Pressure drop test as a hydroinformatic tool for preliminary network topology validation

Abstract Usage of the appropriate model of water distribution systems (WDS) enables easier everyday operations and management decisions. Creating a reliable model of WDS requires a large amount of system response data for different case scenarios. Commonly used software for creating models of WDS is EpaNet. Ongoing processes in WDS, such as pipe bursts, permanently closed valves which are not registered in the data base and other inconsistencies will change WDS network topology, so WDS validation tests are to be applied from time to time. This paper presents the WDS network topology validation test conducted on one district metered area of Belgrade with two inflows. The pressure drop test combined with genetic algorithm and ant colony optimization are simple hydroinformatic tools available for network topology validation. The system's reaction under a pressure change during the isolation test was measured at two observation points. Obtained results are then compared with assumed WDS topology using 55 potential locations of inconsistencies in the EpaNet model. This step is repeated until a good enough match between results from the real system and the created model's version is obtained. Heuristic optimization algorithms are used for speeding up the process of finding a satisfactory match (unknown locations of inconsistencies) by minimizing or maximizing the defined criteria function.