Methodology to Optimally Place Pressure Sensors for Leak Detection in Water Distribution Systems Using Value of Information

Abstract

The presence of leaks in water distribution networks (WDN) is a problem of global concern that causes significant annual losses of treated water. Most efforts to solve this problem concentrate on the development of methods to help locate leaks in the least possible time. However, the decision to repair leaks is not always trivial because of their uncertain location, size, and other related consequences. For example, intervening places of difficult access or those that would generate major city disruptions may trigger the decision of not taking any action. This paper presents a methodology to determine the optimal location of pressure sensors for leak detection considering the concept of value of information (VOI) using a model-based optimization framework. The methodology allows for estimating the potential value of the data provided by a sensor in terms of its usefulness to assist decisions. The methodology, which also describes how to interpret VOI results, was applied to one of the water districts of a city in Western Europe. Results showed that the optimal VOI-based sensor placement outperformed the existing pressure sensor network for leak detection.