A multi-wire based technique for leak detection and localization in underground water pipelines

The leak problem in water distribution systems has attracted the attention of many researchers during the past few decades. Water losses through leakages represent an issue that has negative impacts on the environmental and economic systems. Detecting and locating the source of leakage in the water distribution network can significantly reduce the amount of water lost and prevent the destruction of the infrastructure due to water leakage. In this paper, several methods for water leak detection are presented while indicating their advantages and drawbacks. In addition, a new technique based on using multiple sensing wires with different lengths is proposed. This solution consists in detecting and locating water leak by measuring the variations in soil moisture. The experiments made are presented to prove the simplicity, ease of use and the ability of the proposed technique to detect and pinpoint the location of water leak in underground pipelines.