Around the world, close to 20 per cent of drinking water is lost to leaks in water networks, and that figure doubles in some developing countries, where resources to repair outdated infrastructure are lacking.
Given the scarcity of drinking water in many parts of the world and the overall costs of water treatment, finding leaks and fixing them has been a long-standing challenge to public utilities.
It is also the topic of one of our most recent research projects, funded by EPFL Middle East.
Detecting and locating leaks in water networks is difficult. Leaks can happen anywhere, and because the water network is buried underground, they often go unnoticed for years. But thanks to today's cheap sensors and computational power, that tide could be poised to turn.
Water utilities companies know approximately how much water they are losing. They find out by comparing the amount of water they collect to the total volume of water consumed, although sometimes this is only approximate due to unmetered consumption and evaporation. Determining where they are losing it, on the other hand, demands an invasive approach involving the deployment of sensors.
Acoustic sensors, for example, have been used to detect leaks based on the way sound propagates along the pipes.
They are well adapted for detecting local leaks but since their range and accuracy depend on the type of pipe and its surrounding geology, their application to entire water distribution networks is limited.
This limitation has been overcome with some success by using data interpretation techniques. Sensors distributed throughout the underground water network can be used to measure the flow rate or pressure in the pipes. Computer models of the city's water network are then used to evaluate these measurements and to attempt to pinpoint the location of the leaks.
But if we have learnt anything about computer models of complex systems, it is that they are always subject to errors.
Furthermore, systems change over time, as anyone who has ever looked into a broken water conduit knows. Minerals accumulate along their walls, altering the flow rate of the water. Models that are designed for systems assuming that they are well characterised can, therefore, be way off the mark.
At EPFL's Applied Computing and Mechanics Lab in Switzerland, we are using new sensing and data analysis techniques to come up with a cost-effective and efficient procedure to locate leaks, so they can be narrowed in on and repaired with minimal intervention.
Obviously, inaccurate models do a poor job at analysing accurate measurements. To avoid falling into this trap, we pursue an alternative approach: out of a large number of leak scenarios, we look for those that can be falsified because they are not compatible with the data that our sensors provide.
To do this, we first generate a multitude of computer models of the distribution network we are interested in, each with slightly different pipe properties and leak locations.
Then we simulate the flow through each of these virtual water networks - from the waterworks to households, shops and factories - and find the winning population of candidates by elimination, or falsification, of the models that perform poorly.
In the coming years, we will focus on developing tools to help us select locations for sensors that are optimal with regard to the information they provide. A great deal of time will be spent on the nitty gritty of making the computational work tractable on today's computers. And once all of the development work is completed, we will test our approach on real cities, potentially in Switzerland and in the UAE.
Our focus goes beyond urban water distribution networks. Pipelines that carry pressurised liquids such as oil and toxic chemicals can also leak and pose a threat to health, safety and the surrounding environment. Detecting and fixing leaks more quickly will therefore allow us to make better use of, and protect, the natural resources we rely on.
Professor Ian Smith is director of the Applied Computing and Mechanics Laboratory at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Autumn international scores
Saturday, November 24
Italy 3-66 New Zealand
Scotland 14-9 Argentina
England 37-18 Australia
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Hani%20Abu%20Ghazaleh%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20with%20an%20office%20in%20Montreal%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%202018%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Virtual%20Reality%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%241.2%20million%2C%20and%20nearing%20close%20of%20%245%20million%20new%20funding%20round%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2x201bhp AC Permanent-magnetic electric
Transmission: n/a
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 659Nm
Price estimate: Dh200,000
On sale: Q3 2022
