Abstract
Ranked as the 30th driest country in the world, South Africa (SA) is a semi-arid country with extreme climate and rainfall fluctuations. Based on its geographical characteristics, SA is a highly water-stressed country. The SA water demand is expected to grow to 17.7 billion m3 by 2030 which is theoretically equivalent to 17% gap between supply and demand. Beside the natural problem, over 37% of water in the urban piped water system leaks out or is used illegally every year in SA. This compounded effect is observed as a serious threat to the future of South Africa country as a whole. In view to partly overcome or mitigate to this alarming consternation, this work presents a Dynamic Water Flow Rate Control (DWFRC) model which can be used to alleviate the water scarcity problem faced by the world. The study is performed with reference to SA context and standards. An investigation is first performed to analyse and understand the current traditional water reticulation system. Thereafter, the excessive pressure problem is identified and a solution is provided by the proposition of the dynamic water flow rate adjustment model. The model is implemented in MATLAB and simulation result demonstrated the ability of the model to conquer excessive pressure by automatically tracking the demanded pressure and adjusting the water FR in accordance to the demand thereby insuring that the installation isn‟t subjected to excessive pressure at all time. One main advantage of the proposed model is its simplicity and ease of implementation using some Internet of Thing (IoT) module and cloud computing technology not only to track and adjust the exerted pressure but also to monitor all other necessary parameters such as temperature, pH. level, acidity and so forth. Not only will the implementation of this work helps fight water scarcity and combat non-revenue water problem, it will additionally help achieve efficient use of water, management and storage as requested by the Second National Water Resources Strategy (NWRS2) of the republic of South Africa.