and water losses in water distribution network,
but it is much more time-consuming than the DDM approach.
Moreover, both of them do not consider low, zero or negative pressure
zones (Braun, Piller, Deuerlein, & Mortazavi, 2017). For example, in
case of zero or negative pressure, the PDM framework iteratively ana-
lyses the pressure at every node and deletes all links connected to de-
ficient nodes. On the other side, EPANET (adopting the DDM approach)
warns the user, but does not modify the hydraulic links, suppling the
consumptive node with the specified demand and hence resulting in a
deficient network (Braun et al., 2017). As it will be better clarified in
the following sections, to face this problem and avoid possible incon-
sistent network solutions, in the optimization procedure any solution
causing a pressure drop below zero at any node or below the defined
minimum operating pressure at any consumptive node, is rejected by
the optimization algorithm by means of penalty functions. With this
constraint on the algorithm, EPANET remains a suitable and less time-
consuming model for verifying, by means of optimization analyses, the
effectiveness of the proposed Leakage Performance Index, which is the
scope of the analysis.
The case study refers to the existing grid of Negrar, a district in the
province of Verona (Italy), and all the data were provided by Acque
Veronesi S.c.a.r.l., the utility managing the water distribution network.
Negrar’s water distribution network is 187 km long and counts 10,000
customer points with about 17,000 inhabitants. The city is located in a
valley and has a narrow and long conformation. The elevation differ-
ence in the network is about 180 m starting from the lower water
pumping station at 70 m above sea level.
The full-extended model of the Water Distribution Network District
(WDND) of Negrar was characterized by 5400 nodes and 10 PRVs
(Fig. 1a). In order to reduce the computational effort in this type of
optimization analysis, the model was simplified through a skeletoni-
zation process (226 nodes) (Fig. 1b).
The skeletonization makes it possible to represent entire network
portions with single nodes characterized by a water demand equal to
the sum of the demands of the network that they represent. Even if a
skeletonized model may be less accurate than the original one, it allows
to easily simulate the water distribution network operation and is much
G. Cavazzini, et al. Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890

Fig. 1. Water Distribution District of Negrar – Verona (Italy): full-extended model (a) and skeletonized model (b).

less time-consuming and hence much more suitable for optimization
procedure, characterized by hundreds (if not even thousands) of si-
mulations (Martínez-Solano, Iglesias-Rey, Mora-Meliá, & Fuertes-
Miquel, 2017; Perelman & Ostfeld, 2012). Since the purpose of this
analysis was to relatively compare different management strategies, the
skeletonized model was considered sufficient for this scope.
In the WDND of Negrar this approach simplifies using a model
characterized by 226 nodes and 245 pipes (instead of 5400 nodes and
6006 pipes). The model also considers the operation of 5 pumps by
implementation of the characteristic curves provided by the manu-
facturers, and of the 4 PRVs.
Numerical simulations of the district model have been carried out
over a 24-h period with a time step of one minute, taking into account
the variable pattern of the water demand during a day as well as the
different type of users at each node of the existing grid. Each node of the
skeletonized grid is characterized by an equivalent pattern of water
demand, determined by considering a pattern of values for the re-
presented nodes weighted with the water demand of each.
The water leaks have been modeled as additional and fictitious
water demands extracted at each node of the network and dependent on
the pressure values using the “emitter” EPANET function as a fake
element of the grid. The model calculates the leakage in each i-th node
(Qloss i) and in each time step according to the well-known FAVAD
equation (Piller & van Zyl, 2014):
n
⎛ p (t )i ⎞
Qlossi (t ) = Qlossrefi ⎜ = Ci p (t )in
p¯refi ⎟
⎝ ⎠
where:
estimation of Qlossref _ i , district water balances were considered and
properly subdivided among all network users depending on the pipe
aging and on the geographical structure.
• n is the emitter exponent, fixed equal to 1.18 according to the lit-
erature (Alonso et al., 2000; Cassa & Van Zyl, 2014).
• Ci is the emitter coefficient, defined as:
⎛ Qlossref _ i ⎞
Ci = ⎜ n ⎟
p̄
⎝ ref _ i ⎠ (2)
The data acquired during a measurement campaign, carried out in
July 2015 on the district of Negrar, were used as input data of the
model. All the recorded flows through the transfer node to the neigh-
boring district were considered in the model. The measured values were
also used to set the pump controls, the flows from the reservoir and the
tank levels. To take into account the seasonal nature of the water de-
mand, seasonal demand coefficients were adopted to properly scale the
water demand in different periods of the year. These factors were de-
fined depending on the user type, as shown in Table 1. The share part of
demand attributed to each type of use was multiplied by the corre-
sponding seasonality factor. As can be seen in Table 1, water losses
throughout the year were assumed to be a fixed percentage of the billed
consumptions.
Table 1
(1)
Seasonal correction coefficient distinguished by type of use.
Type of Use Coefficient of Seasonality

•Q are respectively the leakage and mean pressure in

lossref _ i and p̄ref _ i
Domestic
Agricultural
1.778
8.886
the i-th node calculated in a reference condition that consider Industrial 1.244
leakage as an extra water demand independent of pressure. For the Leakage 1.663

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G. Cavazzini, et al. Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890

Table 2 Despite these punctual differences, the accuracy of the model was
Model simulation results compared with grid water balance data. considered adequate for the purposes of this paper.
Target Model Results

3
Water consumptions [m /day] 4323 4317 3. Leakage Performance Index (LPI)
Daily flow rate [m3/day] 5681 5666
Daily water losses [m3/day] 1359 1348
UARL [m3/day] – 496
Reduction of leakage and water losses is an absolute priority for
CARL [m3/day] – 1348 WDN owners since it increase the resiliency and sustainability of the
ILI [-] – 2.72 cities of the future. Indeed it is not only a matter of an efficient use of
water resources but also of energy since a water district network with
reduced leakages requires less pumping energy to serve final consumers
2.1. Model validation (Mutchek & Williams, 2014; Romano & Akhmouch, 2019; Savic &
Walters, 1997). The importance of the water management in the crea-
To validate the model of the district of Negrar, a simulation was tion of the future sustainable and resilient cities is so evident that a
carried out on a daily period in order to compare the numerical results “sustainable city water index” has been created to rank the cities de-
with available experimental and literature data. pending on their all-around ability in managing water, even in terms of
The first validation was based on the global parameters of the dis- leakage reduction (Batten, 2019).
trict and the comparison showed a very good agreement between nu- However, at the time being, it is difficult for the WDN owners to
merical results and available real data with a model error lower than establish management strategies effective in leakage reduction since
1% (Table 2). leakages are not directly measureable. So, to define effective strategy
The results of the numerical simulation also make it possible to means identifying a proper performance index (to minimize or max-
evaluate the starting efficiency of the district of Negrar, by determining imize) having a direct impact on leakage losses but dependent on
the Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI) (Table 2). The ILI is the most quantities measureable by the WDN owners, such as pressure and flow
detailed performance indicator for non-revenue water and real opera- rates.
tional losses, suggested by the International Water Association and the As highlighted above, this issue has been tackled in the literature
American Water Works Association, and is defined as the dimensionless several times and possible performance indexes have been proposed,
ratio between the current annual real losses (CARL) and the unavoid- such as average network pressure. However, to the authors’ knowledge,
able annual real losses (UARL) within a system (Lenzi, Bragalli, the definition of an efficient index, whose minimization/maximization
Bolognesi, & Fortini, 2014): could minimize leakage losses, is still a challenge.
UARL = (18Lm + 0.8Nc + 25Lp ) ∙P (3) For this reason, a new and measurable parameter called the Leakage
Performance Index (LPI), was defined:
where:
N 1 t
∑i = 1 t ∫0 p (t )i Q (t )i dt
• L is the length of WDND [km]
m
LPI = N
∑i = 1 Q¯ ut , i
• N is the number of service connections
c
(4)

• L is the total length of underground pipe between the edge of the

p
where:
street and customer meters [km]
• P is the average operating pressure [m] - p (t )i is the pressure registered in the i-th node at time t,
- Q (t )i is the output flow from the i-th node calculated at time t
The ILI value of 2.72, resulting from the numerical model, high-
(leakage included),
lighted the inefficient state of the network district and the possibilities
- Q̄ut , i , is the daily average water demand for the i-th node (leakage
of improvement via pressure management. The amount of losses per
included),
connection were in the order of about 135 l/connection/day.
- N is the total number of nodes in the modelled grid.
A further validation was carried out by comparing the evolution
over time of the operating parameters of the grid. The numerical results
The starting point of this parameter formulation is the fact that
generally show a good agreement with the measured values with a
leakages are not uniformly distributed in a grid. It is widely known that
relative standard deviation between 10 to 15%. The main reasons for
leakages depend on flow rates and pressure values and are expected to
these differences were related to the controls setting on the pumping
be much more significant where flow rates and pressure values are
systems and to the floating valves modelling procedure. An example is
higher. This means that, observing the leakages, the nodes in a network
reported in Fig. 2, which represents the evolution over time of the level
cannot be placed at the same level. A pressure management strategy for
of one tank of the district. Here, it is evident that the evolution of the
leakage minimization needs to focus on those nodes characterized by
numerical model is in good agreement with the experimental data. The
greater values of the global outflow, since their control is expected to
main disagreement is represented by the tank level in the period from
have a greater impact on the leakage reduction. Therefore, to create a
3:30 to the end of the day, over-estimated by the numerical model.
ranking among the different nodes in the network, the pressure of each
The reason for this over-estimation is related to the control of the
node was properly weighted by the output flow from the node and a
pumping system, which switched off the pumping system around 3:30
flow-weighted average pressure of the grid was defined as performance
due to an increase in the pressure value upstream of the tank (Fig. 3a).
index indirectly related to the leakage losses.
The numerical model, which is less sensitive than the real system to
To validate the proposed index and verify its effectiveness, an op-
pressure fluctuations, did not predict this increase in pressure and, as a
timal daily management strategy aimed at minimizing the LPI index
result, did not switch-off the pumping system. Consequently, the real
was numerically analysed and the resulting daily leakage was compared
system faced a significant reduction in the flow rate filling the tank
with an optimal management strategy directly aimed at minimizing the
(about one third - from about 90 l/s to 60 l/s) during the period from
leakage.
about 3:30 to 4:15 (Fig. 3b). Conversely, in the numerical model the
tank was filled by a continuous flow rate of about 90 l/s in the same
period, which determines the increase in the numerical tank level, as
seen in Fig. 2.

4
G. Cavazzini, et al.
Fig. 2. Evolution over time of the tank filling level during the day (20th July): measured data vs. numerical results.
4. Optimization procedure
4.1. ASD-PSO optimization algorithm
Particle swarm optimization (PSO), originally proposed by Kennedy
and Eberhart (1995), Eberhart and Kennedy (1995), mimics the beha-
viour of a bird flock by means of a simple concept of social cooperation
that was promptly and efficiently exploited in the context of the po-
pulation-based optimization algorithms (Eberhart & Kennedy, 1995;
Kennedy & Eberhart, 1995; Shi & Eberhart, 1998a, 1998b).
In a population of N particles, where each particle represents a
potential solution of a real-world problem in a D-dimensional search
space, the velocity and the position of the i -th particle in the j -th
dimension at the time step t are commonly updated by the PSO algo-
rithm as follows:
vi j (t + 1) = ω∙vi j (t ) + c1 ∙rand1ji ∙ (Pbesti j (t ) − Xi j (t ))
+ c2 ∙rand 2ji ∙ (Gbest j (t ) − Xi j (t )) (5)
Xi j (t + 1) = Xi j (t ) + vi j (t + 1) i = 1,2, …, N j = 1,2, …, D t = 1,2, …, T
(6)
j
where Pbesti (t ) and Gbest j (t ) are the best position of the particle i and
Fig. 3. Evolution over time of the pressure upstream of the tank (a) and of the flow rate pumped to the tank (b).
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Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890
the best position of the swarm as a whole at the time t in the j th
dimension, respectively; c1 and c2 are the cognitive and social accel-
eration coefficients, respectively; rand1ji and rand 2ji are two real random
numbers in the range [0,1] and ω is the inertia weight.
The standard PSO formulation described by Eqs. (5) and (6) often
shows premature converge toward local minima owing to a progressive
lack of diversity of the population (Kennedy & Eberhart, 1995; Liang,
Qin, Suganthan, & Baskar, 2006; Zhan & Zhang, 2009). Therefore, in-
creasing diversity was considered a good way of escaping from local
minima, although such an expedient usually gives rise to slower con-
vergence to the optimal solution (Kennedy & Eberhart, 1995; Liang
et al., 2006; Zhan & Zhang, 2009).
Many PSO variants have been proposed to increase population di-
versity without compromising the typical fast convergence of the PSO
algorithm. These variants include adaptive tuning of the acceleration
coefficients c1 and c2 with time iteration t (Ratnaweera, Halgamuge, &
Watson, 2004; Senthil Arumugam, Chandramohan, & Rao, 2005;
Suganthan, 1999; Zhan & Zhang, 2009), PSO local formulation to in-
crease the exploration ability of the swarm by taking into account the
best solution inside a local topology of particles instead of the whole
swarm (Eberhart & Kennedy, 1995; Mendes, Kennedy, & Neves, 2004;
Mendes, 2006; Suganthan, 1999) and hybridization of PSO with other
G. Cavazzini, et al. Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890

algorithms (Chen et al., 2013; Fan, Liang, & Zahara, 2006; Shelokar, improves the local search aptitude of the swarm. On the other hand,
Siarry, Jayaraman, & Kulkarni, 2007). when particles are far from Gbest , the reduction in c2 and the corre-
The algorithm structure of these PSO variants could became some- sponding increase in c1 and ω parameters make particles on the per-
what complex and the PSO concept partly loses its original simplicity. iphery of the swarm strengthen their own exploration attitude around
In the modified version of the PSO (ASD-PSO), two types of agents proper Pbesti , thus reducing the likelihood of the swarm being trapped
have been introduced in the swarm with the task of intensifying the in local optima.
exploration when the particles are far away from the best solution of In Eq. (7) the following assumptions were also adopted:
the swarm, and with the aim of improving local refinement in pro-
rand 2ji ε [0, 1] (10)
mising regions when the particles are close to the best solution, re-
spectively (Ardizzon, Cavazzini, & Pavesi, 2015).
rand1ji ε [0, 1] if di, j ≤ dmax
j
/2 (11)
To pursue such different aims, the following changes in the velocity
updating equation of the standard PSO have been proposed:
rand1ji ε [−1, 1] if di, j > dmax
j
/2 (12)
j j j
vi (t + 1) = ωi ∙vi (t ) + c1ji ∙rand1ji ∙ (Pbesti j (t ) j
− Xi (t ))
In addition, the other parameters of the proposed adaptive PSO
+ c2ji ∙rand 2ji ∙ (Gbest j (t ) − Xi j (t )) (7) algorithm were fixed as follows:

Unlike other adaptive PSO algorithms, the cognitive and social ac- c1jmax = 3, c2jmax = 3, c2jmin = 0.5, ωmin = 0.4, ωmax = 0.9 (13)
celeration coefficient c1 and c2 as well as the inertial weight ω will
More details, together with the results of numerous test cases on
change from particle to particle and in each dimension of the search
well-known benchmark functions, can be found in (Ardizzon et al.,
space as their values are related to the distance of each particle from the
2015).
best solution Gbest found so far by the swarm.
The j th dimension c1ji of the cognitive acceleration of the particle i
is progressively increased from zero to its maximum value and then 4.2. Optimization procedure
kept constant (Fig. 4), according to its distance di, j from Gbest in the j th
dimension. The distances di, j is given by: To verify the effectiveness of the proposed LPI index, three opti-
mization procedures were carried out on the model of the Negrar’s
di, j = |Gbest j − Xi j | (8) district, aimed at three different goals:

• the minimization of the LPI index (Leakages) ;

j
while dmax is given by
min
j
dmax = max(|Gbest j j
− Xi |) i = 1,2, …, N • the minimization of the leakage (LPI) ; min

• the minimization of the average pressure (mean pressure)

(9)
Instead, the j th dimension c21j i
of the cognitive acceleration of the
particle i is kept constant and then progressively decreased from its
maximum value to zero according to its distance di, j from Gbest in the j
th dimension (Fig. 4).
Therefore, when particles move nearer to Gbest , the reduction in c1
together with the simultaneous increase in c2 make them attracted to
Gbest , while the contemporaneous reduction of the inertia weight ω
min.
In each optimization procedure, the settings of the 4 PRV of the
Negrar’s district (Fig. 1b) were optimized so as to achieve the optimi-
zation goal.
The PRV settings were related to the pressure value (in meter of
water column) downstream the valve and were assumed to vary in the
ranges reported in Table 3. The lower bound (minimum pressure value

Fig. 4. Distribution of the acceleration coefficients c1ij (a) and c2ji (b) and of the inertial weight ω (c).

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G. Cavazzini, et al. Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890

Table 3 possible solutions:

Limits of the Input variables range of variability in optimization procedures.
→t
Input Variables Xi = (Xi1 , Xi2 , Xi3 , Xi4 ) (i = 1, ….N )

ID valve PRV actual settings PRV settings range where Xi j (j = 1, …4) is the setting of the j-th PRV in the i-th solution.
[m] [m] →t
For each possible i-th solution Xi (i = 1, ….N ) , the algorithm calls the
V6 100 [20 ÷ 100] EPANET software, which carries out a numerical simulation of the
V9 50 [20 ÷ 100] district model over a 24-h period with a time step of one minute, taking
V13 40 [20 ÷ 100] into account the variable pattern of the water demand during a day as
V14 50 [20 ÷ 100]
well as the different type of users at each node of the existing grid.
Then, the algorithm determines the value of the optimization goal
of 20 m downstream the valve) was defined according to the valve (daily leakage, LPI index or mean pressure) achieved with the proposed
→
model and to its location in the district in order to guarantee an ade- PRV settings Xi and iteratively updates the possible PRV settings until
quate water pressure in each customer point, obtaining a feasible so- the optimization procedure reaches the convergence identifying the
lution. The upper bound was defined due to the need of limiting the optimal PRV combination, allowing to minimize the optimization goal
domain search to feasible pressure values, but sufficiently high not to (Fig. 5).
affect the optimization results. It must be pointed out once again that the EPANET software adopts
The flow chart of the optimization procedure, developed in Matlab a DDM approach, warning the user about null or negative pressure
environment, is reported in Fig. 5. values in the network nodes, but does not modify the hydraulic links,
At each iteration t the optimization algorithm ASD-PSO identifies suppling the consumptive node with the specified demand and hence
resulting in a deficient network (Braun et al., 2017). To face this

Fig. 5. Flow chart of the optimization procedure.

7
G. Cavazzini, et al. Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890

problem, in the optimization procedure any solution causing a pressure settings (1400 m3/day vs. 1348.1 m3/day). This is further evidence that
drop below zero at any node or below the defined minimum operating the mean pressure cannot be considered an effective management
pressure at any consumptive node (as defined by the network’s owner strategy since leakages are not uniformly distributed in a grid and the
Acque Veronesi s.c.a.r.l.), is rejected by the optimization algorithm by pressure in some nodes could have a greater impact on the district
means of penalty functions. With these constraints on the algorithm, leakages compared to other nodes.
provided by the network owner, inconsistent network solutions are To further demonstrate the effectiveness of the LPI in minimizing
avoided. leakages, a different scenario was considered, in which the minimum
pressure value in each customer point of the grid was increased from
5. Results and discussions 20 m to 23 m. Table 5 reports the results of these optimization analyses.
This more prudential scenario, aimed at protecting consumers from
The Leakage Performance Index introduced in the previous section unexpected pressure drops, forced the pressure management strategy to
(§3) was tested in the model of the district of Negrar in order to verify maintain greater pressure values in the grid, limiting its effectiveness in
its indirect impact on leakage losses. reducing leakage losses in comparison with the previous constraint of
To achieve this, as described above, the first optimization analysis, 20 m.
used as a reference target, aimed at the direct minimization of the Even in this case, the strategy aimed at the LPI minimization is able
leakage losses was carried out (optimization goal: minimum daily to achieve the same results as the one that minimizes leakage losses,
leakage). Subsequently, two other different optimization analyses were reduced by 12.7% compared to the experimental settings.
carried out: the first one aimed at minimizing the LPI and the second at Unlike the previous scenario, the two strategies obtained the same
minimizing the average network pressure in order to better appreciate result in terms of leakages with a different setting of the PRV “v9”. It
the effectiveness of the LPI compared with standard pressure manage- seems that in this prudential scenario, the setting imposed in “v6” made
ment strategies. the setting in the PRV “v9” ineffective. This suggested how some valves
Table 4 reports the results of three optimization analyses carried out might affect the impact of others in the district.
on the district of Negrar according to the procedure summarized in To explore the relationship between the different PRVs and the re-
Fig. 5. For each optimization procedure, Table 4 reports the optimal sulting leakages more in depth, a sensitivity analysis was carried out, by
PRV settings determined in the three optimization analyses and the considering 200 random PRV settings and the same water demand in
value of the corresponding optimization goal together the values of the each customer point. Fig. 6 reports the response surfaces of different
parameters assumed as goals in the other analyses (mean district combination of PRV settings to leakages and LPI. It is clear that the
pressure, daily leakage and LPI index). The results of the optimization settings of the PRV “v6” has a greater impact than the PRV “v9” on the
were also compared with the results of the numerical simulation carried resulting leakages. To minimize leakage (Fig. 6a) and LPI (Fig. 6b), it is
out by considering the experimental settings of the PRVs, adopted by important to have reduced the pressure downstream the PRV “v6”,
the network owner Acque Veronesi s.c.a.r.l. (first row). In all the si- whereas it is not so important to reduce the pressure downstream the
mulation the water losses in the district at each time step were de- PRV “v9” due to less significant nodes in terms of leakages. As regards
termined as described in sect. 2 and the leakage value is the sum of all the other two PRVs, both of them showed a clear impact of their set-
the water losses during the simulation day. tings on leakages, even if the one of “v13” was more significant
The numerical simulation based on the experimental PRV settings (Fig. 6c–e).
represents a reference solution in which the management experience of The response surfaces also confirm the effectiveness of the proposed
the WDN owner allowed to obtain good value of daily leakage index LPI in minimizing leakages, since the impact of the settings is
(1348.1 m3/day). almost equal both on leakages (left column of Fig. 6) and on LPI (right
It is worth noting that the optimized PRV settings for minimizing column of Fig. 6). In particular, the sensitivity analysis shows a clear
the leakages and the LPI are equal. This means that the minimization of linear relationship between the leakages and the LPI (Fig. 7). This is not
the LPI has led to leakage minimization and, therefore, that the pressure true for the other pressure management strategy aimed at minimizing
management strategy based on the LPI is effective in minimizing lea- the mean pressure of the district (Fig. 8).
kages. Interestingly, this strategy has made it possible to reduce leakage
by 14.2% (1348.1 m3/day vs. 1157.5 m3/day) compared to experi- 6. Conclusions
mental PRV settings.
As regards the strategy aimed at the mean pressure minimization, The definition of an effective relationship between leakage and re-
the settings of the PRVs are quite different and the estimated leakage is levant and measurable parameters is still a challenge for real water
not only greater than that of the other two optimizations, but it is also distribution networks.
greater than the one achieved by means of the experimental PRV The main aim of this study is to define a novel pressure management
strategy for minimizing the water losses based on measured parameters.
Table 4 A model for a district metered area in the water distribution net-
Comparison of the results of the three optimization analyses: Leakages, LPI and work of Verona (Italy) has been built and validated by comparing with
mean pressure minimization. Comparison with the actual experimental settings experimental results. The model has been obtained by a skeletonization
of the district. The underlined values in the optimization results are the goals of procedure and the water demand modified through new seasonal cor-
the optimization procedure. rection factors. Water losses have been calculated as output variables of
PRV settings [m] Output Variables the model by introducing a pressure-dependent formulation for the
leakages.
v6 v9 v13 v14 Mean Leakage LPI To overcome the limits of pressure management strategies in the
pressure [m3/day] [m] literature, a new parameter (“Leakage Performance Index”-LPI) based
[m]
on a flow-rate weighted average pressure was proposed and its indirect
Experimental PRV 100 50 40 50 64.5 1348.1 69.7 relationship with the leakage in the case study was verified. To achieve
Settings this, three optimization procedures were carried out in order to define
the best PRV settings, depending on three different objective functions.
(Leakages)min 49 20 21 20 62.3 1157.5 57.0
The first optimization, used as a target, set out to minimize the leakages
(LPI)min 49 20 21 20 62.3 1157.5 57.0
(mean pressure)min 48 78 80 68 57.8 1400.9 70.9 of the district. The second one aimed at minimizing the proposed LPI
index in order to verify its effectiveness in the indirect minimization of

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G. Cavazzini, et al. Sustainable Cities and Society 54 (2020) 101890

Table 5
Leakage and LPI minimization by optimization for two different boundary conditions.
Input Variables Output Variables

v6 v9 v13 v14 Mean pressure [m] Leakage [m3/day] LPI [m]

Experimental PRV Settings 100 50 40 50 64.5 1348.1 69.7

STARTING SCENARIO (Leakages)min 49 20 21 20 62.3 1157.5 57.0
(LPI)min 49 20 21 20 62.3 1157.5 57.0
PRUDENTIAL SCENARIO (Leakages)min 51 91 50 62 62.6 1178.6 58.1
(LPI)min 51 47 50 52 62.6 1179.8 58.1

Fig. 6. Response surfaces of the different combination of PRV settings to the leakages [m3/day] (left column) and LPI [m] (right column).

the leakages. The third one aimed at minimizing the average pressure of
the district in order to compare the proposed management strategy with
a standard one.
These three optimization procedures were also carried out in two
different scenarios, based on a different lower limit of the pressure at
each customer point (20 m and 23 m of minimum pressure).
In both the scenarios, the LPI minimization strategy was successful
in indirectly minimizing the leakages, achieving the same results of the
leakage minimization strategy. More specifically, the LPI minimization
strategy makes it possible to reduce leakage by 14.2% (first scenario)
and by 12.7% (second scenario) in comparison with the settings
adopted in the reference case, based on real experimental values.
Meanwhile, the mean pressure was recognized as a non-re-
presentative parameter for leakages, since the corresponding mini-
mization strategy showed an increase value of the leakage compared to
the real case study.
A sensitivity analysis based on a database of 200 numerical simu-
lations was also carried out with different PRV settings. The results
further confirmed the meaningfulness of the LPI, highlighting a linear
correlation among LPI and leakage values. Moreover, they showed a

9
G. Cavazzini, et al.
Fig. 7. Sensitivity analysis results: leakage vs. LPI.
Fig. 8. Sensitivity analysis results: Leakage vs. mean pressure.
different impact of the different PRVs on the district behaviour, since
the influence of the settings of some PRVs could be limited or even
canceled by the settings of other upstream PRVs.
Future, more in depth studies could be conducted to optimize, on
the one hand, the minimum number and locations of meters to install in
a real grid in order to have a good estimation of the LPI for the leakage
minimization; on the other hand, they could optimize the number and
location of PRVs in order to maximize the effectiveness of the pressure
control with the minimum number of valves.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Acque Veronesi s.c.a.r.l. for supplying the
data concerning the Negrar water distribution system. This work was
funded by European Social Founds distributed by the Veneto Region.
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