Pressure Management - A Strategic Measure to Reduce Non-Revenue Water in Hong Kong

Active leakage control (ALC) is a key component of the Water Supplies Department (WSD)'s long-term strategy to reduce Non-Revenue Water (NRW). As part of this overall strategy, WSD is implementing Pressure Management (PM) and Continuous Monitoring (CM) schemes in order to manage and control NRW efficiently and effectively and thereby reduce the leakage levels to target values. The PM and CM schemes involve the development of hydraulic models to provide a better understanding of the fresh water distribution system as a whole and enable effective analysis of the system performance under various conditions so as to optimise the designs of District Metering Areas (DMAs) and Pressure Management Areas (PMAs).

It is known that pressure management does not only provide short-term financial gains but also has long-term financial benefits such as reduction in pipe failures (i.e. burst frequency), extended asset life, and savings in the cost of repairing main bursts. Reduced water losses will result in more efficient use of existing water supplies. Therefore, a successful leakage control programme can provide long-term water savings and delay the need to develop new water supply sources, which would reduce the amount of water to be treated and distributed, reduce the cost involved in infrastructure upgrading works, and contribute to sustainable development.

This paper outlines the methodology adopted and shares with readers the constraints encountered and experience gained in the PM studies undertaken in Hong Kong.