Drinking water distribution networks: performance

Controlling water consumption contributes to environmental protection by reducing withdrawals from natural resources. By delaying the deadline for new investments in water production, distribution and remediation, it also allows utilities to achieve operational savings and customers to reduce their water bills. The assessment of the performance of drinking water networks is based on the measurement of water losses. To detect whether a network is performing well, two indicators are commonly used: yield and linear consumption index. - The efficiency of the network is the ratio between the amount of water consumed and the amount of water introduced into the network. - The linear consumption index is the volume of water consumed (m3/day) in relation to the linear pipe (km). Expressed in m3/day/km, it makes it possible to characterise the density of a drinking water distribution network.