Water Leak Monitoring via Digital Technology
Summary
While Bangkok is surrounded by water, its freshwater supply is becoming increasingly scarce. As a mega-city, the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) is responsible for providing almost 5.5 million m 3 of water to over 11 million residents every day, however, water losses from leakages or non-revenue water is a serious issue.
In order to effectively manage the leakage, MWA has employed over 400 AquaMaster flowmeters from ABB to report on and track water flows and pressure and support the quick identification of leaks in pipes. Anecdotal reports note that water losses have been reduced from 30% to 25%. The use of digital technology to detect leaks and repairs is common across southeast Asia, including in Singapore, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh City.
While Bangkok lies on the Gulf of Thailand and is split by the Chao Phraya river as well as a network of canals, water levels at reservoirs and dams have been at record low levels due to recent droughts (ABB News, 2020). Additionally, due to the depleted Chao Phraya river, sea water is pushing up the river and, as a result, Bangkok's tap water is becoming increasingly salinated (ABB News, 2020). Bangkok's Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) processes and supplies an average of 5.47 million m 3 of water every day to over 11 million people via a network of pipelines spanning 37,700km (ABB News, 2019). Losses from leakages or non-revenue water (NRW) has always been a serious issue: as of September 2018, close to 30% of the water supply was reported to be lost through leakages in the pipeline network (ABB News, 2019; EEM, 2022).
Intervention
In order to start effectively managing water leakage in the city, MWA needed to gather in-depth data from across the city's water supply to identify where water is being used and where it is being lost (ABB News, 2020). Digital technology from ABB, a technology leader in electrification and automation with a significant presence in both industrial water and utility water industries, was put in place, either buried underground or submerged in water (without the need for expensive protective chambers), to help optimize the management of the water distribution network (Davey, 2023). ABB supplied more than 400 AquaMaster electromagnetic flowmeters to be used across Bangkok in conjunction with ABB pressure transmitters via its channel partner Thai Meter.
Flowmeters play a critical role in water storage and transmission, wastewater treatment, leak detection, and pump management (Davey, 2023). The AquaMaster flowmeters are a digital "single box" solution for combining flow, pressure, and data-logging (ABB News, 2019). These specific flowmeters were selected for their durability and accuracy, and because they eliminate the potential for error from manual data collection (EEM, 2022). The reliable flow measurement and remote monitoring capabilities of the AquaMaster enables accurate, early warnings on leaks to be sent to the MWA central control room, allowing MWA to collate and analyze the data instantly (Davey, 2023). The AquaMaster also offers bidirectional connectivity, allowing users to upgrade the firmware remotely or request details from the flowmeter of historical flow measurements (Davey, 2023). The AquaMaster uses near field communication (NFC) that allows for greater productivity and simplified sensor/transmitter configuration (ABB News, 2019).
Challenges
As with other initiatives that require technology, this initiative requires financial resources and technical expertise. It also requires concerted political will to address systemic water supply issues.
Outcomes
Efforts to reduce NRW in Bangkok are part of MWA's commitment to employ advanced technologies and management strategies to cope with physical water losses in distribution systems (MWA, 2019). While statistics are not readily available, the 2018 MWA annual report notes that water loss management technologies have supported reducing the water loss rate by 1.92% from 2017 to 2018, to 27.91% (2019). While the project has aims to cut water losses to 19% by 2021, no figures from reputable sources were available to corroborate this goal within the established timeframe. Some anecdotal success from ABB (2020) has flagged that water losses have been brought down to below 25%.
References
Water Leak Monitoring via Digital Technology
Summary
While Bangkok is surrounded by water, its freshwater supply is becoming increasingly scarce. As a mega-city, the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) is responsible for providing almost 5.5 million m 3 of water to over 11 million residents every day, however, water losses from leakages or non-revenue water is a serious issue.
In order to effectively manage the leakage, MWA has employed over 400 AquaMaster flowmeters from ABB to report on and track water flows and pressure and support the quick identification of leaks in pipes. Anecdotal reports note that water losses have been reduced from 30% to 25%. The use of digital technology to detect leaks and repairs is common across southeast Asia, including in Singapore, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh City.
While Bangkok lies on the Gulf of Thailand and is split by the Chao Phraya river as well as a network of canals, water levels at reservoirs and dams have been at record low levels due to recent droughts (ABB News, 2020). Additionally, due to the depleted Chao Phraya river, sea water is pushing up the river and, as a result, Bangkok's tap water is becoming increasingly salinated (ABB News, 2020). Bangkok's Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) processes and supplies an average of 5.47 million m 3 of water every day to over 11 million people via a network of pipelines spanning 37,700km (ABB News, 2019). Losses from leakages or non-revenue water (NRW) has always been a serious issue: as of September 2018, close to 30% of the water supply was reported to be lost through leakages in the pipeline network (ABB News, 2019; EEM, 2022).
Issue
Intervention
In order to start effectively managing water leakage in the city, MWA needed to gather in-depth data from across the city's water supply to identify where water is being used and where it is being lost (ABB News, 2020). Digital technology from ABB, a technology leader in electrification and automation with a significant presence in both industrial water and utility water industries, was put in place, either buried underground or submerged in water (without the need for expensive protective chambers), to help optimize the management of the water distribution network (Davey, 2023). ABB supplied more than 400 AquaMaster electromagnetic flowmeters to be used across Bangkok in conjunction with ABB pressure transmitters via its channel partner Thai Meter.
Flowmeters play a critical role in water storage and transmission, wastewater treatment, leak detection, and pump management (Davey, 2023). The AquaMaster flowmeters are a digital "single box" solution for combining flow, pressure, and data-logging (ABB News, 2019). These specific flowmeters were selected for their durability and accuracy, and because they eliminate the potential for error from manual data collection (EEM, 2022). The reliable flow measurement and remote monitoring capabilities of the AquaMaster enables accurate, early warnings on leaks to be sent to the MWA central control room, allowing MWA to collate and analyze the data instantly (Davey, 2023). The AquaMaster also offers bidirectional connectivity, allowing users to upgrade the firmware remotely or request details from the flowmeter of historical flow measurements (Davey, 2023). The AquaMaster uses near field communication (NFC) that allows for greater productivity and simplified sensor/transmitter configuration (ABB News, 2019).
Challenges
As with other initiatives that require technology, this initiative requires financial resources and technical expertise. It also requires concerted political will to address systemic water supply issues.
Outcomes
Efforts to reduce NRW in Bangkok are part of MWA's commitment to employ advanced technologies and management strategies to cope with physical water losses in distribution systems (MWA, 2019). While statistics are not readily available, the 2018 MWA annual report notes that water loss management technologies have supported reducing the water loss rate by 1.92% from 2017 to 2018, to 27.91% (2019). While the project has aims to cut water losses to 19% by 2021, no figures from reputable sources were available to corroborate this goal within the established timeframe. Some anecdotal success from ABB (2020) has flagged that water losses have been brought down to below 25%.
Issues |
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Water Loss and Efficiency |
Solutions |
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Water Data, Monitoring & ICT Solutions |
References
ABB flowmeters help cut water loss in Bangkok. ABB News. (2019, October 30). https://new.abb.com/news/detail/39096/abb-flowmeters-help-cut-water-loss-in-bangkok
ABB technology helps ease Bangkok’s water crisis. ABB News. (2020, March 20). https://new.abb.com/news/detail/59086/abb-technology-helps-ease-bangkoks-water-crisis
Annual Report 2018. Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA). (2019). https://www.mwa.co.th/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Annual_Report_2561_eng.pdf
Davey, A. (2023, May 23). ABB: Digital Water Management Solutions. H2O Global News. https://h2oglobalnews.com/abb-digital-water-management-solutions/
Ong, C., Tortajada, C., & Arora, O. (2023). Water losses. SpringerBriefs on Case Studies of Sustainable Development, 39–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8677-2_5
Smart sensor data AIDS Bangkok’s with water loss prevention. Energy Efficiency Movement (EEM). (2022, December 1). https://www.energyefficiencymovement.com/abb-flowmeters-help-cut-water-loss-in-bangkok/