Topographic Energy Management in Water Distribution Systems

Roberto del Teso (), Elena Gómez (), Elvira Estruch-Juan () and Enrique Cabrera ()
Additional contact information
Roberto del Teso: Universitat Politècnica de València
Elena Gómez: Universitat Politècnica de València
Elvira Estruch-Juan: Universitat Politècnica de València
Enrique Cabrera: Universitat Politècnica de València

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), 2019, vol. 33, issue 12, No 21, 4385-4400

Abstract: Abstract A significant amount of energy is required to operate pressurised water distribution systems, and therefore, improving their efficiency is crucial. Traditionally, more emphasis has been placed on operational losses (pumping inefficiencies, excess leakage or friction in pipes) than on structural (or topographic) losses, which arise because of the irregular (unchangeable) terrain on which the system is located and the network’s layout. Hence, modifying the network to adopt an ecologically friendly layout is the only way to reduce structural losses. With the aim of improving the management of water distribution systems and optimising their energy use, this work audits and classifies water networks’ structural losses (derived from topographic energy), which constitutes the main novelty of this paper. Energy can be recovered with PATs (pumps as turbines) or removed through PRVs (pressure reducing valves). The proposed hydraulic analysis clarifies how that energy is used and identifies the most suitable strategy for improving efficiency as locating the most suitable place to install PRVs or PATs. Two examples are discussed to illustrate the relevance of this analysis.

Keywords: Topographic energy; Water distribution systems; Energy efficiency; Pressure management; Energy balance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11269-019-02375-9 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:waterr:v:33:y:2019:i:12:d:10.1007_s11269-019-02375-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11269

DOI: 10.1007/s11269-019-02375-9

Access Statistics for this article

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) is currently edited by G. Tsakiris

More articles in Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) from Springer, European Water Resources Association (EWRA)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().