Comparative Analysis on the DMA Partitioning Methods Whether Trunk Mains Participated

Abstract

In recent years, the District Metered Area (DMA) of water distribution networks (WDNs) has become a major development trend in the water leakage control area. It has significant value in the active leakage control and pressure management of WDNs. This study comments on two DMA partitioning methods (Scheme A and B, previously introduced in another paper) and compares three aspects of their respective performances to elucidate their respective strengths and weaknesses. Scheme A partitions all the network nodes, whereas Scheme B only partitions the remaining network nodes, except the trunk mains. Whether the trunk mains participated in the partitioning process is the key distinction between the two approaches. There is little relevant research that compares and analyzes the effects of the above two methods. This paper applies these two types of partitioning methods to a case network. The respective performances in three aspects, namely economy, water quality, and leakage control, were evaluated and compared. For economy, Scheme A is more economical than Scheme B, saving about 15.34%. For water quality, Scheme B is the best partitioning method because it reduces water age better than Scheme A does. For leakage control, Scheme B has a drop of 19.46%, which is better than Scheme A (a decline of 15.12%) in comparison to the initial leakage.