Minimum Night Flow Analysis and Application of the Fixed and Variable Area Discharges Model for Characterizing Leakage in the Gorino Ferrarese (FE-Italy) District

Leakage in water distribution systems is an important issue and of major interest for water utilities. In this study, the Minimum Night Flow (MNF) method to quantify the amount of water lost and the equations representing the relationship between pressure and leakage in power and FAVAD (Fixed and Variable Area Discharge) forms were applied to a District Metered Area (DMA) located in Gorino Ferrarese (FE, Italy) equipped with smart meters. The analysis carried out by exploiting the collected time series of user water consumption, DMA inflow, and pressure highlighted that: (a) the MNF method can lead to significant inaccuracy in leakage estimation in the presence of users with irregular consumptions, when based on literature values, and (b) the estimation of the parameters of the power and FAVAD equation is highly affected by the number and types of observed data used.