Condition assessment and management of piping systems
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | SWEDEN WATER RESEARCH AKTIEBOLAG - SWEDEN WATER RESEARCH AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 9 602 031 |
| Project duration | November 2015 - February 2019 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Challenge-driven innovation - Phase 2 Collaboration |
| Call | Challenge-driven innovation - Stage 2 Collaboration 2015 (autumn) |
Important results from the project
The purpose was to introduce, test and develop new non-invasive methods capable of assessing the status of buried water and district heating pipes without interrupting the service, as well as develop new calculation methods. Just as the doctor uses a combination of methods to make a diagnosis on the patient together with information about the patient’s habits and hereditary diseases (background data), the utility should be able to assess the health of its pipes. At the end of the project, several new methods have proven useful and an prototype AI-model is able to point at pipes at high risk.
Expected long term effects
Two methods for assessing the status of water and district heating pipes were developed to a point close to market entry. Two other methods with identified development areas show potential for the future but are further away from the market. The AI-model shows promising results during the project life. The expected effect is that we will see more utilities reorganize from reactive to proactive maintenance work, i.e. they would rather try to find the spot where there will be a leak tomorrow than look for the leak that started yesterday.
Approach and implementation
The utilities of the project were in the driving seat, closely linked with research actors as well as the various actors/companies providing the new methods. Applying the methods on pipes that were to be taken out of service, we could then extract some of them and analyse their actual status to compare with the assessments of the methods. Thanks to this procedure, the utilities were involved even more. This commitment is a great catalyst to transform the planning of maintenance and renewal of the piping infrastructure from an reactive to a proactive approach.