Illuminating Dark Fibres for Smart Water Asset Monitoring

过去十年，由声学传感器组成的智能供水网络用来检测供水网络中正在形成的裂缝，但安装和维护成本高昂。该项目旨在通过利用城市中无处不在的未使用的地下光缆来克服这一挑战。其结果将是低成本和现成的分布式传感系统，以保护关键供水，并得到智能数据分析算法的支持，这些算法可以将实时数据转换为有价值的信息，以优化水资产监测。研究成果将激发智能水网的技术革命，加快全球水数字化进程，带来显著的经济效益和社会效益。

Smart water networks formed by fleets of acoustic sensors to detect developing cracks in water networks have grown rapidly in the past decade but are costly to install and maintain. This project aims to overcome this challenge by exploiting unused underground optical fibre cables that are ubiquitous in cities. The result will be low-cost and ready-made distributed sensing systems that protect critical water supplies, supported by intelligent data analytic algorithms that can translate real-time data into valuable information to optimise water asset monitoring. The research outcomes will stimulate a technological revolution in smart water networks, accelerate water digitalisation globally and bring significant economic and social benefits.