Leakage in Water Supply Schemes (WSS) is a growing problem worldwide as well as in Ireland. Cost and energy associated with leakage is becoming more important as progressively poorer quality raw water is treated to increasingly higher standards. Although researches have addressed the growing leakage problem in large water supply schemes around the world, small & medium size schemes as commonly found in Ireland have received little consideration.
This research aims to develop an innovative method to determine cost and energy associated with leakage in WSS. The method is illustrated using collated data for year 2009 from three WSS in Ireland. The results show that significant energy and cost savings were possible if leakage was reduced to an acceptable level. The potential for carbon reduction led to the conclusion that the water sector could contribute in achieving Ireland’s carbon emission target to below the Kyoto agreement level
