Water monitoring technology to detect leaks in network

Queensland water utility Unitywater has announced an initial contract with software experts TaKaDu. The contract will provide Unitywater with a smart water network monitoring service designed to find hidden leaks and identify service abnormalities.

Unitywater’s water supply network comprises 5542 km of water mains pipes, 108 water reservoirs and 79 water pump stations across the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay regions. The company is focused on improving its network efficiency, reducing water losses and saving money.

TaKaDu’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution will provide real-time knowledge and alerts about inefficiencies and water loss, in addition to other concerns about water distribution assets, enabling faster responses to events as they occur.

“The TaKaDu solution uses existing meter and sensor readings, advanced statistical algorithms and easy-to-use web applications to detect, accurately identify and report network abnormalities such as leaks, bursts and pressure problems,” said TaKaDu founder and CEO Amir Peleg.

Unitywater CEO George Theo said the TaKaDu product provides the company with a cost-effective way to locate hidden leaks that do not come to the surface.

“The principle advantage of the TaKaDu system, which has been used in a number of water utilities around the world, is that the software will ‘learn’ how our system operates and will then identify unusual trends or anomalies within the water supply network. A monitoring report in real time will allow us to proactively track and respond to changes as quickly as possible,” Theo said.

“By using TaKaDu’s solution, Unitywater can anticipate cost savings, through the reduction of water lost through leaks and bursts, and improvement in the performance of its water supply network. Further savings will also be realised through increased energy efficiency.

“Ultimately our customers will benefit from this leading-edge technology, because being more efficient means we can keep bills as low as possible.”