Multiple leakage localization and leak size estimation in water networks

Water distribution networks experience considerable losses due to leakage, often at multiple locations simultaneously. Leakage detection and localization based on sensor placement and online pressure monitoring could be fast and economical. Using the difference between estimated and measured pressures, along with numerical estimation of the sensitivity of nodes to possible leakages in the network, has been a proven solution strategy for single leakage localization. Inspired by this strategy, this paper analyses the sensitivity of the nodes analytically which results in a significant reduction of the required computational load. A conditioned least-squares method is presented that locates multiple leakages and estimates their sizes. The method is based on an iterative approach relating to the piecewise linearization of the dependency of pressure drop to leakage. The proposed method is tested on a small network and simulations show promising results.