Possible consequences of calamities with water pipelines are major environmental and reputational damage along with high repair costs. Six years ago founders Siemen van der Heide and Rudy Dijkstra of Acquaint started the development of a tool that can solve these challenges. In 2017 they collaborated with four drinking water companies to develop the Acquarius. An inline inspection tool for efficient and accurate pipeline inspections.
‘’I have always had a passion for technology’’, says Van der Heide. Six years ago his desire to also apply his acquired knowledge and experience with the development of inspection equipment and eventually the inspection of pipelines in the oil and gas sector in the water sector took shape, when Rudy Dijkstra asked him to work with him on exceptional inspection tools for the drinking and wastewater sector. The sector needs innovative solutions to be able to conduct inspections. The first inline inspection tool, the Acquarius, was developed in collaboration with the sector.
Before the creation of the unique inline inspection tool, pipelines would be replaced without e.g. knowledge of the condition of the pipeline. Due to the lack of knowledge, pipelines would be replaced even though they could still be used for years. The inspections would be done with cameras and cables, for which the length is limited to hundred meters. In the end these tools provided insufficient information and were not everywhere applicable.
With the Acquarius tool we wanted to solve these problems. Now we are able to inspect all types of pipelines with the Acquarius. And it is possible to inspect several kilometres in one run. Currently our longest run has been eight kilometres. It can be even longer, depending on the way the pipeline was build. ‘’Our clients do not only appreciate the technology, they also really like that we arrange everything,’’ says Van der Heide. ‘’We bring the inspection tool with us; the operation is done by our inspection team and then we analyse the data and process it into a report’’. With the data obtained from the Acquarius it is now possible for asset managers to make a better risk analysis of their pipeline network.
Curious about the experiences of our clients with carried out inspections? Check the following link for more information about the inspection that we recently performed for Delfland Water Authority.
It is Siemen van der Heide’s ambition to develop new techniques to be able to offer clients the perfect solution. ‘’I am a problem solver, naturally always looking for practical solutions’’. We continue to optimise the Acquarius to create the best ‘’insights’’. More about that in the next newsletter. Not signed up yet? Sign up here.
Would you like get more information about the Acquarius? Please contact our Chief Operating Officer Siemen van der Heide via email: siemen@acquaint.eu.