Effect of Household Water Tanks on Leakage Reduction for Distribution Networks under Operation

Control and reduction of leakage in water distribution networks are very important due to limitation of drinking water resources. Water distribution networks are currently designed based on hourly peak consumption. Variation of the hourly water consumption causes the pressure variation and increase in water leakage. If household storage tanks are used in buildings, the water networks can be designed based on daily peak consumption, resulting in considerable reduction in the hourly flow variation. In the present study, the effect of domestic water storage tanks on the leakage level of water networks has been studied using water hydraulic simulation. The results showed that the use of household tanks can significantly reduce the leakage level for water networks under operation. For the studied networks, the average leakage reduction level were 31% and 67% for tanks on the roof and in the parking lot, respectively. The results also showed that the branched or looped plans of water network have no significant effect on the amount of leakage reduction. Results of this study can be used in developing new design methods for water distribution networks aiming pressure management and control of the leakage level.