Detection and Assessment of Post Meter Leakages in Public Places Using Smart Water Metering

The current study aims to monitor, detect, and assess post meter water leakage in public areas including schools, graveyards, public toilets, parks, and universities. Twenty-two different public sites were selected within the current study and smart water meters of various sizes were installed in these pilot study sites (PSS). A real time monitoring program was conducted to measure the flow rates at these sites at 15-min time intervals for a period of six months in 2019. The flow occurrence was monitored every two minutes within a user predefined period of inspection, and hence a leak warning message is generated once a continuous flow was detected. Minimum water usage was observed during the minimum night flow (MNF) period from 00:00 to 05:00, therefore close monitoring of the MNF at shorter time intervals allows appropriate leakage detection with proper estimation of leakage volumes. High levels of post meter leakages were observed at all the PSS where the total leakage exceeded 58% of the total flow. On-site investigations and close monitoring revealed that significant water leakage volumes in these PSS are taking place due to poor management practices where deteriorated water connections in toilets and water taps are the main contributing factors to the water leakages in most of these PSS. The results indicated that such huge leakage can be resolved at a low cost. A frequency analysis of the monitored flow rates was found efficient in analyzing the suitability of the installed meter sizes.