A project which developed a new, integrated approach for assessing conditions of large water pipe mains and preventing their failure has won the Australian Water Association’s 2016 National Research Innovation Award.
The project was commissioned by Sydney Water along with other Australian, British and American utilities, and is said to be a world-first due to its magnitude. It is a collaboration between the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), the University of Newcastle and Monash University.
As urban water distribution systems around the world continue to age and become more prone to failure, the parts of the system which utilise large diameter pipes are especially critical, since there are high risks and consequences of failure.
Failure of critical water pipes is a global problem, representing very high capital, social and environmental costs.
According to Associate Professor and project lead Jaime Valls Miro from the UTS Centre for Autonomous Systems, many factors influence why a pipe breaks, resulting in a large scope for the project.
“The various pressures inside the pipe, soil conditions, the actual materials that are being used, there's just a myriad [of reasons]," says Professor Valls Miro.
"Research has been done in many of these areas of course, but our project encompasses these various factors together."
The researchers developed tools to model corrosion, improve condition assessment, and predict failure of the pipes that are responsible for distributing water throughout a city. These findings and tools will allow utilities to replace assets in poor condition before failure occurs.
Among the research undertaken were a number of Activities. Monash University led a study into how, when and where critical pipes fail within the networks; UTS studied cost effective ways to assess the condition of pipes; while the University of Newcastle looked at ways to calculate pipe deterioration accurately. The three universities then worked together to improve confidence in pipe failure prediction.
Professor Valls Miro attributed the success of the project to a large water main test pipe that Sydney Water provided.
“This has allowed us to have a very detailed understanding of the mechanisms behind an operational, in-situ critical pipe itself," says Professor Valls Miro.
While the project is set for completion in early 2017, water utilities throughout Australia, the UK and the US are already implementing the findings, using the tools developed to prevent critical pipe failures.
The Research Innovation Award is presented annually for significant contributions to water research that lead to improvement in water management and an extension of knowledge in the field.