Education in leak detection at training field

20 May 2025

Solution provider

Aarhus Vand is a utility situated in the second largest city in Denmark at Aarhus Bay. We supply and treat water for 350.000 people. Aarhus Vand strive to obtain the most sustainable water cycle through innovation and international partnerships

Want to see this solution first hand?

Add the case to your visit request and let us know that you are interested in visiting Denmark

Challenge

Aarhus Vand has established a leak detection field. Water operators can train and become educated in finding leaks in water pipes. That way abilities in finding leaks are improved, leakages and non revenue water are thereby reduced. The field also works as a test and demonstration of Danish water technology.

Leak detection field at Aarhus Vand

Video credits: Aarhus Vand

Solution

Aarhus Vand has constructed a leak detection field situated at the Business Academy Aarhus in Viby J as a part of Water Living Lab.

The purpose of the field is training and education in finding leaks in water pipes. The future’s national and international water operators will be met with challenges from real life leak detection.

Real-world challenges are copied
Thus, small “pitfalls” have been installed in the form of leaks of different sizes and locations. Leak detection can be trained under different kinds of pavement such as grass, gravel, asphalt and tiles. Water pipes of different materials are also used. So, the challenges in finding a leaks will vary. And, therefore operators in the water supply industry with different experience can use the field.

In the real world, we do not always know where the water pipe is located. That is why the field is constructed so that you also can train identification of the water pipe. We hope that national and international operators will use the field and improve their leak detection skills resulting in a reduced water loss.

Who can use the field?
Utilities, educational institutions and businesses are possible users of the field.

The concept of the field can be used internationally
The design and concept can also be used in other places. Aarhus Vand is currently constructing a leak detection field in Ghana at Ghana Water Institute, where leak detection in Ghana can be trained. Here, the water loss is around 50% and that is why the prospect of training is great.

The leak detection field contains Danish water technology
Underground there is hardware from AVK and Kamstrup. Moreover, the app HeyPipe, which is used for documentation of infrastructure, is also a part of the leak detection field. This way, the field also serves as a demonstration of Danish water technology

Result

Leak detection training using following equipment and methods:

Acoustic listening equipment
Correlator
Trace gas
Leak noise meters
Sectioning of area 0-point
Mobile leakage trailer

Water pipe tracing:

Valve search
Pulse generator (PVC/PE)
Power at different frequencies
Magnetic pipe with probe
Camera with probe

Other training options:

Effect at pressure
Inspection of pipes using camera
Biological tests
New leak detection methods

Technology used

AVK

AVK has supplied smart water sensors for the installed valves (positioners) in the leak detection field. The AVK Smart Water concept consists of battery-powered wireless sensors for data collection directly from the supply network, which is presented live in the customer’s system. The sensors are developed for AVK’s gate valves, fittings, and hydrants. Once installed, they will send data directly from applications in the supply network to the preferred IT system.

Discover

Kamstrup

On the leakage field, you can find one Kamstrup main meter – it is a digital ultrasonic meter, Kamstrup FlowIQ3200, that precisely measures the amount of water that runs in the system which is visible on the meter’s display. In addition, several Kamstrup household meters of the type flowIQ2200 are installed on the leakage field. These meters are capable of listening for noise from leaks in the pipes - both before and after the meters. This is a technology that Kamstrup calls Acoustic Leak Detection (ALD).

Discover

Hey Pipe

The infrastructure has been documented using HeyPipe which is a digital platform that provides point clouds and 3D images of the underground. You can hereby see the conditions and on centimeter-level measure the differences between different pipe owners' infrastructure in the ground. Ground types and eventual high groundwater levels are also information that is available in HeyPipe.

Discover