Water-related problems in major populated areas of Botswana continue to grow unabated. At the heart of these problems are escalating demands, dwindling water supplies, deteriorating infrastructures and water losses. Several reports indicate that water managers in this area have been engrossed more on increasing supplies and less on demand management and conservation. The latest construction of the Dikgatlhong Dam is an example of the measures taken to supplement the existing water sources. However, much of the supplied water continues to be lost from the distribution systems of some of the villages. The highest losses have been reported in the Ramotswa village. This study surveyed the causes of the water losses and factors affecting their developments and frequencies. The study’s view was that reducing those losses would improve the system efficiency and save more water for supplies. The data for the study was acquired from reports of earlier studies, field visits and oral interviews administered on the water managers and consumers. Leakages from the Boatle-Ramotswa supply pipeline, service pipes, reservoirs and valves, unmetered fire-fighting consumptions and water theft were identified to be the main sources of the losses. The utility’s loss control activities were inefficient due to the lack of measures for identifying and reducing each individual loss. The study proposed that all the different uses and losses into which the system input volume goes should be identified and measured and measures for controlling each of them be designed and instituted.

A redução das perdas em sistemas de distribuição de água tem se tornado, além de uma questão ética, um determinante da eficiência e mesmo da sobrevivência das concessionárias destes serviços. A quantificação e determinação da natureza das vazões perdidas, que possuem relação íntima com as pressões de operação, são aspectos que ainda merecem análises mais profundas e práticas. Os parâmetros do modelo pressão-vazamento permitem o detalhamento das perdas físicas e foram obtidos por meio de calibrações para um setor de distribuição de água da cidade de Piracicaba, SP, em padrões hidráulicos distintos - sob hipótese de consumo noturno nulo (vazão mínima noturna), descargas de rede, patamares de pressão e sob consumo diurno dirigido pela pressão através de curvas encontradas na literatura e propostas. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que os valores dos parâmetros do modelo pressão-vazamento não são fixos, mas variam conforme o padrão hidráulico de operação da rede. Estudos acerca do parque de hidrômetros e seus desvios de indicação também foram realizados, em conjunto com uma análise das vazões típicas de abastecimento residencial, e apontaram para fortes erros de medição em razão do uso de reservatórios domiciliares. / Losses reduction on water supply networks came to be, beyond the ethical question, a condition for efficiency and even survival of enterprises which develop those services. Quantification and determination of the nature of leakage, which are closely related to operational pressure, are aspects which still claim for deeper and more practical analysis. Parameters to the pressure-leakage model allows to detail physical losses at one given system, and they were obtained throughout employment of distinct hydraulic patterns - minimal night flow (no usage), network flush situations, pressure levels and day usage driven by pressure from curves found on lectures and author\'s propositions - when proceeding calibration at a water supply section at the Piracicaba city, SP. Achieved results have shown that pressure-leakage model parameters values are not constant, but really change according to network\'s operational hydraulic pattern. Studies concerning section\'s water flow meters and its measuring deviation were also done, and joined to an analysis of typical patterns of home usage flows; they have pointed to huge metering errors because of employment of home reservoirs.

A redução das perdas em sistemas de distribuição de água tem se tornado, além de uma questão ética, um determinante da eficiência e mesmo da sobrevivência das concessionárias destes serviços. A quantificação e determinação da natureza das vazões perdidas, que possuem relação íntima com as pressões de operação, são aspectos que ainda merecem análises mais profundas e práticas. Os parâmetros do modelo pressão-vazamento permitem o detalhamento das perdas físicas e foram obtidos por meio de calibrações para um setor de distribuição de água da cidade de Piracicaba, SP, em padrões hidráulicos distintos - sob hipótese de consumo noturno nulo (vazão mínima noturna), descargas de rede, patamares de pressão e sob consumo diurno dirigido pela pressão através de curvas encontradas na literatura e propostas. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que os valores dos parâmetros do modelo pressão-vazamento não são fixos, mas variam conforme o padrão hidráulico de operação da rede. Estudos acerca do parque de hidrômetros e seus desvios de indicação também foram realizados, em conjunto com uma análise das vazões típicas de abastecimento residencial, e apontaram para fortes erros de medição em razão do uso de reservatórios domiciliares. / Losses reduction on water supply networks came to be, beyond the ethical question, a condition for efficiency and even survival of enterprises which develop those services. Quantification and determination of the nature of leakage, which are closely related to operational pressure, are aspects which still claim for deeper and more practical analysis. Parameters to the pressure-leakage model allows to detail physical losses at one given system, and they were obtained throughout employment of distinct hydraulic patterns - minimal night flow (no usage), network flush situations, pressure levels and day usage driven by pressure from curves found on lectures and author\'s propositions - when proceeding calibration at a water supply section at the Piracicaba city, SP. Achieved results have shown that pressure-leakage model parameters values are not constant, but really change according to network\'s operational hydraulic pattern. Studies concerning section\'s water flow meters and its measuring deviation were also done, and joined to an analysis of typical patterns of home usage flows; they have pointed to huge metering errors because of employment of home reservoirs.