Estimation of leakage in the water distribution network of the Holy City of Makkah

• Published in: Aqua (London) 2002-09, Vol.51 (6), p.343-349
• Main Authors: Al-Ghamdi, Abdullah S., Gutub, Saud A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Distribution; Distribution management; Field tests; Leakage; Methods; Networks; Saudi Arabia, Makkah; Water distribution; Water engineering; Water supply
• ISSN: 0003-7214; 1606-9935; 1605-3974
• DOI: 10.2166/aqua.2002.0031

An investigation into leakage from the water distribution network of the Holy City of Makkah is presented in this paper. Makkah city is located on the western region of Saudi Arabia between latitudes 20 degree and 22 degree and longitudes 40 degree 30' and 39 degree 20'. It has a total population of about 1.2 million. The population more than doubles during pilgrimage season. The total length of the water distribution network serving the city is about 2,400 km and has around 65,515 property connections serving nearly 70% of the inhabited areas. The city water network works intermittently and over 24% of the property connections are un-metered; hence, the pressure test method was found to be the best method to quantify the leakage. Seven representative areas with property connections ranging from 142 to 236 connections per area were selected for the field investigations. It was found that leakage in the studied areas ranged from 6.22 to 56.24% with an average value for all areas of 31.62%. The old parts of the network experienced high leakage rates ranging from 32.09 to 56.24% with an average value of 46.24%, while the newer areas demonstrated a reasonable range of 6.22 to 17.58% with an average value of 12.13%.