Characterization of an acoustic wireless sensor for water leakage detection in underground pipes

In this paper, characterization of an acoustic wireless sensor for leakage detection in underground pipes is presented. The sensor is based on an acoustic sensing element, called a hydrophone, which senses the noise inside the pipe. The sensor sends the sensed signals wirelessly to a gateway which is located on the ground. The gateway, in turn, relays these signals to a backend server for further processing. For concept-proofing, a novel experimental test-bed has been designed and realized in a water supply facility in Turin, Italy. In this paper, this test-bed is used to characterize the capability of the hydrophone of water leakage detection under high water pressure and under various leakage locations and volumes. The test-bed can also be used to test and evaluate the performance of any device that would operate in high pressure water pipes. The results show that the acoustic sensor is able to detect leakages with different magnitudes and at various locations.