Hitachi begins sales of new effective water leakage management system

The system utilises information technology (IT) to estimate areas with large amount of leakage in water pipe networks, thereby streamlining water leakage management operations.

Hitachi plans to extend sales of the system as a key product in its water environment solutions business, and to further strengthen and extend its global development.

The system uses Hitachi’s proprietary simulation analysis combining sensor information, asset information, and hydraulic analysis technologies to virtually divide the water pipe network and then estimate small areas with large amount of leakage.

It also enables operators to estimate water leakage in small area units before commencing operations to identify leak points in the field. This identifies which areas the operator should focus leak countermeasures in, helping them to conduct water leakage management operations efficiently.

Moreover, installation of the system requires installation of only a minimal number of new sensors, thereby keeping installation costs low. These features contribute to efficiency gains for operators in managing water leakage, as well as higher earnings due to reduction of leakage.

In emerging countries, the rates of non-revenue water including water leakage are high while the construction of water purification desalination plants is proceeding in conjunction with population growth and economic development.

In some parts of Southeast Asia, the rate exceeds 30 per cent. High non-revenue water rate depresses the earnings of water business operators, and is a factor causing higher water supply prices.

There is also the risk of foreign matter entering the water supply from the leak points and degrading water quality. Leakage is therefore an issue that requires urgent attention.

Hitachi has developed a water leakage management system that performs simulation analysis that uses IT to combine hydraulic analysis technologies with asset information such as materials used to construct the water pipes, years since installation and aging, and flow and pressure information from sensors attached to the water supply pipe network.

The system compares actual values for flow and pressure measured by sensors against values calculated in a hydraulic analysis simulation that takes into account the distribution of aging pipes to estimate small areas with a large amount of water leakage.

Since it estimates the overall leakage amount for each small area rather than estimating the position and scale of individual leaks, it can estimate areas with multiple leaks regardless of individual leak size, making water leakage management operations more efficient.

Furthermore, the system can be installed at low cost since the minimum configuration requirement is a flow rate sensor and a water pressure sensor at the inlet point of the water supply area and a pressure sensor for each small divided area.

Kunizo Sakai, senior vice president and executive officer, president & CEO of Infrastructure Systems Company, Hitachi said, “Water leakage leads to the loss of precious water resources and is also a serious issue from the perspective of water supply safety. Hitachi will leverage the hydraulic analysis technology it has accumulated over many years to contribute to solutions for water environment issues such as water leakage countermeasures, particularly in Southeast Asia.”

Hitachi plans to market this system proactively in countries where water leakage rates are an issue, in tandem with its Water Distribution Control System and other offerings as it further accelerates the global development of its water environment solutions business.

The Water Distribution Control System is a proprietary system of Hitachi that achieves energy saving on water supply pumps and reduces leakage by collecting data from water pressure and flow rate sensors installed across a water supply area and performs real-time pipe network analysis and optimisation calculations in order to calculate the optimal water pump outlet pressure and carry out automatic control.