Leaks and breaks pose an issue for all water utilities and may increase with climate change’s influence on soil moisture and tree root ingress.
Advances in leak prevention to minimise unaccounted for water by Sydney Water and the University Technology of Sydney is a leading example of using acoustic sensing to detect leaks and breaks. This has resulted in a total of 70 likely leaks detected, with a total of 44 leaks confirmed and repaired since deployment.
This case study is from Towards Resilience: Climate change and the urban water industry in Australia and New Zealand.