Kerala Water Authority is looking to use helium gas technology in leak detection in the distribution network.
As part of recharging the Non-Revenue Water Management (NRWM) units, KWA will be studying the helium gas technology employed by Degremont India, a subsidiary of French company Suez Environment, at its projects in Delhi and Mumbai before submitting a feasibility report within a month.
Ajit B. Patil, managing director, KWA, told The Hindu that the advantage of helium gas technology in identifying the leaks is that it can be deployed in small-size pipelines too.
The cost of the helium gas leak detection project would be about Rs. 80-90 per metre against nearly Rs. 900-1000 a metre that was spent on the smart ball technology for leak detection. The smart ball technology had failed KWA’s requirement of detecting leaks in smaller pipelines.
Mr. Patil said the leak-detection project would become an integral part of NRWM unit as it would help plug the large amount of water loss. There are two components of non-revenue water, physical loss and revenue loss.
While the physical loss had been difficult to identify in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram where NRWM units were set up in 2012, work done so far had been to identify revenue loss.
The total NRW losses were said to be as high as 35 per cent in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
The helium gas technique revolves around the physical properties of the gas being inert, non-toxic and that it does not react with water.
Once injected into the water supply line, it escapes through small leaks in the pipeline. High levels of helium above the pipes under scrutiny can locate and identify leaks.
