Municipal water supply networks are constantly a challenge for municipalities to keep in such good condition that the leakages doesn’t go out of control. It is required that the pipe networks are maintained and mapped on an ongoing basis so that leakage can be remedied quickly before the leak causes external damage or contributes to contamination in the drinking water. In addition, each leak contributes to the fact that a sufficient amount of water can not be delivered by the waterworks in the end.
In order to control leakages quickly and to minimize the time for leek seeking, the water supply networks need to be divided into leakage zones. These zones are created by installing fixed flow measurements at strategically selected points in the pipe network. When leakage occurs in one of the zones, the flow measurement reacts to abnormal flows occurring that are not expected. For example during night hours.
The problem with zoning efficiently is that historically large investments for power supply and data transfer infrastructure has been needed, something that has often required several years of budget planning. Data transfer is today much easier and more cost-effective thanks to the global digitalisation that has taken place during the last decade.
Kompauto now makes it possible for municipalities to gain control of the leakage by zoning with remote logging without external power supply or data cable for each flow meter with their new complete measuring station LEAKCELL. It is a complete Plug & Play unit installed in a robust and weather-resistant cabinet that is installed at each measuring point. How it’s configured depends on how many pipes be flow measured and whether power is available or not. Common to all LEAKCELL versions is that each flow meter is flow logged online via an integrated mobile transmitter. The transmitter sends flow data to a web portal where the municipality’s operators reads the flow loggs. Completely without costly investments for “tailored” communication systems and integrations.
LEAKCELL is powered by an internal battery bank that’s connected to associated solar cell panels that are dimensioned to drive the flow measurement all year round. In cases where electricity is available, battery bank and solar panels can be deselected. The flow meters are of the clamp-on type with surface-mounted ultrasonic sensors so that no costly interventions in the pipes are necessary.
The mobile data transfer takes place via the LTE network from the LEAKCELL unit to the web and does not entail any need for each municipality to have its own subscriptions with a mobile operator. Everything is managed centrally at Kompauto.
The various LEAKCELL solutions are delivered customized either via direct purchase or via a favorable monthly rent.
