AVK CSR 2023-24 web - Flipbook - Page 25
CASE
Pressure adjustment techniques to
minimise leaks and reduce energy
consumption
Pressure adjustment is considered an important
and cost-effective leakage management
activity. The higher the pressure, the more
water is lost through bursts and leakages.
Furthermore, most pipe bursts occur not only
due to high pressure, but rather due to pressure
fluctuations that cause pipes to constantly
contract or expand, resulting in stress fractures.
Pressure adjustment is also a way to reduce
unnecessary energy consumption. By allowing
lower pressure in general, especially during offpeak hours, energy consumption for pumping
can be reduced. The pressure can be adjusted
to the critical point at a strategic consumer
in the DMA which means that no energy will
be used to pump water to a higher level than
necessary.
Manually monitored Pressure Reducing Valves
(PRVs) requires the utility to go to the valve
location and manually check the pressure
gauge. This is time-consuming and in principle,
PRVs can fail within minutes of being manually
inspected, meaning the pressure is not reduced
correctly. Using wireless battery-powered
pressure sensors, PRVs can be monitored
every minute or every five minutes, achieving a
constant online monitoring.
WATER SUPPLY NETWORK OF THE FUTURE
– SMART GATE VALVES INSTALLED IN THE
NETHERLANDS
AVK Nederland and Evides have enjoyed a
good customer-supplier relationship for many
years. Evides, a provider of drinking water, is
continuously working on making its business
operations more sustainable. As part of the
“Pipeline Network of the Future” research
programme, they have investigated different
techniques that help gain insights into the water
supply network to secure that future investment
can be made in a well-founded, targeted, and
cost-effective manner, including attention to
making various assets ‘smart’.
In this context, Evides installed and tested eight
AVK VIDI Positioner on four gate valves in OudBeijerland. The purpose of this installation was
to smarten up the water supply network and to
ensure that more information about the status of
the gate valve could be collected.
The installation
The VIDI Positioners are installed in combination
with an AVK extension spindle on multi-turn
valves and transmits data wirelessly to Evides.
The starting position of the valve in question
is activated via the AVK Assist app on any
smartphone. As soon as the extension
spindle is turned, the VIDI Positioner registers
the movements. The device transmits data
immediately via NB-IoT communication network
(band 8 & 20) and retransmit the position after 5
and 10 minutes and after 1, 6, 12, and 24 hours.
A live signal is transmitted every 24 hours if the
position has not changed.
Successful pilot at Evides
On valves that are not a part of the test, the
preferred position of each valve is noted in
writing. If the position changes, this is processed
manually which means that information is not
always up to date. If the actual valve position
does not correspond to the one noted down, this
can lead to problems in the event of malfunctions:
an adjustment of the valve position can then
cause more complaints.
After completing all the steps, the installation
of the positioners went smoothly with good
support from AVK. Likewise, the installation of
the AVK Assist app was straightforward. The pilot
has now lasted more than six months, and the
positioners have been working flawlessly ever
since transmitting the valve positions accurately
and on time.
The conclusion of the pilot at Evides highlights
that the VIDI Positioner improves the efficiency of
the registration of the valve position and ensures
that the registered position is correct. The VIDI
Positioner also functions as an alarm when the
valve is in a position other than the preferred
position. Installing VIDI Positioners can therefore
save a lot of time.
Evides supplies drinking water to 2.5 million
consumers and companies in the provinces South
Holland, Zeeland, and North Brabant.
AVK Sustainability report 2023/2024 | 25
