Analysis of household telemetry consumption data for helping in the assessment of apparent and real losses in water distribution systems

espanolO aumento da cobertura de clientes domesticos com telemedicao tem levado a uma maior disponibilidade de dados de consumo instantâneo nas Entidades Gestoras (EG) de sistemas de distribuicao de agua. A analise destes dados, para alem de melhorar a gestao dos sistemas de faturacao e de gestao de clientes, permite tambem melhorar a estimativa das perdas de agua em cada EG. Com o objetivo de avaliar as perdas aparentes, atraves da analise de perfis do consumo total, e as perdas reais, por via do estudo do consumo domestico minimo, foram realizadas campanhas de telemedicao em 275 clientes domesticos referentes a 10 EG. Os perfis de consumo, relevantes para afericao do erro global do parque de contadores, revelaram que os consumos predominantes variam entre 240 e 1000 L/h, sendo o volume medido abaixo de 120 L/h (e.g., devido a fugas domiciliarias) praticamente insignificante. A estimativa do consumo medio de agua no periodo de consumo minimo (entre as 2 e as 5 h da manha) foi 1.2 L/(utilizador·h) para contadores DN15 e 2.0 L/(utilizador·h) para contadores DN20. Utilizando analise de clusters, identificaram-se ainda quatro padroes de consumo distintos, diferenciados pelas escalas de consumo, tendencias e picos ao longo do dia. Este trabalho demonstrou o potencial das campanhas de telemedicao para recolha de dados de consumo. Alem disso, forneceu uma metodologia e conjunto inicial de estatisticas sobre o consumo domestico em cada EG e no conjunto das EG determinante para a gestao tecnica dos sistemas de distribuicao de agua. EnglishThe availability of instantaneous data on water consumption in water utilities of water distribution systems has been increasing due to the increase in the number of customers with smart meters. The analysis of these data allows to improve the billing systems and the customers’ management and to improve the water losses estimate in each water utility. Aiming to evaluate the apparent losses, through the analysis of the water consumption profiles, and real losses, through the study of the minimum night flow, 275 domestic customers of 10 water utilities were measured using a smart meter. The water consumption profiles useful for the global error measurement of the flowmeters park identified the predominant flow between 240 L/h and 1000 L/h, with an insignificant measured volume below 120 L/h (e.g., due to customer leakages). The estimate of the mean water consumption in the minimum consumption period (between 2 h and 5 h a.m.) was 1.2 L/(customer·h) for DN15 flowmeters and 2.0 L/(customer·h) for DN20 flowmeters. Using clustering, four water consumption patterns were also identified, with differences in the consumption scales, trends and peaks during the day. This work demonstrated the potential of smart metering campaigns to collect consumption data. Moreover, it also proposes a methodology and an initial set of statistics about the domestic consumption in each water utility and in the set of water utilities, which is crucial for the technical management of water distribution systems.