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Two pilot projects will see Openreach’s fibre network turn into real-time leak detection grid
The UK’s largest fibre network operator, Openreach, has announced a pair of trials with water companies and tech partners, aiming to use their network to quickly identify costly leaks.
In the first trial, in partnership with Arcadis, Thames Water, and Cadent, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology from FiberSense will be used to pinpoint leaks in both water and gas pipes.
The DAS technology works by measuring the impact of nearby acoustic vibrations on the fibre optic cable’s signal quality. This data is then analysed using machine learning to exclude expected acoustic interference (such as that caused by a car traveling overhead) and identify genuine anomalies like leaks or blockages in nearby pipes.
This technique gives utility companies specific location data about network issues and functions largely as an early warning system, allowing them to tackle problems in a less disruptive manner, before they become emergencies.
According to Cadent, unplanned engineering work to repair these issues costs the UK roughly “£750m every year in terms of economic and social impact”.
The initial trial is running for six months in Hounslow, London, with the potential to expand the project into a London-wide pilot in future.
“Openreach were the obvious choice of telecoms partner for this project. We want to create a model that can be adopted in other UK cities, not just in London. Openreach have the national reach we wanted,” said Sam Bright, Innovation Manager for Thames Water.
FiberSense’s technology is already being used in similar projects worldwide, most notably for monitoring submarine cables such as the upcoming SMAP cable in Australia and the Southern Cross Cable Network in the Pacific.
Openreach’s second, similar project will see the operator partner with Affinity Water, who supplies drinking water to parts of London, eastern and south eastern England, and infrastructure monitoring company Lightsonic. This trial will use Lightsonic’s Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing (DFOS) tech to identify leaks, also through acoustic sensing and subsequent analysis.
The details surrounding this project were more limited, with the location and scope of the trial not yet announced. Nonetheless, it should hopefully contribute to reducing the roughly 3 billion litres of water lot through leakage in the UK each year.
“This is a transformative moment for our leakage strategy. By harnessing Lightsonic’s advanced fibre optic sensing technology and Openreach’s extensive network, we’re unlocking a new era of proactive leak detection,” said James Curtis, Head of Leakage at Affinity Water. “This will help us meet our ambitious leakage reduction targets and deliver a more resilient service to our customers.”
Fibre networks are not the only telco assets that can help to monitor utility infrastructure. In Germany, for example, T-Mobile recently announced a new partnership with Fluid Conservation Systems, using their mobile network to connect to the latter’s acoustic water monitoring sensors.
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