IST-Africa 2017 Conference Proceedings Paul Cunningham and Miriam Cunningham (Eds) IIMC International Information Management Corporation, 2017 ISBN: 978-1-905824-56-4 Copyright © 2017 The authors www.IST-Africa.org/Conference2017 Page 1 of 8 Leakage Detection in Tsumeb East Water Distribution Network Using EPANET and Support Vector Regression Joseph KEMBA, Kenneth GIDEON, and Clement N. NYIRENDA Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, University of Namibia, Ongwediva, Namibia Tel: +264-65-232-4073, Email: cnyirenda@unam.na Abstract: A method of leakage location detection in Tsumeb east area using Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) kernel is presented. The pressure data used to train and test are obtained from EPANET, a computer program that performs extended period simulation of hydraulic and water quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks. Tsumeb East water distribution network was modeled in EPANET. The simulated network consisted of 81 nodes, 96 pipes and 1 tank. 15 nodes were selected deterministically as leaking nodes. Pressure data is divided into 540 training set and 60 testing set. In terms of results, 90% leakage detection accuracy was achieved. This research has provided a base ground for future researchers interested in this area. More other SVM parameters could be used in other researches. Highly sensitive pressure sensor are recommended for applicability of this study. Keywords: Leakage Detection, Support Vector Regression (SVR), EPANET 1. Introduction Water is essential part of life, and ensuring adequate supply is therefore very crucial. Although our planet is often called the Blue Planet, warnings of increasing water scarcity in the world are everywhere [1]. Even though there is a lot of water on earth only about 2.5% is fresh water, and because most of that water is stored as glaciers or deep groundwater, only a small amount of water is easily accessible [1]. Research in [2] shows that water utilities loose more than 60% of clean water due to non-revenue water (NRW). NRW refers to water that is produced and lost before it reaches the customers. There is a need for water utilities to integrate efficient water management system to reduce water loss [3]. Namibia is one of the driest countries and water is a very scarce resource that needs to be managed in an efficient way. Serving water lost due to leakages would mean more water for consumption and high revenue to water utilities. Namibia gets its water from underground, rain and the few rivers that are found in Namibia. As a result, many people are searching for ways for effective consumption of this scarce resource we have. The city of Windhoek proposed to fine residents for not saving water [4] as one of the ways to conserve water but there’s a lot of water that is wasted due to water leakages. One of the main components of water conservation is detecting and repairing leaks in water pipes [4]. Most leaks rise to the surface and still remain unnoticed for longer period. As a result, a large amount of clean and treated water is lost. According to an inquiry made in 1991 by the International Water Supply Association (IWSA), the amount of lost or unaccounted-for water is typically 20 to 30 percent of total water production. Some distribution systems, mostly older ones may lose as much as 50 percent [5].