has world-wide significance because buried pipes provide around 70 per cent of the world’s urban water supply.

Leading the international research team is Associate Professor Jayantha Kodikara from Monash University, which has partnered with the University of Technology Sydney and University of Newcastle to develop cost effective advanced condition assessment and failure prediction models that can evaluate pipes before they burst.

The five-year project, funded by seven Australian water authorities, the US Water Research Foundation, and UK Water Industry Research Ltd (UKWIR), will produce advanced techniques and technologies to accurately predict the remaining life of buried pipes and protect against pipe bursts.

Sydney Water, the largest urban water utility in Australia, will contribute $5.5 million to the project.

Burst pipes have posed a problem for urban water authorities in recent years, when unusually wet conditions followed years of drought. Cooler temperatures and heavy rainfall, for example, can cause expansive clays to move and pull pipes out of alignment.

Similarly, hot weather and low rainfall causes the soil to dry up and contract, again causing pipes to shift, much in the same way that causes cracking in homes over the summer months.

Paul Freeman, Sydney Water’s General Manager Asset Management, and Chair of the project’s management team said burst water pipes can cut water supplies to residents and businesses, affect safety and transport, and cause financial loss.

‘This is great news for Australian cities as the length of the buried pipes of the seven Australian water utilities alone would go around the world more than one and a half times.

‘Sydney Water will contribute a world leading real life pipe test bed in Sydney to research condition assessment and failure prediction.

‘We have been able to engage effectively with industry and research partners, and for the first time in a large water pipe collaboration there is overseas investment and knowledge.’

The project has received Australian funding from Sydney Water Corporation, Hunter Water Corporation, South East Water, Melbourne Water, Water Corporation (WA), South Australia Water and City West Water. CSIRO will join the research team in its next phase.

Article from ECOS Magazine.

Information can also be at Monash University Website.

Program. The projects were used as an internal pilot for a new customised iPhone App that allows reports to be generated from the field in real time, with photos and GPS plot locations.

Due to the three individual projects being within close proximity to each other, the Aqua Crew was able to complete all during the same deployment.

It was the first time each of these local government organisations had completed active leak detection work and the results were impressive.

A total of 35 leaks were located including a number of large leaks on water main pipelines.

The estimated combined leakage reduction from the projects was in the vicinity of 30 litres per minute.

Aqua Environmental is viewed as the preferred supplier to the NSW Water Loss Management Program having involvement on the majority of projects including the largest in Tamworth, Clarence Valley and Richmond Valley during 2011.

by Pure Technologiesand will see us showcase a large range of new and innovative pipeline inspection and monitoring technologies.

We invite you to come by stand W9 to meet Jack Elliott, C.O.O and President of Pure Technologies and to discuss what new and exciting technologies and services Aqua can provide.

Ozwater is an event like no other, organised by the industry for the industry where the issues that drive the industry are discussed and future directions decided. Ozwater ’11 will address the wide ranging issues that face the water industry today. These include major national water reforms, climate change and its impacts, technological advances and the challenges of human resources to name a few.

The Ozwater ’11 Conference will feature inspirational international and national keynote speakers, numerous invited speakers, scientific and technical papers, case studies, workshops and electronic poster sessions.

Visit the Ozwater’11 Website for more information.

For free visitor entry to the trade exhibition please register here.

The Tamworth project has a predicted savings of 40 million litres of water per year. The active leak detection survey will focus on the areas of Tamworth, Kootingal, Moonbi and Hills Plains. In total there is over 550km of water pipelines to inspect with acoustic technologies.

The project in Goulburn involves the survey of 180km of water mains in and around the Goulburn town. The initial indications from minimum nightflow measurements are that the area is experiencing significant leakage levels.

In recent months Aqua Environmental has being awarded a large number of projects around NSW and providing their efforts to the NSW Water Loss Management Program. The Water Loss Management Program is a $22M joint initiative of the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW, the Water Directorate with partial funding from the Australian Government.

If your local council is considering an Active Leakage Reduction or Leak Detection project please contact Aqua Environmental. We can provide a comprehensive customised approach to your project and integrate specific reporting requirements based on your requests.

Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina and Cobb Highway approximately 725 kilometres south west of Sydney and 285 kilometres north of Melbourne.

The town is divided in two parts by the Edward River, an anabranch of the Murray River, with the main business district located on the south bank.

Deniliquin is also the headquarters of Murray Irrigation Limited, an irrigator owned private company and one of the largest privately-owned irrigation supply companies in the world.

Murray Irrigation manages the operations of the Berriquin, Deniboota, Denimein and Wakool Irrigation Areas in the Murray Valley. These areas produce 50% of Australia’s rice crop, 20% of NSW milk production, 75% of NSW processing tomatoes and 40% of NSW potatoes.

Aqua Environmental has completed a large number of projects under the NSW Water Loss Management Program and continue to produce excellent results. For further details on how our service can be customised for your regional or rural water supply please contact us.

The four individual water loss projects are:

• Richmond Valley Council
  • 192km leak detection survey in Casino, Coraki, Woodburn, Broadwater, Riley’s Hill and Evans Head.
  • Have completed comprehensive meter installation and flow monitoring project.
  • Estimated savings of 130 million litres per year.

• Liverpool Plains Shire Council
  • 6.5km leak detection survey in Willow Tree.
  • Previous project resulted in savings of 6.4 million litres per year.
  • This project has estimated savings of 50 million litres per year.

• Eurobodalla Shire Council
  • 116km leak detection survey in Catalina and Batemans Bay.
  • Only one zone (DMA) of a total of 15 has shown high levels of water leakage.
  • Has good flow monitoring system in place to identify leakage.

• Moree Plains Shire Council
  • 94km leak detection survey in Moree.
  • Complex system has meant monitoring has been difficult.
  • Estimated saving of 90 million litres per year.

All projects were awarded as a result of a competitive tender process. These projects are expected to be completed in the next two months to allow the NSW Water Loss Management Program time to process data before the program ceases in June 2011.

29-Nov 10: Clarence Valley Council last week awarded Aqua a 400km leakage survey in the towns of Grafton, Maclean and Yamba. This project is another under the NSW Water Loss Management Program. Aqua will be mobilising a crew prior to Christmas to commence the project.

The active leak detection program will be completed by February 2011.

Clarence Valley was an early participant in the NSW WLMP and significant work has been done in assessing water losses and designing a pressure management scheme for the town of Grafton. Leak detection and repair work is also planned for the towns of Maclean, Iluka and Yamba.

The overall Clarence Valley WLM project aims to:

• save more than 450 million litres of water per year;
• install 12 permanent flow meters for monitoring throughout the system;

This overall project is estimated to finish in 2011.

Aqua Environmental has been involved in a large number of regional NSW water utilities in the past few years under the NSW Water Loss Management Program.

The success was credited to Sydney Water’s leak detection program, which undertook inspections and repairs of almost 22,000 kilometres of pipe in the latest financial year. (Extract from last three paragraphs).

Read the full article from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Our Sydney Head Office has recently moved to a larger office and warehouse and we are now at:

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The minimum night flows into the zone indicated that leakage may be in the vicinity of 1 L/s. Following our night time survey and leak correlation activities we had identified four leaks in the small zone. Two of which our crew identified as approximately 0.5 L/s.

See photos below: