Brabant Water uses PipeScanner as verification tool in pipeline replacement decisions

Brabant Water replaces around 190 kilometres of distribution and transport pipelines per year as part of their replacement programme. Selecting and then prioritising the pipes must be done properly to ensure that the investment budget is spent as efficiently as possible. Jan Snel, consultant asset management & asset data management, together with several colleagues, compiles the replacement programme.

Replacement programme distribution pipelines within Brabant Water

In 2022, Brabant Water developed the distribution pipeline replacement programme 2025 . Selecting and prioritising the replacement of distribution pipelines is done on the basis of a number of different parameters, for example: 

• ‘Rasmariant’: a risk model that makes a statement about the theoretical residual life based on various parameters, including material, age and impact; 
• The number of failures;
• Internal signals from mechanics or employees.

Snel explains: “We have been operating this replacement programme for several years. With the arrival of the PipeScanner, we have an additional method to partly base our replacement choices on. For instance, we can use the data obtained to check whether the assumptions we make based on the grade meters are correct. We do this on a random basis”.

The PipeScanner

Through collaboration with Brabant Water, Acquaint developed the PipeScanner a couple of years ago and in March 2020, Acquaint and Brabant Water signed a letter of intent for the deployment and continuous development of the PipeScanner. Since then, an average of 200 scans have been carried out every year by a group of trained technicians.

“The PipeScanner is compact, easy to use and can inspect pipes externally, i.e. without destructive actions. After an inspection, the tool sends the measurement data via the technician’s tablet to Acquaint’s Cloud environment, which can be accessed through an online dashboard. The data is analysed by Acquaint and made available to us via the same dashboard. A major advantage of the PipeScanner is that our own technicians can measure the condition of a pipe on location, planned and unplanned, which gives flexibility. Working on the go avoids AC pipes being packed and collected centrally, which saves handling and travel,” Snel said.

The PipeScanner is compact, easy to use and can inspect pipes externally, i.e. without destructive actions.

Jan Snel – Advisor Asset Management & Asset Data Management at Brabant Water

Utilisation of the PipeScanner by Brabant Water

There are three scenarios in which Brabant Water uses the PipeScanner:

1. After a failure: Here, the aim is to determine immediately after a failure whether it is a local problem, incidental cause, or whether the condition of the pipe is poor.
2. Exit assessments: These scans are performed on pipelines that need to be replaced according to the replacement programme. The Pipescanner is used to examine the condition of the pipes that have been taken out. The desire is to draw conclusions over time, based on more data, about the relationship between the theoretical expectation and the actual condition of these pipes.
3. Proactive scans: Most of the scans, about 50%, are performed to prioritise the list of pipelines in need of replacement or to postpone the replacement of a pipeline if its condition is still considered good. In addition, these scans are used when pipelines are made accessible by third parties (e.g. municipalities) so that, in time, the replacement of a pipeline will be simplified for Brabant Water.

Snel describes an example of the latter situation, shown in the picture below: “The municipality informed us that they were going to open up the street in an area for certain works (light green area) and asked us if we wanted to go along too, in other words: if we wanted to replace the pipelines lying in that area. In this situation, however, we opted not to go along, as we carried out two pipeline scans at the height of these planned works which showed that the condition was sufficient (light green pentagon). Based on this, we make the assumption that the other AC pipelines are also of a sufficient quality.”

Based on the data obtained earlier from the PipeScanner, we decided not to go along during a job by the municipality, as we could assume that the quality of the pipe was good.

Jan Snel – Advisor Asset Management & Asset Data Management at Brabant Water

The PipeScanner and the future

Brabant Water and Acquaint together annually evaluate the added value of the PipeScanner, its use, development points and the cooperation ‘an sich’. Snel says: “So far, we are satisfied with the PipeScanner and Acquaint. We are also getting positive feedback from our mechanics about the use of the PipeScanner. We see that Acquaint has continued to develop the PipeScanner, both hardware and software-wise.

As for the future, Snel says: “For the time being, we want to continue using the PipeScanner, because we believe that this tool allows us to make smarter choices and use our budget as efficiently as possible. This way, we will recoup the cost of using the PipeScanner”.