A study on the practical pressure-driven hydraulic analysis method considering actual water supply characteristics of water distribution network

For reliable pressure-driven analysis (PDA) results, it is necessary to reasonably determine an objective head-outflow relationship (HOR) and the required head for each node. So far, no methodology has been proposed to objectively determine two factors based on data of real block. In this study, the HOR was defined using the water supply method, residential environment, and water consumption data within real blocks. The standard minimum residual pressure criteria were reviewed to quickly and rationally determine the required head for each node. To validate the proposed methodology, the HOR and required head application conditions were configured for different scenarios; the available flow rate of nodes and the water supply capacity of the entire block were evaluated based on PDA results. Through the results for each scenario, the HOR definition method was able to provide a reasonable result reflecting the actual block’s conditions, unlike the conventional orifice-type HOR, and the standard minimum residual pressure criteria as the required head was evaluated to be more efficient than the conventional time-consuming method. The HOR uncertainty and the lack of rationality in the selection of the required heads affected the reliability of PDA results; these problems can be solved using the proposed methodology.