Case Study: Echologics achieves faster, more accurate water-main leak detection with COMSOL Multiphysics

Echologics - Customer Case Study

Echologics, a division of Mueller Canada, Ltd., provides noninvasive acoustic leak-detection systems (including LeakFinderST™ and EchoShore®-DX) to find leaks in aging water mains. Their challenge was accurately predicting the speed of sound in buried pipes—a value that depends on material, geometry and mixed-material repairs (e.g., cast iron patched with PVC)—so that time-of-flight correlations could precisely locate leaks, even in high-attenuation plastic sections.

Using Comsol’s simulation tools, Echologics built a finite-element multiphysics model and a custom simulation app (based on COMSOL Multiphysics and deployed via COMSOL Server) that couples acoustics, structure and flow, computes segment-by-segment speeds of sound, and lets users vary materials and geometry and enter field measurements. The Comsol-based solution sped design iterations, improved accuracy in leak localization (including small PVC leaks), enabled field engineers to run analyses without specialist knowledge, and helped reduce water loss and repair costs by finding leaks earlier and more reliably.

Echologics

Sebastien Perrier

R&D Acoustical Scientist