Detecting Water Leakage Patterns Using Ground Penetrating Radar in Clay and Sandy Soils

Non-Revenue Water (NRW) relates to water that disappears or is unaccounted for due to water pipeline leakage. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a method that can be used to detect water leaks from water pipes. It operates by utilizing the principle of dielectric contrast detection with electromagnetic signals. This study aims to determine the spatial arrangement of subsurface water leaks in two different soil types (Clay and Sandy) from different water pipe materials (metal and HDPE pipes). A prototype model was constructed to replicate soil water loss at a depth of 0.55m. The leak simulation involved separate testing of perforated HDPE and metal pipes under different soil conditions. An analysis is conducted to investigate the alteration in the hyperbolic shape of the pipe, and the disparity in the speed of the GPR and dielectric signals is computed to verify the presence of water leaking. The study’s findings indicate that the dielectric material and soil type influence the velocity. Specifically, the velocity is reduced in soil containing HDPE and stronger in soil containing iron pipes. HDPE pipes in clay soil, the velocity is measured at 0.060m/ns with a dielectric value 25. For iron pipes in clay soil, the velocity is measured at 0.100m/ns with a dielectric value of 9. The confirmation of GPR signal detection on soil exhibits a consistent pattern. GPR signal radargrams demonstrate that detecting metal pipes is more feasible with GPR than HDPE pipes, even in the presence of water losses. While the findings indicate that iron pipes disrupt the assessment of leakage water distribution patterns by GPR signals, yet nevertheless yield accurate results for leak detection.