Interactive model
Joat Ville loses half of the water it puts into supply. Find the faults, apply the fix, and watch Non Revenue Water fall in real time.
An illustrative model of a typical municipal distribution system. Figures follow the standard IWA water balance and are used to explain the method, not to report a specific project result.
The model above is interactive. The same information is set out below in full, so it can be read without using the simulation.
A leaking service connection between the main and the property boundary. Service connection leaks are the single largest component of real losses in most distribution systems, and they run continuously until somebody goes looking for them. Modelled at 37 200 kl/day across 12 locations.
Leak Detection Management
A leak on a buried distribution main. Losses on mains are large, invisible from the surface, and often run for months before anyone reports them. Modelled at 7 200 kl/day across 3 locations.
Leak Detection Management
A large leak on the bulk transmission main between the reservoir and the network. Remote bulk pipelines are rarely inspected, so leaks, air valve failures and vandalism go unnoticed for long periods. Modelled at 2 400 kl/day.
Intelligent Bulk Pipeline Monitoring and Assessment
The reservoir has no working level control, so it spills every night when demand falls away. Overflow water has already been abstracted, treated and pumped, and then it is lost entirely. Modelled at 2 800 kl/day.
Intelligent infrastructure and level instrumentation
The consumer meter has stopped registering or under registers badly. The water is delivered and used, but it is never billed, so it appears as an apparent loss rather than a leak. Modelled at 3 508 kl/day across 4 locations.
Meter Audits, Calibration and Sizing
A connection that was never metered. The consumption is real and authorised, but nothing is measured, so nothing can be billed and the zone balance is wrong. Modelled at 698 kl/day across 2 locations.
Meter audit and revenue enhancement
An unauthorised connection drawing straight off the main. It is unmeasured, unbilled, and usually badly made, so it leaks as well as steals. Modelled at 2 094 kl/day across 3 locations.
Non Revenue Water reduction
The reservoir outlet meter under registers. Every water balance built on it is wrong, so the losses are understated and the wrong interventions get funded. Modelled at 1 503 kl/day.
Flow measurement and bulk meter replacement
The valve has failed open, so the zone runs at full supply pressure day and night. Excess pressure drives every leak in the zone harder and pushes the burst rate up, which is why pressure is dealt with before chasing individual leaks. Present in 2 zones.
Pressure Management
The valve holds one outlet pressure around the clock, so the zone is over pressurised for most of the day and night. An advanced pilot valve and control logger let the system self learn the network and hold the minimum pressure that still serves customers. Present in 2 zones.
Advanced Pressure Management, the i2O solution
The booster pumps run flat out and throttle against a control valve. Energy is burned to create pressure that is then thrown away, and the resulting transients fatigue the network. Modelled at 5 520 kWh/day of avoidable energy.
Variable speed drive optimisation
The town is illustrative. The method is not. JOAT has applied these interventions for utilities, municipalities and industrial clients for more than 18 years, in South Africa and internationally.
of mains worked on
connections worked on
in verified savings
On the City of Cape Town project, advanced pressure management delivered a 38% reduction in leakage, a 58% reduction in burst frequency, and extended asset life by more than five years. In eThekwini, the same approach saves 3,1 million litres of water every day and reduced mains burst repairs by 67%.