A ground-breaking undertaking that’s enabling steady distant monitoring of a 16km trunk principal has been recognised on the Water Business Awards.
The Blairlinnans SoundPrint Acoustic Fibre Optic System, a joint undertaking between Xylem and Scottish Water – and described as a European first, was named Asset Administration Initiative of the Yr on the awards ceremony on 4 July 2024.
The Blairlinnans water principal is a 42 inch (1,067mm) pre-stressed concrete (PSC) pipeline that runs from the Blairlinnans Water Therapy Works to a service reservoir in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The pipeline was put in in 1974 and is vital to the continued operation of Scottish Water’s provide community.
Scottish Water recognized the principle as a high-risk asset, which prompted an entire engineering evaluation to know its true situation and forestall an sudden burst.
Inspections utilizing Xylem’s SmartBall and PipeDiver applied sciences offered the information essential to conduct an intensive engineering evaluation. The insights confirmed whereas a lot of the pipeline was in good situation, a number of sections had damaged pre-stressed wires, that are vital to assist operational pressures. If the wires break, a trunk principal can lose its structural integrity, with a danger of failure.
Within the first undertaking of its type in Europe, Scottish Water chosen Xylem’s SoundPrint Acoustic Fibre Optic (AFO) system to repeatedly monitor sections of the pipeline. SoundPrint AFO detects breaks within the pre-stressing wire that maintain PSC pipelines collectively.
The system set-up contains bundled, bolstered fibre-optic cable fed although the water principal, which is related to a knowledge acquisition system to observe the acoustic exercise in close to real-time. If a wire break happens, it’s detected by the AFO system, which is related to Xylem’s AFO analysts by way of the mobile community.
Wire break occasions are investigated by the analysts and with the assistance of machine studying, the break location is pinpointed. An electronic mail notification is shipped to the shopper and the outcomes posted on a cloud-based system, which shows the pipeline standing on colour-coded dashboards.
The monitoring, mixed with additional evaluation by Xylem’s engineering service, allows utilities to make proactive choices about which sections of pipe must be changed or repaired as deterioration continues over time.
Ian Dunsmore, group chief – strategic water infrastructure at Scottish Water, stated: “Alternative of main pipelines is commonly value prohibitive, extraordinarily complicated and causes main disruption – nonetheless it’s uncommon that the whole pipeline must be changed.
“Leveraging Xylem’s AFO system and engineering expertise enabled us to know the true situation of the Blairlinnans water principal at a single cut-off date and trust that the pipeline is being repeatedly monitored for any additional deterioration. It’s nice information that the success of this joint initiative has been recognised by the sector.”
Andrew Welsh, water utility director at Xylem stated: “Xylem is extraordinarily proud that this progressive partnership with Scottish Water has been recognised by the Water Business Awards.
“The AFO system has enabled Scottish Water to cut back the chance of failure by pre-emptively repairing areas identified to be in poor situation, make vital value financial savings by extending the lifetime of remaining pipe sections and minimise disruptions to prospects, whereas sustaining the utility’s fame as a forward-thinking, dependable service supplier.”
