Leak detection in water distribution networks: an introductory overview

TLDR

Leaks in water transmission pipelines are a growing concern for the industry. The study aims to review the history of leak detection in pipelines and propose a novel identify‑localize‑pinpoint framework. The authors surveyed web‑of‑knowledge databases, visualized results with VOSviewer and CiteNetExplorer, and analyzed a random sample of papers to chart four decades of progress, while proposing the new framework. The study identifies the ten most common keywords, distinguishes static and dynamic leak detection systems and their capabilities, and summarizes popular technologies in the field.

Abstract

Abstract Leaks in resource transmission pipelines is a growing concern for the water transmission industry. This creates a need to prevent the threat of leaks and minimize their damages through extensive research in leak detection technology. This research work provides a thorough investigation into the history of leak detection in pipelines by surveying the web of knowledge database and visualizing the outputs using visualization software VOSviewer and CiteNetExplorer. The analysis of the web of knowledge output presents a set of the ten most used keywords in the field of leak detection in pipelines that are further described and analyzed. Additionally, in-depth analysis of a randomly selected sample of papers was conducted to draw a sense of the progress in the industry over the past four decades. This article also defines a novel approach to define the leak detection phases, i.e., the identify-localize-pinpoint approach. Furthermore, two classes of leak detection systems are identified, static leak detection systems and dynamic leak detection systems. The two systems are defined as well as their differentiative capabilities. Finally, this article provides a summary of popular leak detection technologies to provide a broad sense of understanding for the leak detection field of research.