The search for water leaks is now more efficient, thanks to cosmic rays
Focus
Focus
Category Facet
Custom Facet
Search Results
-
Web Content Article · written-by Palvi Andrea Tonziello on-date Sep 30, 2021 3:04 PM
SI Share capital € 10,000,000 fully paid-up REGISTERED OFFICE: V.le Carlo Berti Pichat n. 2/4- Bologna Bologna Company Register Tax code/VAT code 03967341201. The Company's purpose is the creation,...
-
Web Content Article · written-by Palvi Andrea Tonziello on-date Sep 5, 2022 12:19 PM
SI Paid up share capital € 500,000 Registered Office: Via Luigi Galvani n. 17/B - 47122 – Forlì (FC) Revenue Code and Romagna-Forlì-Cesena e Rimini Registry of Companies nr. n.03190670715 The...
-
Web Content Article · written-by Palvi Andrea Tonziello on-date Sep 30, 2021 3:01 PM
SI Share capital € 100,000 fully paid-up REGISTERED OFFICE: Via degli Artigiani 16 - Postcode 67031 - Castel di Sangro (AQ) Gran Sasso d'Italia Business Register Tax code/VAT code no. 01636590661....
-
Web Content Article · written-by LUCIA ALGISI on-date Jun 7, 2023 10:30 AM
SI Paid up share capital € 550,000 Registered office: Cesena (FC) Via Altiero Spinelli, 60 - CAP 47521 Revenue Code: Registro Imprese di Romagna - Forlì-Cesena VAT nr. 04688440405 The Company's...
-
Web Content Article on-date Sep 29, 2021 2:14 PM
Refinitiv 2021 We have been confirmed among the listed companies most committed to promoting diversity, inclusion and people development worldwide. This emerges from the 2021 edition of the...
-
Web Content Article on-date Oct 26, 2021 3:35 PM
398 Refinitiv Hera is confirmed as being one of the listed companies that is most committed in the world to promoting the diversity, inclusion and development of people. This is attested to by the...
-
Web Content Article on-date Sep 29, 2021 2:24 PM
1 Refinitiv 2021 We have been confirmed among the listed companies most committed to promoting diversity, inclusion and people development worldwide. This emerges from the 2021 edition of the...
-
Web Content Article on-date Sep 29, 2021 9:55 AM
2021-09-29 In the international standing provided by Refinitiv’s 2021 “Diversity & Inclusion Index”, the Group ranks 42nd globally, second overall among multi-utilities and third in Italy. Policies...
Comunicati stampa: Price sensitive -
Web Content Article on-date Sep 27, 2021 1:49 PM
SI Why Together? Together, we build the present and the future of our territory. Together, we work for a better world, for this and future generations. Because the involvement and collaboration...
-
Web Content Article on-date Oct 26, 2021 3:38 PM
398 Refinitiv The Hera Group - committed every year with an average of 111 million’s worth of investments to guarantee efficiency and continuity in water service for over 3.6 million people - has...
-
Web Content Article on-date Sep 27, 2021 1:46 PM
Si Together Newsletter Bianco Si GRUPPO
-
Web Content Article on-date Sep 20, 2021 2:35 PM
2021-09-20 The multi-utility, 100% controlled by the Hera Group, won with a bid focused on sustainability and creating value. In the coming months a 12-year contract will be signed with the...
Comunicati stampa: Price sensitive -
Web Content Article on-date Sep 16, 2021 11:47 AM
750 2019-04-16 360 Michele Marsigli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GdahpV2eSM 1 0 Michele Marsigli 640
Tipologia Web Channel: Hera on TV -
Web Content Article on-date Sep 16, 2021 2:45 PM
750 2019-04-16 360 Michele Marsigli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex0-Zcb9S-U 1 0 Michele Marsigli 640
Tipologia Web Channel: Hera on TV -
Web Content Article on-date Sep 10, 2021 4:38 PM
2021-09-13 By acquiring this Veneto-based company, the Hera Group has further consolidated its leadership in the waste management sector. From this and two similar transactions completed in the...
Comunicati stampa: Price sensitive M&A -
Web Content Article on-date Sep 13, 2021 2:34 PM
Herambiente acquires Vallortigara Group The Hera Group has further strengthened its national leadership in the waste management sector, more specifically in industrial waste treatment. The Group,...
-
Web Content Article · written-by Palvi Andrea Tonziello on-date Sep 10, 2021 12:04 PM
SI Marco Del Giaccio Purchasing and Contracts Manager Born in Velletri (Rome) in 1978. In August 2021, he became Purchasing and Contracts Manager of the Group Corporate Services Department of...
-
Web Content Article on-date Sep 9, 2021 1:01 PM
2021-09-09 Through its subsidiary EstEnergy, the Group has acquired 11% of the share capital of Ascotrade, a gas and electricity sales company, from Bim Gsp, now controlling it entirely. This...
Comunicati stampa: Price sensitive Hera Spa M&A -
Web Content Article on-date Sep 9, 2021 10:30 AM
750 2019-04-16 360 Michele Marsigli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa6NXjZxnfw 784 1 0 Michele Marsigli 640
Tipologia Web Channel: Hera on TV -
Web Content Article on-date Sep 3, 2021 9:46 AM
(drafted pursuant to article 85-bis, paragraph 4-bis, of Consob Regulation 11971 / 14 May 1999)
Comunicati stampa: Shareholders’ meeting Price sensitive
Asset Publisher
Hera continues experimentation of the innovative, fast and low-cost contactless system that uses space technology to detect water leaks in the network more quickly and productively
So far, the method used to find leaks in the water mains that run under our streets has been acoustic detection: technicians walk the kilometres of asphalt above the mains and use special devices to locate leakage points.
Now, however, thanks to a system that uses cosmic rays, detection can also be carried out while following the network path in a car, thus proving faster and more profitable.
Cosmic rays: what are they and how can they be used?
Cosmic rays are an innovative method for water leak detection, based on the analysis of neutrons derived from secondary cosmic rays. It follows the same principle used to test whether there is water on Mars, but it can have different applications; for example, it is used in agriculture in the US for targeted irrigation.
In short, this technology exploits non-damaging particles, the neutrons, from space. These continuously impact Earth, generating collisions between secondary beams, the energy of which decreases according to the material that is passed through. In particular, hydrogen in water interacts with neutrons by slowing them down or absorbing them. The amount of water in the ground can therefore be assessed by monitoring neutrons in the air: ground where water is present in a higher percentage will have a greater moderating/absorbing effect on cosmic rays than a drier area.
By analysing the concentration of free cosmic rays, the presence of a water leak can be determined quickly and accurately, saving considerable time compared to traditional methods of investigation. In fact, this system can control a considerably larger network area, because it can travel on any vehicle on which it is mounted.
The search can be carried out by real-time identification, i.e. simply by the passage of the device over the tube and immediate verification of the leakage as soon as the sensor signals a decrease in the number of neutrons, or by deferred search, when the sensor placed on a moving vehicle passes over the area several times and then indicates the wettest spots.
The operator will no longer need to walk the entire water network with the geophone, but can go directly to the points identified on the map.
Experimentation and results
Together with the Department of Nuclear Physics at the University of Padua, we have developed a device that, mounted on a car, allows operators to travel along the network and monitor the concentration of neutrons on the road surface.
The vehicle moves at a speed of 40-50 km/h along the road under which the water network runs and, using cosmic ray analysis, the levels of detected neutrons are shown on a display. When the concentration drops, it is a sign that the neutrons have been retained under the soil by a cluster of water. When this happens, it means that there may be a water leak in that very spot, underground, and technicians can promptly intervene for repairs.
The testing of this technology, which we have been conducting since 2021, has confirmed the scientific soundness of the method: out of several thousand kilometres investigated, the same number of ruptures were found as with the traditional acoustic method, but with the advantage that the cosmic ray method is more productive, since the operator moves around in a car rather than on foot.
With a network of some 30,000 kilometres to check, having this tool allows us to make great strides. In addition, cosmic rays are sensitive to even modest leaks, such as those from pipe joints, which are more difficult to detect accurately.
This technology, which we have implemented thanks to a partnership with the start-up Cosmic and the team at Neptune Srl, is based on an isotope of lithium, lithium-6, which is the element that allows us to detect neutrons. We will continue to use it alongside the classic acoustic method, to locate all possible leaks and increase the level of effectiveness of interventions.
Search Bar
Tag Facet
Search Results
Asset Publisher