Parent–child relationships without a fixed depth
A district meter can feed neighborhood meters, and a neighborhood meter can feed streets, sites or customer clusters. The same logic repeats at every level.
Hierarchical water balance
Every meter is a measurement point. Every parent meter can become a decision area.
Move beyond fixed, single-layer zone definitions. Connect meters according to the physical network relationship and follow consumption, child totals, defined use and the difference to investigate at every node.
Operational value
Four defining characteristics
A shared time reference
Orion's calculation cut-off data helps compare different points of the hierarchy within the same measurement window.
Progressive prioritization
Start with the difference in the largest zone, move down the branch where it continues and reduce field work to a smaller area.
Decisions with data confidence
When a child meter is missing or the measurement window does not match, the result must be presented with its data-quality status rather than as a definitive value.
Zone water balance
Every node becomes a control point for the zone below it.
See how much of the parent meter consumption is represented by its child meters. If the difference continues, move down one level; if the branch balances, evaluate another branch.
Parent–child meters at the depth you need
A water balance at every level
Simplified calculation
Difference to investigate
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Parent meter consumption
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Sum of child meters
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Defined authorized use
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Field adjustments
Important boundary
A difference is not proof of physical leakage on its own. Meter error, missing data, unauthorized consumption, undefined operational use, boundary transfers or storage changes can also create a difference.
The goal is not only to calculate a difference, but to ask the right question in the right zone.
DMA data becomes meaningful alongside leak investigation, meter inspection, field verification, pressure management and network rehabilitation.
Let us model your network together
Build your first DMA tree with a pilot zone.
Review your main inlet, subzones and customer clusters with us. We can define the metering boundary and shared calculation-cut-off approach for your existing infrastructure.