Economic Comparison of Periodic Acoustic Surveys and DMA- based Leakage Management Strategies

It’s usually claimed that leakage management strategies based on district metered areas are economically more effective than strategies based on periodic acoustic surveys. This claim has not been validated by an economic analysis. In this paper, theoretical models are derived for calculating the total cost for both strategies. Economically optimum leakage levels are also derived. Application of these models to perform a parametric cost comparison of district metered areas and periodic acoustic surveys is demonstrated for a large water distribution system. Whether or not district metered areas are more economic is found to depend on the marginal cost of water, leak frequency, cost of leak detection, size of DMAs, and intervention criterion. Non-economic factors that may affect the decision for selecting a leakage management strategy are discussed.