Acoustic emission techniques: the optimum solution for leakage detection and location in water pipelines

Leaks in water pipelines cause unnecessary waste of limited resources, thus the necessity of leakage prevention and detection. The experience of water distribution companies shows that the reduction of leakage and the preserv ation of a law leakage level can be achieved with a strategy that requires a loss analysis followed by leak detection and location survey Effective te chniques of leak detection by acoustic emission have been developed and tes ted and this paper describes the experience and results obtained with the a pplication of these techniques in the last fifteen years in several, water systems including but not limited to those managed by ASM Brescia S.p.A. in Italy.