ball valves

The knowledge about the water distribution network varies from city to city and from country to country. This two-year Smart Water Pipes (SWP) project aims at providing answers to these questions by developing self-powered, sensored pipes. These intelligent pipes will enable smart management of the water distribution by sensors fitted to underground distribution pipes. Sensors collect energy from their operational environment and transmit valuable data wirelessly to the surface.Self-powered sensors: The energy demand is not covered by batteries with a limited life-time but by a non-invasive energy harvesting system based on temperature differences in the environment. No access required: Access to the buried water distribution system is usually limited to costly manholes. However, as the sensors in this project are directly attached to the fitting and are self-sufficient in regard to energy and data transmission, no access is required. Consequently, these pipes can be placed at difficult-to-access locations, Unlimited spatial distribution: As the sensors are self-powered and once buried, do not require access, the Smart Water Pipes can be placed any- and everywhere in a water distribution network. This results in a spatially distributed sensor network which is nearly unlimited in terms of spatial resolution. Wireless low-power communication: The sensors communicate with LPWAN techniques enabling real-time communication. This significantly improves monitoring of drinking water networks, as leakages and other anomalies can be detected in real-time. In a nutshell: the Smart Water Pipes project will re-define management of water distribution by integrating novel and energy-autonomous technologies into distribution pipes to allow intelligent, sustainable and spatially distributed management of water infrastructure systems.