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FIELD DEMONSTRATION OF INNOVATIVE LEAK DETECTION/LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES COUPLED WITH WALL-THICKNESS SCREENING FOR WATER MAINS
Citation:
Chen, A., L. Wang, B. Nestleroth, S. Flamberg, M. D. ROYER, AND A. Williams. FIELD DEMONSTRATION OF INNOVATIVE LEAK DETECTION/LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES COUPLED WITH WALL-THICKNESS SCREENING FOR WATER MAINS . Presented at 2010 ASCE Pipelines Conference, Denver, CO, October 15 - 16, 2010.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a large-scale field demonstration of innovative leak detection/location and condition assessment technologies on a 76-year old, 2,500-ft long, cement-lined, 24-in. cast iron water main in Louisville, KY from July through September 2009. Six inspection companies demonstrated 12 technologies that were at various stages of development and provided different types and levels of structural condition data. For the study purposes, simulated leaks with various leak rates and machined defects with various sizes were pre-installed on the pipeline. Natural leaks identified by the technologies were excavated at selected locations to confirm the present/absence of the leaks. Approximately 200 ft of pipe segments were exhumed and examined in laboratories for comparison with the results from field inspections. This paper presents the results of three leak detection/location technologies (i.e., Sahara®, SmartBall®, and LeakfinderRT) and their corresponding wall-thickness screening (i.e., average wall loss over 20-50 feet) deployed on the same platforms as for leak detection.