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Fixing Inefficient Water Networks ‘Key’ To Reducing Water Shortages
The main problem that companies face when it comes to their water usage is how much money they spend on waste, as a result of continuous leaks.
Ageing pipes and technologies have meant that even when leaks are fixed, the infrastructure is still inefficient and repairs are repeatedly needed in the future.
Oliena, on the Italian island of Sardinia, was one location that really suffered with water problems, the Telegraph reported.
It relied heavily on a good water source for its farming and craft sectors that support its economy, which meant that its unreliable and intermittent supply was having a negative impact on its industries.
As a result of this, it got involved in a water management programme run by Aulos – a division of Hitachi that concentrates on saving energy and preserving water resources.
The organisation got to work to detect what the problem was to come up with a long-term solution.
Speaking with the news provider, general manager of Hitachi Drives & Automation Giacomo Meroni said: “We had to look for the original causes and suggest actions to address those inefficiencies, to improve the overall infrastructure.”
He noted that just fixing leaks does not resolve the issues, as they “soon return”.
While repairing leaks is crucial to prevent water waste, the priority in this region was to focus on creating a good level of efficiency first. This will, in turn, reduce leakage through better use of the network.
According to Mr Meroni, leaks are the reason why Italy loses 38 per cent of its water, with this figure reaching as high as 60 per cent in some areas where its water infrastructure is particularly poor.
The solution was to introduce the Oliena project, which concentrated on improving pressure management and air control, and stabilising the network.
Since it was completed in mid-2016, water loss in Oliena has fallen by 50 per cent, helping to recover the €200,000 (£177,441) investment that was put into the initiative. It has been so successful that the project has acted as an impetus to roll out similar water-saving procedures across the rest of Sardinia.
Thirty towns on the island are already scheduled to see water management systems implemented, with this figure increasing by a further 100 next year and another 100 in 2019.
As the Oliena project shows, using water leak detection services can save a lot of money and energy. This could act as an example for the UK after water watchdog, the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater), recently commented that water leak detection was no longer a priority for the water industry.
It revealed that 3.1 billion litres of water was lost every day last year across England and Wales, while leakage levels rose by more than one per cent during this period.
CCWater found the biggest culprits in not reducing water leakages to be Dee Valley Water, Thames Water, Portsmouth Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, Cambridge Water, and Bristol Water.
By investing in better water management technologies instead of constantly repairing every leak, they would be able to cut down on water wastage in the long run.