From hourly readings to daily leak flags: an approach to post-meter leakage detection and analysis in residential water consumption

[EN] This work presents a data-efficient procedure for distinguishing between leak and no-leak days using standard hourly smart meter readings. The approach relies on a fixed Minimum Night Flow window and classifies days based on the presence or absence of continuous registered volume during night h...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cobacho Jordán, Ricardo|||0000-0002-0316-9050, Arregui de la Cruz, Francisco|||0000-0002-1359-2071
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:riunet______::73b81554a65cdc679eba8ca662af7839
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/233528
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Residential water consumption
Leakage
Hourly readings
Smart metering
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] This work presents a data-efficient procedure for distinguishing between leak and no-leak days using standard hourly smart meter readings. The approach relies on a fixed Minimum Night Flow window and classifies days based on the presence or absence of continuous registered volume during night hours. Applied to more than 21,000 users over one year, it is validated through the application of a Generalised Linear Mixed Model, which confirms that leak days exhibit systematically higher hourly volumes across the usage groups. The procedure also quantifies the hourly and daily impact of leakage and characterises its temporal organisation and influence on diurnal consumption patterns. Using only routinely available hourly data, it provides utilities with a practical framework for assessing post-meter leakage and enhancing the operational value of existing smart-meter infrastructures.