Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22335-y

RESEARCH ARTICLE

An efficient supply management in water flow network using graph

spectral techniques
Tamilselvi Gopalsamy1   · Vasanthi Thankappan1 · Sundar Chandramohan2

Received: 7 February 2022 / Accepted: 28 July 2022 / Published online: 6 August 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022

Abstract
An efficient way of distributing water in urban cities is one of the major global challenges of our time. A Water Distri-
bution Network (WDN) is a vital infrastructure, intended to provide fresh water to households within a city or desig-
nated boundary. Given the WDN’s complexity, effective numerical techniques are required to aid in the development
of an ideal monitoring system. Flow meters and gate valves should be placed in low-connected areas of the WDN with
water flow reaching several regions of the network. This study proposes a general strategy for assisting water utilities
in making decisions for effective water supply. The aim of the research is to use weighted spectral clustering algo-
rithms to outline water districts while addressing hydraulic restrictions via weighted adjacency and Laplacian matrices
of the weighted network. This work aims to identify influenced nodes in the network based on Eigen centrality and
effectively distribute water across those nodes. This project also looks at how to measure the network’s connection
strength to avoid water leaks. The best clusters are found using Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors of weighted adjacency
matrices and Laplacian matrices of the water network in the proposed graph spectral framework. In order to establish
the optimum water network division approach, topological and graph metrics were used to compare multiple spectral
clustering techniques. The proposed graph spectral approach is tested using a genuine water distribution network serv-
ing an urban area of Coimbatore city in India and offering a method for partitioning complex networks that employ the
spectral graph partitioning algorithm.

Keywords  Weighted graph · Water network · Graph spectral · Spectral clustering · Water network partitioning · Laplacian
matrix

Abbreviations GST Graph Spectral Techniques

WDN Water Distribution Network EPA Environmental Protection Agency
DMA District Meter Area
WNC Water Network Clustering
Introduction
Responsible Editor: Arshian Sharif
Increasing population and urbanization in the past few
Vasanthi Thankappan and Sundar Chandramohan contributed decades has to lead an exponential increase in the use of
equally to this work.
water. This increase in the demand for water networks to be
* Tamilselvi Gopalsamy extremely efficient additionally highly measurable. District
gts.maths@psgtech.ac.in Metered Areas (sectorisation) is one among the foremost
Vasanthi Thankappan promising methods of improving the water supply quali-
tvi.maths@psgtech.ac.in tatively and quantitatively (Nardo et al. 2014). In normal,
Sundar Chandramohan water is supplied to a specific region from elevated stor-
csr.mca@psgtech.ac.in age tank. If one such region is broken down into multiple
smaller sub-regions where it is able to monitor water input
1
Department of Mathematics, PSG College of Technology, to and consumption in each of such sub-regions, these sub-
Coimbatore 641004, Tamil Nadu, India
regions are referred to as District Metered Areas. Kozelj
2
Department of Computer Applications, PSG College et al. (2017) developed weighted spectral partitioning for
of Technology, Coimbatore 641004, Tamil Nadu, India

13

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543
DMA design, which additionally included hydraulic param-
eters in the partitioning process. Nardo et al. (2017) investi-
gated three distinct weighted spectral clustering algorithms.
A graph partitioning-based technique is suggested for
detecting leaking nodes or pipes in water distribution net-
works. The method integrates graph theory and cluster algo-
rithms, and it was formulated as an optimization problem to
find the ideal centroid corresponding to a cluster(DMA) by
Han and Liu (2017). Eigenvector centrality was used to find
the supply point of each DMA, as well as the meter posi-
tion. Rajeswaran et al. (2016) suggested a graph partition-
ing-based technique for detecting leaking nodes or pipelines
in water distribution systems. This algorithm entails solv-
ing a multi-objective optimization problem that simulates
hierarchical network partitioning as closely as possible. A
spectral clustering method for developing DMA configura-
tion is described in this paper.
Converting a water distribution network into District
Metered Areas(DMAs) is the first step toward reducing
water loss. A water flow network is a complicated net-
work comprised of nodes that represent water sources
and consumption points, as well as connections that rep-
resent pipes and valves. The flow of water from the source
through the treatment plant and finally to the distribution
region. Free-flow conduits (gravity flow canals and tun-
nels) or pressurized pipes (pumping system) or a combi-
nation of the two (combination of gravity flow and pump)
can be used.
Metropolitan cities water needs are addressed via a water
flow network that connects many diverse locations. Hydraulic
models are used to offer detailed information about the net-
work’s hydraulic operation, such as journey times and flow
rates. A quantity can flow in a specific channel in a network;
such a flow network is a weighted graph, with the weight of
each arc referred to as the arc’s capacity. Matrix representa-
tions such as the adjacency matrix and the Laplacian matrix
can be used to examine the graph. Graph Spectral Techniques
(GSTs) allow for the identification of the most influential nodes
in networks based on their topological structure (Jovanovic
et al. 2017).
Ranking water distribution network(WDN) nodes might be
beneficial for selecting ideal nodes where several devices such
as regulatory valves, quality sensors, flow metres, and other
devices are located. GSTs are used to do these crucial tasks
even when additional information, such as network topology
and geometric information about pipes on the network, is
unavailable. GSTs are further supported by the fact that linear
algebra methods can be used to efficiently approach them.
They have been used effectively in WDNs for a variety of
purposes, including robustness analysis and water network
partitioning.
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2531
Spectral graph theory
The eigenvalues and eigenvectors of matrices related
to graphs are studied in spectral graph theory, a field
of mathematics. It’s a term that’s commonly used to
describe the properties of complex networks and Inter-
net infrastructural facilities. The adjacency matrix
and the Laplacian matrix are two frequent matrices in
spectral graph theory. The graph’s eigenvalues are the
eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix A of graph G. The
spectrum of graph G is made up of its eigenvalues. The
benefit of spectral graph parameters is that they transmit
a great deal of information about the graph’s structure
(Jovanovic et al. 2017).
Mathematical optimization, communication links, net-
work topology, information retrieval, machine learning,
routing protocols, multi - processor interconnection net-
works, anti-virus preservation, information sharing, data
analysis databases, social media applications, quantum
computing, bioinformatics, coding theory, control theory,
and other disciplines have all influenced graph spectra the-
ory. The eigenvalues (spectrum) of specific matrices pro-
duced from the graph or information set are used in spectral
clustering. Construct these matrices using the eigenvectors,
analyse their spectrum, and assign knowledge to clusters.
Graph adjacency matrix and its spectrum
Let G = (V, E) be an undirected graph with V being the
set of n vertices vi (the junctions and the reservoirs) and
E being the set of m edges ei (the pipes connecting the
junctions ); a useful method to characterise a graph is to
construct its Adjacency matrix A = [aij ]  , with aij = 1 if
nodes i and j have a link and and aij = 0 otherwise. The
Weighted Adjacency matrix W = [wij ] can be created when
connection information is available; link weights represent
the capacity of links between nodes in terms of proximity
and/or similarity. The non-negative weight is wij = wji > 0
if i and j are linked; otherwise, wij = 0.
The Spectral Radius or Index 𝜆1 , which is the larg-
est eigenvalue of the Adjacency graph matrix A (or the
Weighted Adjacency matrix W in the case of a weighted
graph) in this technique, can be determined; it is impor-
tant in modeling the propagation of moving substances
in a network (Arsic et al. 2012). The Principal eigenvec-
tor v1 of the greatest Adjacency matrix’s eigenvalue (or
the Weighted Adjacency matrix’s eigenvalue in the case
of a weighted graph’s eigenvalue) of a connected graph
is thus related to 𝜆1 ; Its eigenvector centrality attribute
allows one to rank network vertices by their coordinates
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2532
according to the number of walks. Nodes with link-
ages to high-connected vertices are more “important”
for communication than equal connected nodes with
less connected neighbours, taking into account not
only direct neighbours of vertices but also neighbours
of neighbours. The use of major eigenvectors in web
search engines is a common application (the most known
systems are Page Rank) utilized in Google (Jovanovic
et al. 2017; Wan et al. 2011). The spectral gap is the gap
between the adjacency matrix A’s first two eigenvalues.
This is quite useful for determining the network’s con-
nection strength.
Graph laplacian matrix and spectral clustering
The Laplacian Matrix L is another required matrix of the
weighted graph G = (V, E, W) , where V is a set of nodes,
E is a set of edges, and W is a set of weights. The Lapla-
cian Matrix L is a difference for an undirected graph,
L = D − W  , where D is the degree matrix and W is the
graph’s weight matrix. The second lowest eigenvalue
of the Laplacian matrix L (Luxburg 2007; Nardo et al.
2017; Kelmans and Yong 1999) is known as algebraic
connectedness. It calculates the network connectedness
strength, and a higher number makes it more difficult to
split a graph into more independent components. Graph
clustering is an important issue, and spectral clustering
has become a widely used method for partitioning graphs
in network theory. These methods for clustering networks
use the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the graph nor-
malised Laplacian matrix LN = Dk −1∕2 LDk −1∕2 to assign
nodes and links to clusters (Spielman 2007). The eigen-
vector corresponding to the lowest nonzero eigenvalue of
the Laplacian matrix is an essential calculation in spectral
graph partitioning. The Fiedler vector is an eigenvector in
undirected graphs that is connected to the minimal cut.
The bipartition cluster for the nodes in the graph can be
determined based on the signs of the components of the
Fiedler vector (Rajeswaran et al. 2016; Miroslav 1973).
Graph theory metrics
To investigate how topological properties relate to WDN
performance for simplified pipe networks, graph theory
metrics such as spectral gap ( Δ𝜆 ), algebraic connectivity
(AlgC), average degree (AvgD), average shortest path
length (APL), number of edges (m), network density (q),
network diameter (Dm), network radius (R), Maximum
gap between eigenvalues (EigenGap), and single degree
nodes (DE) were used Torres et  al. (2016); Yazdani
and Jeffrey (2010b). Within the network sciences, these
metrics reflect a small subset of a large and expanding
array of graph theory characteristics. The graph theory
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Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543
metrics used constitute an ensemble of performance
proxies for shortest routes, node-link combinatorics, and
spectral-based features (graph Laplacian normalizations).
These network ideas can give a wealth of fresh insights
for integrating traditional statistical models with
infrastructure performance prediction modelling. This
water study uses connectivity metrics including “spectral
gap(Δ𝜆 )” and “algebraic connectivity(AlgC)” to evaluate
the network’s well-connectedness and strength (Yazdani
and Jeffrey 2011).
Methodology
Steps in using EPANET
The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA) Water Supply and Water Resources Division pro-
duced EPANET, a public domain water distribution sys-
tem modelling software programme. EPANET is a water
distribution network modelling programme that simulates
hydraulic and water quality behaviour over a long period
of time (Athulya and Anjali 2020). It can manage any size
water network and conduct hydraulic analysis. It’s designed
to be a research tool that helps researchers better understand
how drinking water constituents flow through distribution
systems and where they end up.It keeps track of the water
flow in each pipe, the pressure at each node, and the water
level in each tank across the network.
• Initially, the extracted map can be used to create a net-
work representation of the distribution system.
• After that, change the characteristics of the system’s
objects.
• Then each node’s and pipe’s input parameters must be
appropriately assigned. Describe how the system func-
tions.
• After that, choose from a variety of analysis alternatives.
• Last but not least, perform a hydraulic/water quality
examination.
• The final stage is to look at the analysis outcomes.
Model input parameters
The following input data files are required to study the water
distribution network using EPANET:
Junction report
Junctions are sites in the network where links connect and
water enters or exits the system. The following are the fun-
damental input data for junctions:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543
• Elevation over a point of reference (usually mean sea
level)
• Demand for water (rate of withdrawal from the network)
• Water quality at the start
The following are the output results generated for junctions
at all simulation time periods:
• Hydraulic system (internal energy per unit weight of
fluid)
• Pressure
• The quality of the water
Pipe report
Pipes are links that allow water to flow from one place in
the network to another. At all times, EPANET assumes
that all pipelines are filled. The flow is from the greater
hydraulic head (internal energy per weight of water) to the
lower hydraulic head. The following are the most important
hydraulic input parameters for pipes:
• Start and end nodes
• Diameter
• Length
• Roughness coefficient (for determining Head-loss)
• Status (open, closed, or contains a check valve)
Water flow network clustering
The clustering phase for the proposed water network parti-
tioning (Nardo et al. 2016, 2018b) entails the phases listed
below:
1. The water supply network is represented as a graph G =
(V,E);
2. Adjacency matrix A and weight matrix W ( WU without
weight, WF with flow rate, WV with velocity, WH with
Unit head loss, and WY with friction factor) were to be
defined.
3. For all weight matrices W, computation of the spectrum
of Laplacian matrices LF / LV / LH  / LY and normalised
Laplacian matrices LNF/LNV / LNH  / LNY ;
4. For each spectrum, compute the eigenvector v2 corre-
sponding to the second smallest eigenvalue xv2.
5. For the graph bipartition, sort the vertices in ascending
order by their xv2 of eigenvector v2 components value,
and then divide them into two groups by the sign of the
component.
6. Verify the consistency of the obtained clusters.
7. When k > 2 , recursive bipartition of the current sub-
graph;
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2533
8. Obtain k clusters from V using the k-means clustering
technique (Park et al. 2020).
9. Define the collection of edge-cuts (also known as bound-
ary pipes) Nec
Water network dividing
After collecting the set edge-cut (boundary pipes) Nec , the
number of boundary pipes that must be closed with Nbv gate
valves or utilized for installation with the number of flow
meters Nfm = (Nec − Nbv ) (Nardo et al. 2016) must be deter-
mined. In other words, once spectral clustering has deter-
mined the feasible sites Nec (boundary pipes between clus-
ters) for flow meters and boundary valves, and the number
of flow meters Nfm to be installed in the network (Fig. 1).
Study area
EPANET Software (Athulya and Anjali 2020) was used
to create a small water distribution network in the study
region of Coimbatore District in Tamil Nadu, India which
consists of 19 pipelines, 27 junctions, and one major res-
ervoir (Fig. 2). The Hazen-William Approach is used to
calculate the pressure. All of the junctions pressures are
confirmed to be appropriate. The pipe used had a mini-
mum diameter of 400 mm. In the pressure head, there is
a variation. The pipe has a roughness coefficient of 100
throughout the network.
The following are some of the pipe output results (Table 1):
• Flow rate
• Velocity
• Head-loss
• Darcy-Weisbach friction factor
The product of the pipe’s area and the liquid’s velocity will
be used to compute the rate of liquid flow. The flow rate’s
absolute value always indicates the flow rate via the pipe,
while a negative sign indicates direction. The quantity of
head loss is determined by a variety of elements, including
pipe length, flow velocity, diameter, and pipe roughness,
which influences the friction variable and Reynolds number
in the flow.
One of three formulae can be used to calculate the
hydraulic head loss caused by water moving in a pipe due to
friction with the pipe walls:
• Hazen-Williams formula
• Darcy-Weisbach formula
• Chezy-Manning formula
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2534 Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543

Fig. 1  Water network Division

The most often used head loss formula is the Hazen-Wil-
liams formula, where the Friction factor is calculated by the
Reynolds number in the flow and the degree of roughness
of the pipe’s inner surface.
Results and discussions
Several researchers (Nardo et al. 2018b; Yazdani and Jef-
frey 2010a; Torres et al. 2016; Giudicianni et al. 2018)
have investigated the statistical and topological aspects

Fig. 2  Distribution network
diagram of the study area

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543 2535

of various systems and infrastructures in recent years
in order to develop unique solutions and better under-
stand what kind of network is required to support and
optimise the systems functionality. In this context, the
topological properties of WDNs are investigated in this
work using real-world and synthetic systems. Accord-
ing to Nardo et  al. (2018b), the WDNs of Parete and
C-Town are ranked based on the score assigned by the
associated coordinates to the Adjacency matrix’s first
eigenvector, v1 . Nardo et al. (2018b) proposed using the
main eigenvector (Newman 2008) as a centrality measure
and spectral clustering (Shi and Malik 2000) to define
the k subsets of nodes in their original technique. In con-
trast, betweenness centrality (Freeman 1977) is used to
identify the positions of monitoring points in the WDN.
It was first used to examine the value of an individual in
a social network (Boccaletti et al. 2006).
Betweenness was chosen as the centrality metric in this
study because it evaluates the importance of a node not
only in terms of nearby nodes but also in terms of the net-
work as a whole (Freeman 1977). To assess the behaviour
of WDNs, various metrics from complex network theory
can be used by Yazdani and Jeffrey (2010a) and Giudicianni
et al. (2018).
De Arruda et al. (2014) found that multiple central-
ity metrics can accurately determine a node’s spread-
ing capability. Other researchers (Yoo et al. 2015) used
betweenness centrality to locate water quality sensors
in water distribution networks, although their methods
used hydraulic modelling data as input. The proposed
topological solution, on the other hand, does not require
any hydraulic modelling, has a very short calculation
time, and is very straightforward to apply for water
utilities.
In order to improve the suggested methodology for
water quality monitoring, the effectiveness of other met-
rics is considered here, including correct weights, for
topological approaches. The proposed dynamic DMAs
technology is being tested on Coimbatore’s water utility
network in Tamil Nadu (India).
All of the measurements and algorithms based on
Graph Spectral Techniques listed above sections can

Table 1  Output results of Link Start End Length Diameter Flow Velocity Unit Headloss Friction factor
network Pipes
P1 R1 j1 10 400 5301 42.18 4017.05 0.018
P2 j1 j2 16 400 786.05 6.26 117.16 0.024
P3 j2 j3 50 400 676.05 5.38 88.62 0.024
P4 j4 j3 12 400 −476.05 3.79 46.29 0.025
P5 j5 j4 10 400 −376.05 2.99 29.88 0.026
P6 j5 j1 12 400 −1893.11 15.06 596.65 0.021
P7 j1 j9 12 400 2121.84 16.88 737 0.02
P8 j8 j9 12 400 −882.97 7.03 145.31 0.023
P9 j9 j13 12 400 988.86 7.87 179.24 0.023
P10 j13 j12 23 400 378.86 3.01 30.31 0.026
P11 j12 j10 12 400 −115.95 0.92 3.37 0.031
P12 j10 j8 10 400 −746.11 5.94 106.38 0.024
P13 j7 j8 12 400 −16.86 0.13 0.1 0.043
P14 j6 j7 10 400 773.43 6.15 113.7 0.024
P15 j5 j6 12 400 1023.43 8.14 191 0.023
P16 j7 j11 12 400 655.29 5.21 83.64 0.024
P17 j12 j11 12 400 −188.1 1.5 8.28 0.029
P18 j10 j17 12 400 189.26 1.51 8.38 0.029
P19 j17 j11 10 400 −267.82 2.13 15.95 0.028
P20 j14 j11 14 400 200.63 1.6 9.35 0.029
P21 j14 j16 12 400 −695.73 5.54 93.46 0.024
P22 j16 j5 16 400 −1045.73 8.32 198.76 0.023
P23 j12 j15 12 400 182.92 1.46 7.89 0.029
P24 j17 j15 10 400 117.08 0.93 3.45 0.031
P25 j10 j18 12 400 204.9 1.63 9.72 0.029
P26 j19 j18 13 400 195.1 1.55 8.88 0.029
P27 j14 j19 10 400 295.1 2.35 19.11 0.027

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2536 Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543

Table 2  Graph metrics on Network m N m0 Δ𝜆 AlgC 𝜆1 q APL Dm AvgD Eigen gap R

network of study area
Metrices 26 19 1 0.68 0.29 3.05 0.15 2.85 6 2.74 0.19 4

be thought of as a GST toolbox capable of dealing with
crucial water distribution network management con-
cerns. GSTs are assessed in Coimbatore city on a real-
world, small-scale water infrastructure.
The major topological and energy features of the WDN are
summarized in the Table 2. The weights in the case of the WDNs
might indicate prior knowledge of the pipe’s geometric and
hydraulic characteristics (flow, velocity, friction factor and oth-
ers) (Fig. 3).
Table  2 shows the water network eigenvalues for
the case study. The multiplicity of the zero eigenvalue
in the Adjacency matrix is m0 = 1 . This indicates that
the Coimbatore WDN has only one linked component.
It’s worth mentioning that even for complex network
models (made of multiple components), determining if
any irregularity in the water supply is caused by the
breakdown of the original network into several sub-
regions is simple.
The WDN’s suggested approach was put to the test in
a real-world case study of Coimbatore’s water delivery
network, which is located in a heavily populated region.
The network has m = 26 links (except for the reservoir
link) and n = 19 nodes, and it is a sparse network from a
topological viewpoint, which is typical of most real sys-
tems. It is fully connected, with m << n2 edges, and a link
density value of 0.15.
The average node degree AvgD = 2.74 is low because
the number of edges that may be coupled to a single node
in a spatial network is limited by physical space. The
example study has a low average path length APL = 2.85 ,
indicating that the network is cohesive and resilient
(Yazdani and Jeffrey 2011), as well as a graph dimen-
sion Dm = 6 , indicating that the nodes are mutually and

Fig. 3  Network diagram of the study area with unweighted, flow value, velocity, unit head loss, friction factor

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543
easily approachable, and that the network is arranged
decentrally (Yazdani and Jeffrey 2010b) (In the case of
hydraulic networks).
The “spectral gap” Δ𝜆 (the difference between the two
greatest eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix) is equal to
0.68, while the “algebraic connectivity” (AlgC) (Miroslav
1973) is equal to 0.29. These are smaller numbers, indicat-
ing that the graph layout may be split down into discrete
portions (clusters or districts). There is no single degree
node in the network, indicating that this network has no
dead-end connections. This network system is not lower
level, as shown by the radius R = 4.
Density indicates the relationship between the number
of existing pipes and the maximum number of pipe con-
nections that may be made. Sparse networks are those hav-
ing a low density. Well-connected networks, on the whole,
result in fewer unit headlosses. For ‘m’ and ‘AlgC,’ the
headloss trend is similar in that increases in related graph
metrics result in decreased maximum unit headloss. This
network’s Eigen gap is 0.19, which is small and implies
that there are more connections between cluster regions
(Nardo et al. 2018b) (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4  Adjacency Eigenvalues for the case study with unweighted, flow value, velocity, unit head loss, friction factor
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2537
For spectral clustering, the eigengap heuristic (Luxburg
2007) is used to all five graph Laplacian matrices, with
the number of clusters k chosen so that all eigenvalues 𝜆1
,...,𝜆k are small and similar, but 𝜆k+1 is larger (Nardo et al.
2018b). In comparison to the no-weight Laplacian matrix,
where the eigenvalues are shown, the most optimal number
of clusters is four when employing the K Means Algorithm
based on normalized maximum eigen gap (Alshammari
et al. 2021; Park et al. 2020; Filippi et al. 2021), as illus-
trated in Fig. 1 for the case study of the Coimbatore water
network (Fig. 5).
After fixing the number k = 4 of clusters into which the
network is partitioned, the suggested partitioning technique
gives spectral clustering of the Coimbatore water supply net-
work (Perelman et al. 2014; Alshammari et al. 2021).
The process of rating WDN nodes and subsequently
determining the most significant nodes is presented in
Graph Spectral Theory. The WDNs of Coimbatore are
ranked (Rahman et al. 2019) in Fig. 6 according to the
score provided to the Adjacency matrix’s first eigenvec-
tor (Principal eigenvector), v1 , by the related Coordinates.
The ability to rate WDN nodes is essential for identifying
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2538
Fig. 5  Laplacian Eigenvalues for the case study with unweighted, flow value, velocity, unit head loss, friction factor
the suitable nodes for locating devices (i.e., chlorine sta-
tions, pressure regulation valves, quality sensors, flow
meters, etc.). When approaching the placement of a valve
or sensor in a water distribution network, it’s helpful to
rank the nodes relevance. The most “powerful” or sig-
nificant nodes have also been identified in Fig. 7. The
most relevant nodes are also highlighted in Fig. 7 based
on the eigenvector centrality criterion. The top centrality
node per each DMA of the Coimbatore city partitioned
WDNs is shown in the results. Regarding the clustering of
WDNs, the procedure focuses on each Adjacency matrix
associated with water distribution sub-networks. From a
topological and connectivity perspective, the eigenvector
centrality offers the majority of the important nodes per
cluster or DMA. The most influential nodes can also be
utilized as a starting point for creating device localization
algorithms.
Using spectral clustering to utilize the properties of the
Laplacian matrix spectrum is a valid and effective method.
Figure 8 depicts the Fiedler eigenvectors, v2 , for Coimbatore
WDNs. As previously proven, the coordinates of the second
eigenvector, v2 , easily offer an optimum bipartition layout for
13
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Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543
the network. These divide the network nodes according on
the sign of the Fiedler eigenvector’s associated value (posi-
tive or negative). Because each node in a cluster is linked
to at least another node in the same cluster, this strategy
ensures that each designated cluster is maintained.
If the ideal number of clusters (Fig. 7) (determined by
the biggest eigengap) is more than two, the Fiedler eigen-
vector v2 can be used as input for a recursive bisection
technique (Fig. 9). That is, the Fiedler eigenvector v2 for
each cluster is being determined for the next clustering
until the required number of clusters is reached. Other
recursive algorithms that need an initial random cluster
selection can utilise this network bisection as a beginning
layout (Santo 2010).
Based on the number of neighbours of neighbour-
ing nodes, the eigenvector centrality (Nardo et al. 2018a)
might create the most “influential” nodes. Furthermore,
the accepted centrality metric can be changed by weight-
ing network pipes (Giovanni et al. 2021) with hydraulic or
geometrical data, such as pipe diameter and length, or the
number of users served by each node. The network central-
ity idea is supported by the ability to detect which nodes are
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543
visited by the most connections. As a result, central nodes
are regarded as critical nodes for network connection clus-
tering, and they have control over broad network regions.
Using the eigenvector centrality approach, Fig. 7 illustrates
the most significant nodes. The highest centrality node of
the Coimbatore partitioned WDNs is shown by the findings
for each DMA.
The technique next concentrates on each and every
Adjacency matrix connected with water distribution
sub-networks after the WDNs have been clustered. The
eigenvector centrality finds the most influential nodes per
cluster or DMA (Giudicianni et al. 2020) from a topologi-
cal and connectivity aspect. The water network clustering
(WNC) is focused on the definition of the shape and the
dimensions of each DMA; starting from the original layout
of the network (Fig. 9) the clustering algorithm groups
nodes reducing the number of cuts (Fig. 7). The second
step of water network division (WND) entails splitting
the network by deciding which pipes will carry the flow
metres and gate valves (Fig. 10). For all combinations, the
number of flow metres has been set at Nfm = 5 , which is
the smallest number that ensures the network’s hydraulic
Fig. 6  Principal eigenvector v1 coordinates for the case study with unweighted, flow value, velocity, unit head loss, friction factor
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2539
◂
Fig. 7  Optimal clustering with the influential node using eigen
centrality layout of the case study with unweighted, flow value,
velocity, unit head loss, friction factor
performance while also simplifying the water budget com-
putation and allowing for simpler identification of water
losses. In all cases, the number of gate valves is clearly
equal to the difference Nbv = Nec − Nfm . Another major
finding of the article is that, even when the most efficient
location of quality detection points is determined using
an optimization approach, installing all of the flow meters
required to discover all possible contamination scenarios.
The major goal is to keep the number of flow metres Nfm
as low as feasible in order to make the water budget cal-
culation as simple as possible (Nardo et al. 2017, 2018b).
Conclusions
This research descr ibed a unique approach for
determining the ideal number of clusters in a WDN
using the eigenvalues of the Graph Laplacian and the
13
2540 Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543

13

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543
Fig. 8  Fiedler eigenvector v2 coordinates for the case study with unweighted, flow value, velocity, unit head loss, friction factor
eigenvectors to get the actual cluster labels, which
were evaluated using several formulations. Water
supply network management was the emphasis of the
partitioning of a WDN into DMA. In this regard, this
research presents the results of a related application
of weighted spectral clustering for water network
partitioning to a WDN. Unweighted, flow, velocity,
unit head loss, and friction factor were chosen as
alternate weights for reducing edge-cuts and balancing
the size of the clusters. Eigenvector centrality was also
used to identify influential nodes for each clustering.
When the data in this study did not fit the constraints
of other typical techniques, spectral clustering proved
to be a very flexible strategy for discovering clusters.
These results are directly dependent on pipe capability
distribution and so cannot be relied on for general
validity. This work accomplished the goal of creating
the quick graph partitioning technique for DMA design
and putting it to the test on a real-world WDN. The
ultimate solution was chosen, evaluated, and discussed.
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
2541
The optimum result was identified in this study using
the spectral clustering technique and unweighted and
weighted matrices. This differs from prior research in the
literature, which used a variety of clustering approaches
and found that weighted matrices produced the best
results. In the future, other spectral graph partitioning
methods such as K-way spectral graph partitioning,
ratio cut partitioning, bipartite isoperimetric graph
partitioning and directed spectral graph partitioning will
be implemented and tested on different complex WDNs.
We will also improve the proposed DMA connection
method by taking into account the water mains. As a
result, more research is needed to establish a weighted
spectral clustering technique with broad validity that
uses diverse parameters to define DMAs. There is a
need for further evidence to establish the relationships
between pipe network topology and WDS performance.
A variety of pipe network topologies, hydraulic property
modifications, graph metrics, and statistical models will
be investigated and evaluated.
13
2542 Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543

Fig. 9  Recursive bisection process for the case study with unweight, flow value, velocity, unit head loss, friction factor

Fig. 10  Flow meter and

Gate valve for Unweighted and
Weighted Network

13

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023) 30:2530–2543
Author Contributions  Tamilselvi, G: writing original draft. Vasanthi,
T: review and supervision. Sundar, C: review and editing.
Funding  This research received no external funding
Availability of data and material  All data generated or analyzed during
this study are included in this article (and its supplementary informa-
tion files)
Code availability  Not applicable
Declarations  supply network partitioning based on weighted spectral cluster-
Ethics approval  Not applicable
Consent to participate  Not applicable
Consent for publication  Not applicable
Conflicts of interest  The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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