Oreste Fecarotta

Urbanization and population growth have been responsible for a significant increase in consumption of water and energy at a global scale. A careful management of water resource and infrastructures is crucial for Energy Transition, as well as for achieving a sustainable efficiency of these systems. High pressure values along with the ageing of the systems contribute to high leakage levels of Water Distribution Networks (WDN). The simultaneous control of excess pressure and containment of water losses are mainly performed by using Pressure Reducing Valves (PRVs) in WDN, which dissipate the surplus of hydraulic energy. Instead of being dissipated, energy can be recovered by the transformation of the excess pressure into electrical energy with the use of Pump as Turbines (PAT), which results in an increased reliability, reduction of cost and an overall improvement in the efficiency of WDN. The work aims on presenting an integrated efficiency management methodology in terms of Effectiveness (E), capability (ηpi), reliability (μpi) and sustainability (χpi) with values between 47 to 98%, also associated with the pressure and leakage management, and energy recovery. This research presents a modelling of a real WDN of a District Metering Areas (DMA) of Beloura endowed with seasonal consumption variability to better show its applicability. Additionally, an economic analysis to assess the solution’s feasibility is presented concluding an annual energy recovered of 9.8 MWh and a saving of about 30% of water leakage, which correspond, in the analyzed case study, to about 3523 m3. The payback period found is around 9 or 12 years, for only one PAT or two different PATs installed, due to the small available energy of the analyzed case study. Acknowledging the synergy between water and energy efficiency and taking advantage of these integrated smart management methodology exemplification, it resulted in more efficient systems to achieve both effectiveness solutions, digital and energy transition in the water sector.