Stochastic approach to observability analysis in water networks

This work presents an alternative technique to the existing methods for observability analysis (OA) in water networks, which is a prior essential step for the implementation of state estimation (SE) techniques within such systems. The methodology presented here starts from a known hydraulic state and assumes random gaussian distributions for the uncertainty of some hydraulic variables, which is then propagated to the rest of the system. This process is repeated again to analyze the change in the network uncertainty when metering devices considered as error-free are included, based on which the network observability can be evaluated. The method's potential is presented in an illustrative example, which shows the additional information that this methodology provides with respect to traditional OA approaches. This proposal allows a better understanding of the network and constitutes a practical tool to prioritize the location of additional meters, thus enhancing the transformation of large urban areas into actual smart cities.