We all have learnt that about 71% of Earth’s surface is water and that oceans hold about 96.5% of all Earth’s water. A mere 0.65% of all of the water is usable, making every drop precious. Despite this fraction of usable water being available, there is tremendous amount of water wastage knowingly or unknowingly. A few of these can be corrected, if known to us. However, the water lost due to aging infrastructure is unknown and cannot be rectified.

Water lost is revenue lost –  water is lost through leaks and cracks in pipes and other fixtures. Considering that most of the infrastructure is laid under the ground, it is next to impossible to determine the location of these leaks. Aging water infrastructures and non-revenue water result in a loss of billions of dollars for water utility company every year. Older the infrastructure, more are the losses. Apparently, water management is not limited to only water leakage, but is also experiencing issues with management of wastewater, high energy bills, water loss and budget constraints.

Leak detection is now; becomes a very imperative step to minimize losses due to water leakage. This can accomplished primarily using acoustic detection, by installing a listening device. Alternately, pressure differences can also be used to detect any leakages. Though both solutions work, to leverage the advancement of technology, Internet of Things (IoT), provides a flexible solution for the water utility industry. IoT offers smarter solutions with optimized existing resources, for detecting any water leakage. IoT also offers different types of sensors for  various requirements:

• Flood Sensors – Fixed at flood prone areas, it triggers an alarm when it comes in touch with water on the floor
• Flow Meters – Mounted at different parts of the underground pipes, this sensor monitors the flow rate and raises an alarm when there are variations in the velocity, pressure or vibrations
• Acoustic Sensors – Can detect the slightest of leaks; high frequency sound indicated a small leak and vice versa

With IoT based water management solutions, it is easy to monitor and detect the slightest leak:

• Install a water leakage detection system
• Real time access to data
• Collect the aggregate and correlated data from the smart water sensors
• Use analytical tools to generate alerts
• Risk assessments predict potential water leakages

And the advantages don’t end here. The list goes on:

• Efficient water management
• Water quality monitoring
• Transparency on consumption
• Better allocation of resources
• Reduce emergencies
• Lower costs and increased revenue

Bespoke Major water leak detection system using IoT provide an integrated system to address all your water leak problems. With rapid urbanization, when half the population is estimated to be living in water stressed areas in the next five years, such technological solutions will have an impact on how we can overcome our disadvantages!