Detecting Invisible leaks in water network, helium way

SUEZ has been supporting several utilities in India to improve water supply and service delivery for the residents. It is a known fact that the water supply can’t be improved unless leakages are arrested, especially the invisible ones. In India, it is estimated that most of the cities lose around 40-50% of water in their network.
The mission

As a global leader in water management, our goal has been to combine “custom-built” innovative techniques and operational excellence, with a view at not only delivering high-quality services but also at developing innovative solutions with our clients and stakeholders in line with their requirements.

Our solution

In this context, the Helium Leak Detection technique has been crucial in supporting various water services projects across India.  It is well adapted for cities of developing countries where intermittent supply, low pressure, non-metallic pipes and noisy environment make detection with traditional techniques difficult and inefficient.

 

The technique needs no pre-localisation for leak detection, is highly accurate and finds more leaks compared to any other technique in a network with high percentage of physical losses.
Why Helium Gas?

 

Helium is a safe gas and used extensively in medical processes and food packaging industry. Helium is a rare inert gas and its concentration in air is always constant which makes it easy to correlate for leak finding. It is present in the atmosphere only in small quantities (5 ppm) and so the background noise for the helium detection instrument is very low.

 

Advantages

  • Works effectively even in non-supply hours
  • Distribution networks with low pressure
  • Not depended upon the Operator's hearing (judgmental) skills
  • Least affected from the background noises or the traffic conditions
  • Works on all soil types
The result

15 million people have been benefited by SUEZ India’s expertise in improving water network and distribution which was only possible because of the leak detection through this technique. Most importantly, SUEZ has received loads of appreciation from the Utilities and the residents as this didn’t disturb their daily lives during the implementation of this process.