The Heartland of Alberta’s Approach to Leak Detection

In 2022, the Town of High River, Alberta, started a leak detection program on a series of critical ductile iron (200-, 350-, and 400-mm diameter) and PVC (300-mm) raw watermains and potable distribution mains as well as a steel river crossing. A 2013 flood put much of High River under several feet of water, leading to extensive damage and requiring hundreds of millions of dollars spent on flood mitigation and disaster relief over the past decade. Flooding has the potential to damage a variety of critical infrastructure, including pump stations and buried pipelines. As part of its “build it back better approach,” High River teamed with Pure Technologies and identified and repaired two leaks, reducing lost revenue and ensuring reliability of the system for their growing population. This project will highlight non-disruptive condition assessment approaches for small diameter pipelines managed by small utilities.