Pressure Management: An Overview from the Three Rs Perspective

Pressure management is essential for the efficient and sustainable operation of water distribution networks. Its benefits are manifold: it reduces leakage and pipe bursts, lowers pressure-dependent consumption, and decreases energy use. Overall, it enhances the physical, economic, and environmental sustainability of the system. The most commonly applied method to control excess pressure involves dissipating surplus energy using pressure-reducing valves (PRVs). However, in recent decades, an alternative approach has gained traction: recovering part of that energy using pumps operating as turbines (PATs). A third, less frequently considered but potentially more effective strategy is to reduce pressure at the source by adapting the hydraulic design to the terrain’s topography. This paper examines these three strategies from an energy perspective, commonly known as the three Rs—reduce, recover, and remove—with a particular focus on the first, reduce. This approach is aligned with the principles of eco-design and sustainable management of water distribution networks.