Cargando...
Cargando...
Leak Detectors
Leak pre-locators are field devices designed to quickly and non-invasively identify network sections with the highest likelihood of an active leak, before a precise pinpoint intervention with acoustic correlators takes place. Unlike multi-point correlation, which calculates a leak's exact location between two sensors, pre-location serves an earlier function: sweeping long stretches of network to quickly narrow down where precise location efforts should focus.
These devices — electronic geophones, permanent acoustic sensors, and portable listening units — pick up the characteristic noise generated by pressurized water escaping through valves, hydrants, or the ground above a pipeline. Their operational value lies in speed: they let a field crew cover kilometers of network in a short time, flagging points of interest before deploying more specialized, higher-cost-per-point correlation equipment.
Incorporating pre-locators into a non-revenue water (NRW) reduction program optimizes technical resource use: instead of exhaustively correlating every network segment, the utility prioritizes interventions where the pre-locator has already flagged a signal of interest. This reduces field time, optimizes crew allocation, and accelerates the full detection-confirmation-repair cycle.
Marfel distributes acoustic pre-location equipment for utilities and consulting firms specializing in loss reduction, as part of a complete ecosystem that includes geophones, multi-point correlators, and permanent monitoring systems.
Before precisely correlating the exact point of a leak, a utility faces an earlier challenge: which section, out of kilometers of buried network, should get its resources? Leak pre-locators solve exactly this stage, acting as the first filter within a structured leak detection and non-revenue water (NRW) reduction program.
How It Works
Pre-locators operate through acoustic sensors that pick up the noise generated by pressurized water escaping through a crack or faulty joint in the pipeline. Professional portable systems based on acoustic technology — listening geophones, digital correlators, and multi-correlators — complement high-performance leak detectors such as night-time and semi-permanent listening systems. The technician walks the network placing the sensor on valves, hydrants, or directly on the ground, and the device indicates through sound level and intensity which points warrant deeper analysis.
There is also a semi-permanent pre-location approach: acoustic sensors are placed at various points across the network to provide continuous monitoring, attach easily to the pipeline via a magnet, and transmit an alarm signal once a potential leak is detected, which the operator can later correlate. This approach allows continuous monitoring of entire network sections without requiring constant field presence.
Business Value
The cost of exhaustively correlating an entire network, segment by segment, is considerable in crew time and specialized equipment. Pre-locators reduce that cost by quickly filtering the points most likely to have an active leak, allowing precision correlators — which carry a higher operational cost per measurement — to be used only where return on investment is greatest.
Operational Benefits
Key advantages include: fast coverage of large network areas, reduced field crew time, objective prioritization of segments for precision correlation, the option of semi-permanent monitoring without constant intervention, and a first layer of data that feeds sector-level NRW diagnostics.
Integration with the Loss Reduction Program
Pre-locators don't operate in isolation. Their data integrates with minimum night flow analysis per DMA to confirm areas of interest, with multi-point acoustic correlators to pinpoint the exact location once a segment is narrowed down, and with management platforms that document the historical record of detected leaks by sector — key input for infrastructure renewal planning.
Scalability
A program can start with portable pre-location equipment operated by a specialized crew, covering the DMAs with the highest loss rates, and evolve toward semi-permanent acoustic sensors installed at strategic network points for continuous monitoring, as the utility validates results and defines its medium-term investment strategy.
Having the right pre-location equipment makes the difference between an efficient leak reduction program and one that consumes resources without proportional results. Marfel can help you define which pre-location technology best fits your network's characteristics.
