Newton Fund - Innovative monitoring system for early leak detection in water distribution systems - HiLeak

'The World Economic Forum predicts water scarcity will become an increasingly major global risk over the next decade. Non-revenue water (NRW) is water that is fit for use but is lost from distribution networks. In Malaysia, NRW is estimated to account for 39% of distributed water and much of this loss (26% of total NRW) is attributable to leaks from damaged water pipes. Despite the country's abundant water resource, Malaysia has experienced water supply problems in recent years due to climate change, population explosion, industrialization, rapid urbanization and tourism.

Reducing NRW is a crucial component of the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), which aims to reduce NRW to 25%. Thousands of kilometres of cement-asbestos pipes are being replaced with polyethylene (PE), but detection and response to leaks remain inefficient and labour intensive.

STL's HiLeak project will deliver an automatic, Internet of Things-enabled system for continuous leak detection and structural health assessment of water-filled PE pipes. HiLeak will use a series of collars at intervals along pipes, which 'listen' for cracks developing using acoustic emission and ultrasound-based sensing. The wireless sensor network will be supported by cloud-based data collection/storage and artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven data analysis. HiLeak will revolutionise Malaysia's water distribution network, allowing for preventive maintenance and the allocation of human resource to sites of known leaks as soon as they occur.

HiLeak is a collaborative project which includes The Welding Institute (TWI) Ltd and Brunel University, London, in addition to Malaysian industry and research organisations. The development of HiLeak will contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals, most importantly goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities. HiLeak will enable Malaysia to more effectively use human resources to respond to leaks. Quicker response times will help Malaysia deliver its goal of reducing NRW, as detailed in the 11th Malaysia Plan. Reducing NRW will ensure more reliable delivery of water to people's homes, which is essential as urbanisation and other stressors increase.