German tech to track leaking pipelines in Kochi

Kochi: Detecting and locating leaking underground water pipelines have always been a worry for Kerala Water Authority which has a revenue loss to the tune of more than Rs 260 crore per year through transmission loss.

In an attempt to find a permanent solution for the problem, SCMS Water Institute at SCMS School of Engineering and Technology, Karukutty, Ernakulam in collaboration with SEWERIN GmbH, Germany, a pioneer in the area, is conducting a training workshop on September 26.

During the workshop, participants will get hands-on training in the usage and application of the leak detection technology by the engineers from SEWERIN GmbH and specialists from SCMS Water Institute. SEWERIN GmbH has more than 85 years of experience in developing sensors for leak detection and pipe tracing.

Kerala is known to have a maximum percentage of non-revenue water in the country. The KWA is losing 120 crore litres of purified water per day.

“New advancements in acoustic sensor technology help in scanning underground pipelines from the surface without digging," said Dr Sunny George, director of SCMS Water Institute.

"In cities like Kochi, where the KWA has no distribution diagrams of supply lines which are 40 to 50 years old, the new technology can easily track the leaking point and help in expedited maintenance.  The increase in non-revenue water in the urban water supply system is a growing challenge in effectively managing the scarce treated drinking water resources.”

The German firm has already provided the technology sensors to SCMS Water Institute as part of a memorandum of understanding signed between the two.

The training workshop to be held on the SCMS campus in Karukutty will be an example of academia-industry-research partnership and intended for government agencies, NGOs, consultants and other stakeholders.