**2. Materials and Methods**

This section describes the methodologies and the elements involved we propose to apply in water network monitoring. The section is divided into three sub-sections: sensitivity matrix for leak detection, redundancy analysis for optimal sensor placement, and DEMATEL-based approach to establish interdependence among sensors without the need for reliance on expert judgements. In this last regard, we propose a simple but effective modification within the framework of the traditional fuzzy DEMATEL procedure, specifically related to the step of input data collection, with the purpose of achieving much more objective results by reducing the uncertainty derived from the collection of human judgements.
