Research on leakage area detection method in water distribution network based on gray wolf optimization

Abstract

Abstract Leakage in a water distribution network (WDN) leads to a large amount of water loss and water pipe pollution and affects residents’ domestic water supply. Therefore, network leakage detection significantly saves water resources. The traditional model approach has ample search space in solving large distribution network applications, a challenging and complex leakage detection process and a low detection accuracy. For the above problems, this study proposes a new method of leakage area detection based on gray wolf optimization (GWO). First, the extensive WDN is divided into several virtual areas. Then, the leakage is simulated by the additional water demand of nodes, and the node demand of the distribution network is calibrated based on the GWO algorithm. Finally, the leakage area is identified, and the size of the leakage in that area is estimated. The method was experimented on in two cases, simulating single-point leakage and multi-point simultaneous leakage, respectively. The results show that the method estimates the size of leakage in the corresponding area based on accurate identification of leakage areas, and the detection error of leakage is within 17.14%. The method provides water workers with guidance on leak detection, significantly reducing staff time to repair pipes.