Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of active pressure
management as an advanced pressure management strategy on water usage
and water resource conservation in two district-metered areas (DMA's)
located within the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and the
City of Tshwane. System characteristics and water use statistics was
collected as secondary data to evaluate potential water savings through
different pressure management strategies utilizing software developed for
the Water Research Commission of South Africa. From this, it was
determined that both DMA's indicated water savings potential, the Valhalla
Booster PRV DMA with time-modulated pressure control whilst the
Meyersdal / Elandsfontein PRV19 DMA indicated the best return on
investment with the utilization of flow-based pressure modulation. Active
pressure management devices were installed and tested, resulting in 14-day
water savings of approximately 2.045 megalitres and 1.87 megalitres for
the respective DMA's compared to the pre-existing operational scenario.
Overall, active pressure management achieved approximately 28
megalitres of water savings during the study, conservatively estimated at
70% of the actual savings. The findings suggest that similar results can be
achieved in other water distribution systems with appropriate
investigations and the selection of suitable pressure management
approaches.