Olmuştur Mehmet Masum, Uysal Fatih
Sakarya General Directorate of Water and Sewerage Administration, Sakarya, Türkiye.
Faculty of Technology, The Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sakarya University of Applied Sciences, Sakarya, Türkiye.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 21;15(1):26505. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-12281-3.
Urban growth and limited freshwater resources have made water management increasingly critical. As cities expand and water must be transported over longer distances, the cost of supply rises, increasing the importance of minimizing water losses. Leakage in water distribution networks-caused by pipe aging, poor repairs, and manufacturing defects-poses a major challenge. Although complete network renewal is a long-term solution, it is costly and often delayed due to infrastructure constraints. This study investigates a real-time pressure control method as a cost-effective alternative to reduce water losses. A case study was conducted in Sakarya, Türkiye, where the maximum inlet pressure of a distribution network was reduced from 70 m to 45 m using a real-time control system. Over a one-year period, a 19% reduction in water losses was recorded. The network was also modeled using EPANET hydraulic simulation software, showing a 2-4% difference between the measured and simulated pressure values. The findings confirm that real-time pressure management, when combined with accurate hydraulic modeling, offers a practical and efficient tool for reducing water losses and extending the service life of aging water networks especially in urban environments where full-scale infrastructure renewal is not feasible.
城市发展和有限的淡水资源使得水资源管理变得愈发关键。随着城市扩张，水需要输送到更远的距离，供水成本上升，这增加了将水损失降至最低的重要性。配水管网中的泄漏——由管道老化、维修不善和制造缺陷导致——构成了一项重大挑战。尽管全面更新管网是一个长期解决方案，但成本高昂且常常因基础设施限制而延迟。本研究探讨了一种实时压力控制方法，作为一种经济高效的减少水损失的替代方案。在土耳其的萨卡里亚进行了一项案例研究，在那里，使用实时控制系统将一个配水管网的最大进水压力从70米降至45米。在一年的时间里，记录到水损失减少了19%。该管网还使用EPANET水力模拟软件进行了建模，结果显示实测压力值与模拟压力值之间存在2%至4%的差异。研究结果证实，实时压力管理与精确的水力建模相结合，为减少水损失和延长老化水网的使用寿命提供了一种实用且高效的工具，特别是在无法进行全面基础设施更新的城市环境中。
