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A Review of Water Balance Application in Water Supply
Author(s) -
Klingel Philipp,
Knobloch Axel
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.5942/jawwa.2015.107.0084
Subject(s) - water balance , water supply , balance (ability) , environmental science , water resources , risk analysis (engineering) , environmental economics , computer science , environmental engineering , engineering , business , economics , medicine , geotechnical engineering , physical medicine and rehabilitation , ecology , biology
Establishing a water balance is a precondition of efficient water loss management in water supply systems. In this article, the applicability of available standards and methods for establishing the water balance is reviewed on the basis of an evaluation of literature in the field. In principle, establishing the water balance is made straightforward by measuring, estimating, and calculating the components of the water balance. However, water balances are often established that do not cover all components or are based on rough estimates. In most cases, water balances are determined for a whole network, not for zones, and only at long, mostly yearly, intervals, resulting in limited informational value of the findings. The main reasons for this seem to be the effort involved, the limited availability of data, and the lack of adequate methods for determining unmeasured components. This article concludes that there is a need for developing methods and tools to support water utilities in establishing complete, zonal water balances with reasonable effort.