MEETING THE CHALLENGE FOR REMOTE LEAK PINPOINTING

BACKGROUND

Ranhill SAJ Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Ranhill Holdings Berhad, is an integrated water supply company in Malaysia, involved in the process of water treatment and distribution of treated water to consumers right up to billing and collection. It serves around 3.1 million population and manages 22,175km of pipes over an area of approximately 19,000km².

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Sector
Ovarro water sector icon
Solution
Ovarro leak detection icon
Product Type
Ovarro leak noise loggers and correlators icon
Brand
Enigma Logo - Leak detection technology from Ovarro
Primeweb leak pinpoint map of water network in Malaysia
THE CHALLENGE

The current Non Revenue Water (NRW) of Johor, as at December 2018, is 24%. In achieving NRW of 5% by 2025, several activities have been done.

One of the activities implemented to achieve the target is by creating SMART DMAs. In the initial stage five DMAs involved in implementing the SMART DMA program.

Enigma3m loggers were deployed at a DMA for at least three months where first month is to find leaks from the correlations obtained, second month to repair leaks and third month will be for monitoring purposes.

THE SOLUTION

Total pipeline length to be covered for the Bandar Putra B, DMA, is 38.51km with 5052 connections.

The Net Night Flow (determined by subtracting Legitimate Night Flow from the Minimum Night Flow) before installation of ENIGMA3m was at 30.99 l/s and total daily flowrate was 6200 m3/day.

During the implementation of SMART DMA, a total of 295 units Enigma3m were installed. Pipeline material and distance of Enigma3m varies depending on pipe material from metal pipe to poly pipe.  A total of 115 leaks were found and repaired in the second month of Enigma3m installation. 

Water network pipe system
A challenging target for leak reduction has been set by Ranhill SAJ and we are exploring technologies that can pinpoint leakage to help us reduce levels of non-revenue water rapidly. The trials with Ovarro have shown that it is possible to deploy sensors that can precisely locate leaks, enabling our teams to carry our rapid repairs.
Zainudin Ngadiran
Section Head of the NRW Control Department, Ranhill SAJ Sdn Bhd
SUCCESS

Further to the results obtained from Enigma3m installation at Bandar Putra, the test was also successful as small leakages at hydrant valves and communication pipes were also able to be located.

Overall, the net night flow reduction (NNF) after 3 months of Enigma3m installation were reduced to 20.08 l/s from 30.99 l/s. This reduction gives a saving of 705 m3/day with a total cost of RM16,920/month (approximately US$4000/month).

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KEY DELIVERABLES
  • Total of 295 Enigma3m units were installed
  • Net night flow reduction after 3 months of Enigma3m installation were reduced to 20.08 l/s from 30.99 l/s
  • Reduction gives a saving of 705 m3/day
  • 115 leaks were found and repaired in the second month of Enigma3m installation