This project would use time domain reflectometry along a cable placed underneath a water pipeline to both detect and locate leaks.
The cable would consist of two twisted pairs (for redundancy) and some form of permeable insulation which would keep out debris and allow in moisture. It would be placed underneath pipes either when installed or during maintenance.
Monitoring stations could be one of two things-
- A simple weatherproof housing to protect cable ends
- could possibly house copies of previous data
- this would require only 1 TDR machine total
- An automated station, housing permanent TDR equipment and
- possibly tied into any existing pumping station remote communications
- could be solar powered
I did my undergrad on this very project.
I used sound sensors mounted on the pipes and then simply compared the time between signals to each sensor. It worked very well and was turned into a product which is now in wide use in the water industry.
My part of the project was attempting to classify the type of leak using an SVM. It worked less well.