Sydney Water won the Project Innovation Award in Applied Research at the International Water Association (IWA) World Water Congress and Exhibition in October.
The water utility collected the honour for its work leading a six-year international collaboration, the Advanced Condition Assessment and Pipe Failure Prediction Project.
The project aimed to improve the prediction of pipe failure, reduce costs, and improve reliability and customer service.
Worth an estimated AU$16 million, the project was a partnership between Water Industry Research Ltd (UK), the Water Research Foundation (UK), Water Corporation (WA), City West Water (VIC), Melbourne Water (VIC), Yarra Valley Water (VIC), South Australia Water Corporation (SA), Queensland Urban Utilities (QLD), South East Water Ltd (VIC), and Hunter Water Corporation (NSW).
Monash University led the research on the project, supported by University of Technology Sydney and the University of Newcastle.
With over AU$500 billion of pipe assets in Australia, the UK and US alone ‒ the project was designed to address the need of water utilities to predict when and where major failures of critical pipes would occur, as well as to come up with effective and long-term preventative solutions.
Sydney Water Project Leader Dammika Vitanage, who nurtured the project from inception to completion, says the success could be attributed to the quality of the collaboration.
He says the key challenges were the innovation that was required to improve pipe failure prediction.
“The success of this significant innovation for the international water industry is due in large part to the fact that we assembled the world’s best project team, and to the leadership displayed by the collective water industry.
“Our prime focus was to undertake research which would lead to providing improved services to the customers of water utilities worldwide.
“My role was to ensure that the researchers and the industry partners continuously collaborated effectively to achieve the desired results of the project, and to eventually pass on these benefits to the customers of water utilities across the world.
“We achieved success through an excellent collaborative team effort together with evidenced based science.”
The project produced significant outcomes to improve water pipe inspection, prediction of pipe failure to reduce renewal and maintenance costs, and improve reliability and customer service.
The project has also produced innovative models to predict the probability of pipe failure, verified through field case studies, a world-first calibrated model to predict the long-term exterior corrosion of cast-iron pipes, and enhanced interpretations of existing pipe CA tool results through innovative machine learning techniques.
It has also created unique research infrastructure, a 1.2 km long research pipe test bed and an automated pipe burst testing facility.
For more information visit the Sydney Water website.
This article was featured in the December edition of Trenchless Australasia. To view the magazine on your PC, Mac, tablet, or mobile device, click here.
If you have a project you would like covered in Trenchless Australasia contact Assistant Editor Nick Lovering at nlovering@gs-press.com.au