Newsletter 
Emergency Services 
Share SmartBall® for Water and Wastewater Pipelines
SmartBall® is an innovative free-swimming in-line leak detection technology designed to operate in a live pipeline. It is a free-swimming foam ball with an instrument-filled aluminum alloy core capable of detecting and locating very small leaks and gas pocket leaks in pipelines.
Brochure
Fluid
- Potable Water
- Raw Water
- Wastewater
Pipe Materials
Pipe Diameters
6" (150mm) and larger
Related Topics
SmartBall® can be inserted and retrieved from a pipeline under normal operation. The ball travels with the water flow for up to 12 hours, collecting information about leaks over many miles of pipeline with a single deployment.
The size of the SmartBall® selected for a specific survey is based on a number of criteria including the diameter of the pipeline, location of in-line valves, the size of the appurtenances through which the SmartBall® is inserted and retrieved, and the presence of other lateral lines. Typically, the SmartBall® will be less than one-third the diameter of the pipeline.
Advantages
- There is no apparatus noise, so it can detect very small leaks.
- Typical location accuracy within 10 ft. (3 m)
- Small size allows it to pass through inline valves, reducers and other appurtenances.
- Long battery life and large memory capacity allows it to operate for up to twelve hours, thereby permitting very long lengths of pipeline to be surveyed with a single deployment (at a water flow rate of 1.64 ft/s ( 0.5 m/s), the ball can travel almost 15 miles (25 km).
- Only two access points are needed into the pipe -- one at insertion and one at extraction.
- Lightweight tracking equipment requiring minimal access to the pipe.
- High leak acoustic sensitivity and leak detection resolution.
- Leak detection ability has been confirmed to exceed that of competing transmission main leak detection technologies independently by the EPA/Battelle
SmartBall® is suitable for numerous applications, including:
- Transmission mains 6-inches (150mm) and greater.
- Pressure pipe of any material.
- Water, raw water and other pressure pipes where insertion and removal can be assured.
How it Works
SmartBall's® acoustic sensor passes through the entire length of pipe being surveyed. The sensor can clearly discern the acoustic activity associated with leaks. This data is recorded and post-processed to report the presence and location of leaks.
SmartBall® calculates the locations of leaks by detecting acoustic pulses emitted by the ball at receivers attached to pipe appurtenances. The locations of the leaks relative to the receiver positions are determined by analyzing arrival times of the pulses.
Additional instrumentation in the SmartBall® is used to calculate flow rates along the pipeline and to identify valves, pipe joints and other features of the line.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Featured Project
 |
Grand Forks Wasterwater Authority - North Dakota, U.S.A. In late October 2008, the Grand Forks Wastewater Authority (Authority) located in Grand Forks; North Dakota initiated a project to conduct a condition assessment of an 8.8 mile 30- and 36-inch wastewater force main. |
Contact Us
Contact Pure today to learn more about how SmartBall® can help you find leaks and gas pockets in your water and wastewater pipelines.