A Holistic Approach to Condition Assesment of Pressure Water Mains

Annual Conference

The recent development of real-time direct leak monitoring fills a vital gap in the Condition Assessment-Pipeline Replacement process. Now, once a main or section of main has been identified as requiring possible replacement and/or is likely to undergo short term failure, the insertion of a Real-Time Monitoring System (RTMS) allows for cost-effective management of the pipeline, while the evaluation process is completed.

The system has been used in Sydney for sections of pipelines where failures have occurred. RTMS has been easy to install and has allowed the water authority to continue to operate the main (or specifically a high-risk section) whilst condition assessments and/or pipeline replacement evaluations are being conducted.

Moreover, RTMS is seen as also being useful in both cost-effectively (lowering risk) managing sections identified from proactive condition assessment program, and allowing smaller lengths of pipes to be identified for repair. A Water Authority may for example, have a couple of thousand kilometres of pressure pipelines classified as Critical. An Informed Desktop could reduce this length to a few hundred kilometres, and an In-depth Condition Assessment Program would provide an even greater reduction, to say, less than 25 kilometres. Utilisation of RTMS and/or Detailed In-line Inspection Tool (DILIT), may identify a small number of pipe lengths in need of subsequent repair and/or replacement. This is possible due to the large variation of condition of individual pipes in even old, poorly performing pipelines.

Conference Papers Distribution and Infrastructure Resource - Conference Papers Water Demand Management

12.00 David Brady - A Holistic Approach To Condition Assessment Of Pressure Water Mains.pdf

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19 Dec 2016