External Abrasion Caused by Leakages in Potable Water Distribution System Pipes
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 11, Issue 4
Abstract
External abrasion caused by leaks in pipe connections is a constant risk for water distribution systems (WDSs). Phenomena related to pipe leakages may lead not only to flow losses and pressure drops in locations where they occur but also potential damage in buried pipes due to soil fluidization. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that pipe failures can be developed by this leakage phenomenon that causes soil fluidization. Through experimental research using a model with pipes of various materials, the impact of a leak in the outer walls of a buried pipe was simulated. Results showed that regardless of the material, size, or any other input variable, every pipeline is vulnerable to external abrasion. A future improved model could be developed using water under pressure to perform simulations, which may lead to further contributions. Results from this study suggest that improving materials should not be the only concern when designing water networks, and particular attention should be paid to enhance the quality of pipe connections.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Alsaydalani, M. O. A. 2017. “Influence of cavitation phenomenon on the hydraulic behavior of leaks in water distribution systems.” J. Water Supply Res. Technol. AQUA 66 (5): 327–339. https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2017.013.
De Marchis, M., C. M. Fontanazza, G. Freni, V. Notaro, and V. Puleo. 2016. “Experimental evidence of leaks in elastic pipes.” Water Resour. Manage. 30 (6): 2005–2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1265-2.
Fox, S., R. Collins, and J. Boxall. 2016. “Physical investigation into the significance of ground conditions on dynamic leakage behaviour.” J. Water Supply Res. Technol. AQUA 65 (2): 103–115. https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2015.079.
Latifi, M., S. T. Naeeni, and A. Mahdavi. 2018. “Experimental assessment of soil effects on the leakage discharge from polyethylene pipes.” Water Sci. Technol. Water Supply 18 (2): 539–554. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2017.134.
Majid, Z. A., R. Moshin, Z. Yaacob, and Z. Hassan. 2010. “Failure analysis of natural gas pipes.” Eng. Fail. Anal. 17 (4): 818–837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2009.10.016.
Mih, W. C., and J. Kabir. 1983. “Impingement of water jets on nonuniform streambeds.” J. Hydraul. Eng. 109 (4): 536–548.
National Sanitation Foundation. 1955. A study of plastic pipe for potable water supplies. Ann Arbor, MI: School of Public Health, Univ. of Michigan.
Pike, S., J. van Zyl, and R. Clayton. 2018. “Scouring damage to buried pipes caused by leakage jets: Experimental study.” J. Pipeline Syst. Eng. Pract. 9 (4): 04018020. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)PS.1949-1204.0000328.
Van Zyl, J. E., M. O. Alsaydalani, C. R. Clayton, T. Bird, and A. Dennis. 2013. “Soil fluidisation outside leaks in water distribution pipes—Preliminary observations.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. Water Manage. 166 (10): 546–555. https://doi.org/10.1680/wama.11.00119.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 11 • Issue 4 • November 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 19, 2019
Accepted: Jun 15, 2020
Published online: Jul 31, 2020
Published in print: Nov 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Dec 31, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.