A targeted water network improvement program – which hones in on leaks and water pressure at a neighbourhood level – has prevented an estimated seven million litres a day of water loss in Auckland in the past year.
Smart systems manager Dave Moore explained the program focuses on the areas in Auckland with the higher numbers of reported leaks.
“There will always be leaks in any water network – this is about prioritising our efforts so that we’re making the best use of our resources to prevent as much water loss as possible,” he said.
A recent focus on the western parts of Māngere, which had experienced one of the highest numbers of reported leaks in the network, yielded great results, preventing an estimated half a million litres of water loss per day.
“We’re systematically splitting large water supply zones into smaller ‘district metered areas’ with their own flow metres,” Moore said.
“This data is continuously monitored, and if there are unusual spikes for the time of day – for example during the night when water usage is at its lowest – that’s a good indicator of a leak.
“It gives us a more localised view of likely water loss and guides us on where we need to carry out proactive leak detection to pinpoint the locations of the leaks, so our maintenance crews can carry out repairs.
“This is really important, because not all leaks are visible on the surface.”
On top of the proactive leak detection and repairs, the water pressure in the network is optimised to ensure it’s sufficient for customer use, without being too high and raising the risk of pipe bursts.
“Optimising the pressure can reduce both the number of leaks, and the volume of leaks,” Moore explained.
Other areas focused on in the past year include Cockle Bay, Sylvia Park, Mt Wellington, Remuera, Panmure, Penrose, Otahuhu, Pt Chevalier.
The optimisation programme is part of Watercare’s ongoing work to meet the targets in its Water Efficiency Plan.
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