AI Tool Uses Sound Waves to Detect and Repair Leaky Water Pipes

In
the
battle
to
conserve
water,
leaking
pipes
form
an
insidious
enemy,
accounting
for
average
losses
of
30
percent
–
but
in
some
localities
as
much
as
70
percent
–
of
piped
drinking
water
across
the
world.
The
leaks
can
be
very
difficult
to
pinpoint,
but
a
new
AI
tool
is
making
the
process
faster
and
more
accurate.

A
white
X
marks
a
leaking
fire
hydrant
in
the
San
Tan
water
district,
just
southeast
of
metropolitan
Phoenix.
The
leak
is
a
medium
one
of
three
to
seven
gallons
per
minute.
That
adds
up
quickly,
with
each
day
of
leaking
equivalent
to
the
average
water
consumption
of
43
households.

In
this
case,
the
typical
giveaways
of
a
leak
aren’t
present
–
no
puddles,
no
unexpected
greenery
in
the
desert
landscape,
no
caved-in
street.
The
water
has
been
seeping
away
through
the
bottom
of
the
hydrant.

“That’s
something
that
probably
most
likely
would
have
leaked
until
the
next
fire
hydrant
maintenance
cycle,
which
could
be
up
to
five
years,”
says
Jacob
Rogers,
division
director
at
EPCOR,
the
biggest
private
water
utility
in
Arizona.

But
this
leak
was
detected
sooner,
thanks
to
an
AI
acoustic
tool
developed
by

FIDO
Tech,
whose
technology
not
only
detects
leaks
more
precisely
to
their
location,
but
also
ranks
them
by
size
so
that
utilities
can
prioritize
which
to
repair
first.
Oxford,
U.K.-based
FIDO
is
working
with
several
utilities,
such
as
EPCOR
in
Arizona
and
the
State
Water
Commission
in
Querétaro,
Mexico,
as
part
of
a
Microsoft
program
to
act
responsibly
by
replenishing
water
in
the
same
watersheds
around
the
world
where
it
has
operations,
including
datacenters.

Leaks
waste
more
than
water

Stopping
municipal
water
leaks
prevents
waste
and
increases
water
availability
for
the
customers
and
communities
that
a
utility
serves.
For
the
communities
involved,
leaks
represent
not
only
lost
water,
but
also
the
cost
of
pumping
it,
of
transporting
it
–
which
requires
huge
pipes
and
tremendous
energy
to
push
it,
because
it’s
very
heavy
–
of
filtering
it
and
of
the
chemicals
needed
to
treat
it.
This
lost
water
is
called
non-revenue
water
because
it
never
arrives
at
a
paying
customer.
Instead,
everybody
foots
the
bill.

“We’ve
acquired
troubled
utilities
in
Arizona
that
had
30
to
40
percent
water
loss,”
says
Shawn
Bradford,
senior
vice
president
of
regulated
water
in
Arizona
and
New
Mexico
for
EPCOR,
which
has
been
working
with
FIDO
under
Microsoft’s
program
for
about
a
year.
“We’re
having
to
pump
40
percent
more
water
than
they
need
just
to
cover
the
leaks
that
it
takes
to
get
it
from
the
well
or
the
water
treatment
plant
to
homes,
and
that’s
a
tremendous
cost
that
all
customers
face.”

EPCOR
has
cut
non-revenue
water
to
around
10
percent
from
27
percent,
in
part
thanks
to
FIDO.
FIDO
provides
sensors
that
are
placed
so
they
touch
a
pipe,
whether
that’s
on
top
of
an
easily
accessible
pipe,
on
a
hydrant,
in
a
valve
chamber
or
on
a
tap,
FIDO’s
Edwards
says.
EPCOR
has
4,554
such
sensors
on
its
pipe
network
in
the
160-square-mile
San
Tan
service
area.
The
sensors
record
everything,
even
the
lowest,
quietest
noises.

“Sound
propagates
differently
in
different
materials,
just
like
it
does
in
a
school
orchestra.
You
know,
the
longer
the
trombone,
the
longer
the
pipe,
the
deeper
the
sound
compared
to
the
trumpet,
with
shorter
length
and
higher
frequency.
The
largest
leaks
are
the
quietest
–
the
human
ear
cannot
hear
them
–
especially
in
a
plastic
pipe,”
Edwards
says.

Utilities
have
long
relied
on
acoustic
devices
to
detect
leaks.
FIDO’s
technology
goes
a
step
further,
running
the
data
its
sensors
have
collected
through
a
deep-learning
AI
tool
that
has
learned
to
accurately
determine
whether
a
noise
is
caused
by
a
leak
or
something
else,
like
machinery
or
a
train
rumbling
by.
It
can
also
assess
how
big
the
leak
is
and
pinpoint
its
location.
The
other
benefit
of
FIDO’s
technology
is
that
utilities’
technicians
can
easily
interact
with
the
AI
in
natural
language.

EPCOR,
too,
had
used
acoustic
leak
detectors
elsewhere,
but
“you
have
to
spend
a
lot
of
time
trying
to
figure
out
exactly
where
between
those
two
devices
the
leak
is
actually
located,”
Bradford
says.
“The
benefit
of
FIDO
is
it
takes
all
that
raw
data
and
runs
it
through
AI
to
help
pinpoint
where
the
leak
is.
FIDO
in
particular
can
do
this
on
plastic
pipe,
which
has
always
been
a
challenge
for
the
industry
–
the
leak
doesn’t
resonate
like
it
does
in
metal
pipe.”

The
lack
of
resonance
in
plastic
pipes
means
many
acoustic
leak
detectors
struggle.
Yet
most
new
pipe
infrastructure
is
plastic,
or
PVC,
because
it’s
lighter
and
easier
to
maneuver,
making
it
easier
to
install
and
repair.
On
top
of
that,
plastic
pipe
is
better
suited
to
the
soil
chemistry
in
the
southwestern
U.S.,
Bradford
says,
and
dominates
in
the
San
Tan
Valley,
which
has
developed
in
the
past
three
decades
and
continues
to
be
among
the
fastest-growing
U.S.
communities.
The
utility
does
also
have
metal
pipes
–
some
are
60
to
70
years
old
and
still
in
top
condition.
Pipes
can
break
for
many
reasons
besides
age
–
for
example,
shifts
in
the
ground
from
freeze-thaw
cycles.
In
fast-growing
San
Tan,
the
leaks
tend
to
occur
in
areas
under
construction.

Before
FIDO,
the
utility
relied
on
satellite
imagery
to
spot
such
giveaways
as
green
vegetation
growing
in
unlikely
places,
Rogers
says.
But
such
greenery
doesn’t
sprout
overnight
–
it
takes
days
or
weeks
to
grow.
FIDO
can
find
leaks
much
more
quickly.

A
fast
and
flexible
solution

The
AI
also
analyzes
the
utility’s
network
map
to
advise
where
to
place
sensors
to
avoid
deaf
spots,
Edwards
says.
Results
pour
in
immediately.
“You
can
leave
it
overnight
or
for
years
at
a
time,”
she
says.
The
sensors
are
easy
to
move
to
monitor
different
swathes
of
the
pipe
infrastructure.

The
sensors
can
also
be
placed
on
either
side
of
a
leak
after
it’s
repaired,
to
make
sure
the
fix
is
successful,
or
to
spot
whether
the
digging
during
the
repair
has
caused
another
leak.
And
then
the
sensors
can
be
moved
to
start
detecting
in
a
different
part
of
the
network.
Meanwhile,
FIDO’s
AI
can
assess
the
likely
volume
of
the
leaking
water
so
the
repair
work
can
be
prioritized
for
maximum
impact.

The
leaky
hydrant
marked
with
an
X
turned
out
to
have
a
faulty
seal,
and
the
repair
was
quick.
Not
all
leaks
are
fixed
as
easily.
Repairing
buried
pipes
may
require
digging
holes.
Precision
in
locating
leaks
is
essential
to
avoid
tearing
up
streets,
sidewalks
or
yards
any
more
than
necessary.
It
isn’t
just
a
matter
of
minimizing
traffic
disruption
–
the
utility
is
required
to
repave
the
street
after
the
repair,
which
represents
a
significant
cost
that
grows
with
the
size
of
the
excavation.

Image
source:
Shutterstock