Use sensors in optic fiber to monitor the water networks against waste. Researchers from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Politecnico di Milano have in fact experimented the use of distributed optical fiber sensors (Dfos) based on Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (Sbs) technology for monitoring water pipes over long distances. At the basis of this technology is the common and cheap optical fiber for telecommunications (which brings the internet into our homes) capable of measuring deformations to the hundredth of a millimetre.
Scholars have worked on High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes, today the most commonly used for the construction of distribution systems. By wrapping and fixing the fiber optic sensor cable on the external surface of the pipe, they verified the ability to detect deformations linked to pressure anomalies along a pipeline, such as those caused by water leaks.
The experimentation was divided into two phases. “In the first – the researchers explain – we evaluated the sensitivity of the sensor layout on a HDPE pipe subjected to static pressure. Having passed this first phase successfully, we then concentrated on detecting the pressure anomaly produced by a leak in a piping circuit with running water. The results obtained have returned overall positive feedback on the use of Dfos, confirming the possibility of identifying and locating water losses, even very small ones”.
In the future, the proven technology will be further developed towards an industrial-scale production of “natively intelligent” HDPE pipes, in which DfosS are integrated into the pipeline surface during the extrusion process.
The study was signed by Manuel Bertulessi, Daniele Fabrizio Bignami, Ilaria Boschini, Marina Longoni, Giovanni Menduni and Jacopo Morosi. The waste of water resources is a global problem, increasingly exacerbated by the impact of climate change on the hydrological chain.
According to Istat data for 2022, in Italy, over a third of the water introduced into the national distribution network is dispersed. Widespread monitoring and efficient maintenance of the infrastructure “are therefore two strategic and urgent actions” the PoliMi researchers point out.
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