A novel monitoring and decision support system to manage water loss in urban water distribution systems

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Loss of water in urban water distribution systems is one of the major issues facing municipalities today. During the winter of 2015, the City of Guelph, Ontario, experienced nearly 30 pipe bursts and this number is expected to be over 1000 in the City of Toronto. The February pipe burst in the City of Kitchener, Ontario, resulted in the cancellation of surgeries for several days at the St. Mary's Hospital. It is estimated that 15-25% of supply water is lost in urban water distribution systems. Aging pipe infrastructure coupled with declining municipal budgets, environmental stressors, and climate change have put water distribution infrastructure in Canada and beyond at significant risk of failing. Monitoring the network to detect water loss, being able to predict which pipe sections of the network are at the highest risk of failing, and being able to make real-time data enabled decisions are all key factors that will allow us to minimize water loss and maintain the aging infrastructure in urban water distribution systems.In this research, we will address the problems of how to: (i) optimally monitor a large water distribution network to manage water loss using a permanent sensor network, (ii) predict vulnerable sections of the pipe which are likely going to experience a loss of structural integrity and plan interventions accordingly, and (iii) develop a decision support system to aid in sensor data visualization, leak detection and to optimally plan sensor locations within a large network. Laboratory and field-testing of this system on a pilot scale are also being proposed. The system will provide data and support decisions throughout the year in cold climates, which is especially important for Canada. The proposed research will by no means solve the problem of water loss in distribution systems; however, using smart monitoring technology and analytics we propose here will produce a new and rich body of scientific evidence, tools, and understanding on how to manage the problem of water loss and vulnerable infrastructure better.