INTENSIFYING NON-REVENUE WATER REDUCTION STRATEGIES WITH

STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF SMART PIPELINES

We are currently living in times when technology and engineering have taken tremendous leaps
in almost every iota of human affairs. With Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality,
Augmented Virtual Reality and the Internet of Things (IoT), we are yet to see astronomical
inventions such as we have never seen in human history. Day by day we are getting smarter
and smarter in everything. From smart phones, to smart watches, to smart robot cars, to smart
homes, to smart cities and smart infrastructure. Machines can now perform tasks with a
simulated human intelligence hence getting the job quickly and easily done. This also means
higher quality service and products which bolsters economic growth and improved quality of
life. It therefore goes without saying that firms and companies that don’t appropriate these
technologies will soon struggle to satisfy the dynamic needs of their customers in order to stay
afloat in business sustainability and competition.
China’s state-run news agency (Xinhua News Agency) recently unleashed an artificial
intelligence (AI) English news anchor, which does live broadcasting by itself and can read texts
as naturally as a professional news anchor. Unilever ltd, an international and consumer-goods
manufacturer is now using AI robotics to hire employees. The candidates play neuroscience-
based games to measure inherent traits, then have recorded interviews analysed by AI.
Amazon’s smart home robot Alexa is doing wonders in homes, seamlessly performing a
number of human tasks like placing grocery orders, paying utility bills, playing your favourite
hits and movies, and controlling several of your smart home appliances. Apple’s Siri and
Google Assistant on our smart phones operate our smart phones simply at our voice command
without us physically operating the phone. With simple verbal phrases like “Hey Siri, ………”
we instantly compose and send emails, browse the internet, send text messages and make phone
calls to whoever is in our phonebook. Through speech recognition and Natural language
processing our human speech is converted to textual form. Of quite more sophisticated AI, is
a social humanoid robot called Sofia by Hanson robotics; a Hong Kong based company. This
robot is able to answer intelligent questions and engage in human conversations on predefined
topics. She can interact with humans and may soon be used as a suitable companion for the
elderly at nursing homes or manage crowds at large events or parks. This robot is also able to
copy human facial expressions and gestures. Some people have however expressed divergent
and ambivalent views about AI advancements and the effect they pose on human employment
and the quality of social life but that will be debate for another day.
“We have seen the impact of digital transformation by companies like Amazon, Tesla, Uber,
Spotify, AirBnB and others that have transformed and changed the industries. Pipeline
Operations Industry is not far away and it is in clear need for IoT to help keep integrity up for
ageing assets, long distance liner assets, unexpected cyber threats and ageing workforce’’,
Serhii Konovalov of Cisco systems so well observed. Technologies such as distributed acoustic
sensing, drone monitoring, advanced sensory for in-inline inspection of O&G pipelines and
others have demonstrated true economic impact on pipeline operations. With machine learning
and advanced sensory, we are seeing new technological breakthroughs opening up for Pipeline
Operations to benefit.
As the innovative gears of technology intensify, Civil engineering has of late been spiked to
smart infrastructure with Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) technologies where real-time
structural integrity of civil structures like pipelines, bridges, buildings and communication
towers is continuously monitored. Engineers are able to know the conditions and behaviour of
these structures in their changing environments which facilitates easy maintenance and
avoidance of possible catastrophes. Water and gas pipelines carry resources of significant
human importance and are of high economical value yet they require regular intensive
maintenance. Excessive leakages of water and gas can lead to environmental degradation and
human loss. Non-Revenue Water and gas leakages cause huge economic losses to pipeline
operators.. This is why the MIT Team last year developed and launched a robotic system to
detect leaks in water and gas pipelines. The system uses a small, rubbery robotic device that
looks something like an oversized badminton birdie. The device is inserted into the water
system through any fire hydrant. It then moves passively with the flow, logging its position as
it goes. It detects even small variations in pressure by sensing the pull at the edges of its soft
rubber skirt, which fills the diameter of the pipe. The device is then retrieved using a net
through another hydrant, and its data is uploaded. No digging is required, and there is no need
for any interruption of the water service.
While this is a major step of an inexpensive leak detection tool, it is a reactive measure rather
than a preventive one. This means that like other traditional technologies, the losses have to
first occur before they can be detected because the robot utilizes the concept of hydraulics other
than strength of materials. With IoT-enhanced-SHM, the stresses and strains within the
pipelines can be monitored by using suitable sensors which detect the stresses to collect, store
and transmit data wirelessly to the engineers over a good distance. The engineers get to know
the conditions of the pipelines, buried or on surface, through data transmitted through the
internet to a mobile device or PC and plan for appropriate repair and maintenance strategies.
Whereas the MIT robot is a curative tool for leaks, the IoT-enhanced-SHM framework is
preventive, informative and is a good planning tool for pipeline infrastructure maintenance.
Pipeline infrastructure accounts for over 50% of the total assets of water and gas companies
yet these critical structures are continuously exposed to uncertainties of corrosion, temperature,
earth movements, vandalism, aging and pipeline fatigue. My personal experience as an
operations engineer in a water utility comprised of daily manual hunting of leaks across the
distribution network where over 90% of NRW is commonly registered.
The leaks are only detected after voluminous quantities have already been lost and have
possibly created nuisances of water pools and attracted crowds to fetch free water. Any
effective and efficient NRW reduction strategy, like other smart approaches should be more
preventive rather than curative. This article is arguing that IoT-enhanced-SHM framework is
a trustworthy, reliable, yet economical strategy for monitoring the behaviour and manner of
buried and surface pipelines during operation and assessing the risk of their failures. It is firmly
suggesting that NRW is attributed majorly to pipeline failure and that if sudden failures can be
prevented through systematic monitoring, economical losses can be significantly minimised.
As you might have figured out, I am building a case for smarter and intelligent pipeline
solutions that utilize the mechanics of materials, IoT and robotics. Intelligent pipelines have
automated processes of detection, data collection, storage, transmission and processing. It helps
the pipeline operators analyse vast amounts of information in near real time.
The drawbacks of smart pipeline technologies include being costly for most pipeline operators,
are curative rather than preventive and lack assessment of pipeline integrity. Together with
Gujarat Water Infrastructure Ltd and Gujarat Gas Ltd we are in the process of developing a
low cost IoT-enhanced-SHM framework as a pilot project for pipeline operators. If this project
is a success it will; provide real time data of pipeline conditions and behaviour. Locate, detect
and assess pipeline failures. Guide pipeline operators in the planning and execution of pipeline
repairs and maintenance.

About the Author

Pius Nyanzi is a civil engineer and founder of Neu Luk Technologies Ltd, a premier firm that
is improving field management services in East Africa, through AR/CG-VR and IoT. He carries
diverse experience of working across various infrastructure projects which include; highways,
water supply, sewerage systems, and building construction. Pius is currently pursuing
postgraduate studies; Master of Engineering, Civil (Structural) at Gujarat Technological
University, Ahmedabad and Marwadi University, Rajkot India. He is undertaking research in
structural health monitoring technologies of pipelines and hydraulic structures and has key
interest in how AI, Robotics and Automation can be used to enhance sustainability of civil
engineering projects. Prior to this, He served as area operations engineer with the National
Water and Sewerage Corporation, a leading water utility organization in Africa and enjoys
contributing to ideas of sustainable infrastructure development, research and trade.