Applied Lesson: Use Minimum Night Flow to Screen for NRW
During low-demand hours, usually between 2:00 and 4:00 AM, legitimate customer use is relatively small. If a pressure zone continues showing high flow, the excess may indicate leakage or unauthorized use.
Start with one DMA or pressure zone and calculate:
Night Excess Flow = Minimum Night Flow − Expected Legitimate Night Use
Then join the result to GIS layers showing:
Water mains
Service connections
Valves and hydrants
Recent leak or repair locations
Customer meter points
Use GIS to identify areas where high night flow overlaps with older mains, repeated breaks, or dense service connections. A simple AI model can rank zones by risk using factors such as pipe age, material, break history, pressure, and night-flow excess.
Practical task: Choose one DMA, calculate its minimum night flow for seven days, compare the values, and map the zone with the highest average night excess flow. List three field checks for that zone.
Key concept: NRW analysis tells you how much water may be lost; GIS helps identify where to investigate first.
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