Water

Water distribution is vital for sustainable development, ensuring continuous and equitable supply to communities and businesses. This sector faces challenges such as climate change and urbanization, requiring technological innovations and efficient management to preserve this essential resource and guarantee its access for future generations.

Water monitoring with DFOS

A host of security and efficiency supply issues plague the water distribution sector. Distributed fiber optic sensing technology offers a next-generation solution for real-time integrity and performance monitoring of a water distribution system. With this technology, accurate incident detection and localization can be achieved, thereby enhancing management while reducing operational expenditure.

Real-time monitoring is one of the most essential needs in the water distribution sector. As a rule, distribution networks are extensive and often buried, making continuous supervision challenging. Distributed fiber optic sensing ensures that authorities are alerted to any anomalies in real-time. Leak and break detection is crucial as these losses not only waste a vital resource but also increase operational costs. Fiber optic technology can detect the slightest leakage, enabling rapid and effective intervention.

This technology can also extend the longevity and effectiveness of water distribution infrastructures. Distributed sensing technology allows for the collection of accurate data on the condition of pipes, facilitating maintenance and the prioritization of repairs.

Efficient alarms

Configuring distributed fiber optic sensing systems in water distribution networks enables the implementation of effective alarm functions that trigger at the first sign of trouble. These alarms not only indicate that an anomaly has occurred but also pinpoint the location, which is crucial for ensuring speedy and effective intervention. Alarms can be set to detect changes in water pressure, temperature, abnormal vibrations, among others. This refined detection allows operators to make informed decisions and take swift actions to prevent major damage and ensure service continuity.

Events that can be detected with a distributed fiber optic sensing system in the water distribution sector include water leaks, pipe breaks, intrusions, and changes in pressure or temperature. The system can detect both small and large leaks in real-time, as well as ruptures or cracks in pipes with high accuracy, aiding effective system maintenance. It can also detect tampering attempts, unauthorized access to the network, abnormal changes in water pressure, and unusual temperatures that may affect the integrity of the pipes, ensuring both security and functionality.

Importantly, integrating distributed fiber-optic sensing into the water distribution network will not only enhance operational efficiency but also provide a continuous and safe supply. This advanced technology will therefore further the modernization and optimization of the water distribution sector, addressing its most critical challenges.

OUR DFOS SOLUTION

Use cases included:

Underground pipeline:

Third-party intrusion (mechanical or manual digging, etc.).

Surface pipeline:

Breakage of the pipeline.

Optional use cases:

Underground pipeline:

Leak detection

Surface pipeline:

Unauthorized pipe handling
Leak detection

Data analysis and classification

The acquired signals of the HDAS are traces that represent the strain variation along the optical fibre. We accumulate the traces in a waterfall plot, that allows us to analyse the vibration both in time and in space. We use digital image processing techniques in order to enhance the significative patterns of interest, and to reduce the noise.

Then, depending on the application, we apply a number of image analysis techniques using algorithms and mathematical models to detect and recognise patterns. For some use cases, we have developed supervised machine learning models, for other use cases “classic” algorithms give very good results.