行业新闻

01

Uisce Éireann currently manages more than 63,000 miles of network pipes, much of which uses infrastructure from the 19th century, to deliver drinking water to the Greater Dublin area. It currently takes 600 million litres of water from the Liffey to service the needs of the Greater Dublin area. Overall, the water network in the Greater Dublin area comprises approximately 10,000km of water mains, of which 2,500 are trunk mains.

Uisce Éireann目前管理超过63,000英里的供水管网，其中相当部分仍沿用19世纪建设的基础设施，为大都柏林地区输送饮用水。该公司每天从利菲河取水6亿升，以满足大都柏林地区的需求。整体而言，该地区的供水网络长度约1万公里，其中2,500公里为输水干管。

On average, the utility estimates that across Ireland, over 30 per cent of all treated water is lost every day through leaking pipes before it reaches taps. In the Greater Dublin area, the utility fixes an average of 2,000 leaks every month, with more than 200 experts dedicated to the task.

据该公司估计，在全爱尔兰范围内，每天约有超过30%的处理水在到达水龙头前因漏损而白白流失。在大都柏林地区，该公司平均每月修复约2,000处漏损，并配备超过200名技术专家负责相关工作。

02

Ireland may not seem an obvious country to be suffering from water supply issues; it rains a lot. However, after recent dry spells, it was placed on a warning list by the European Drought Observatory: Ireland is suffering from water scarcity issues, which means that supply is struggling to keep up with demand. While winter rainfall levels remain steady, recent summers have seen significant reductions.

爱尔兰并不被视为缺水国家——毕竟这里全年多雨。然而，近期的干旱使其被欧洲干旱观测站列入预警名单：爱尔兰正面临水资源短缺，意味着供给已难以满足需求。尽管冬季降雨仍较稳定，但近年夏季降雨明显减少。

Geography also plays a part; the biggest demand for water comes from Ireland’s east coast, including the capital city, Dublin. However, most of the rain falls on the West Coast. Factor in a growing population, ageing infrastructure and associated water losses, inadequate storage facilities, and increased demand from industry and agriculture, and associated water treatment demand, and it is clear to see why scarcity becomes an issue.

地理格局进一步加剧了矛盾：爱尔兰的用水需求主要集中在包括首都都柏林在内的东海岸，而降雨量最大的区域却在西海岸。人口增长、基础设施老化及由此导致的漏损、储水设施不足，以及工业与农业用水增加及相应的水处理需求，都使得供水短缺愈发明显。

Dublin is on the drier eastern seaboard, but with more than a quarter of the country’s total population living there, water demand is extremely high. As much as 80 per cent of the city’s drinking water supply is extracted from the Liffey, a figure that increases when looking at the Greater Dublin area. This reliance on the Liffey exposes the entire Dublin region to vulnerabilities caused by drought or pollution events.

都柏林位于相对干燥的东海岸，却集中了全国超过四分之一的人口，用水需求极高。城市饮用水供应中多达80%来自利菲河，若纳入更广泛的大都柏林地区，这一比例更高。对利菲河的高度依赖，使整个都柏林区域在遭遇干旱或污染事件时暴露于显著风险之中。

“At 132km long, it's probably one of the most important rivers in the country from a water supply perspective,” Milton explained. “It supplies drinking water to two million people in the greater Dublin area, along with a host of industries.”

Milton解释道：“利菲河全长132公里，从供水角度看，它可能是全国最重要的河流之一。它为大都柏林地区的两百万人以及众多产业提供饮用水。”

Five times more water is taken from the Liffey than from any other river in Ireland, but despite its importance, it only just scrapes into the top 20 rivers in the country by size.

利菲河的取水量是爱尔兰其他任何河流的五倍，但尽管如此，它在河流规模排名中仅勉强进入全国前20。

Uisce Éireann inherited the water network a little over 10 years ago. It embarked on a sustainable and sustained investment plan to drive down leakage rates. Having made significant reductions in the following decade, the utility found the challenge had actually become tougher.

Uisce Éireann在十余年前接手供水网络后，便启动了一项可持续且持续性的投资计划，以降低漏损率，并在随后十年取得显著成效。然而，进一步的进展却变得更加困难。

“We're finding now, once we've gotten to that 30-33 per cent, it gets harder to get further,” began Milton. “It's the old saying, ‘what got you here won't get you there’. So, we knew we needed to do something a little bit different.”

Milton指出：“当漏损率降至30%—33%水平后，我们发现继续往下改善变得更加艰难。就像那句话所说：‘把你带到这里的办法未必能带你走得更远’。因此，我们知道必须寻找新的突破。”

There is no doubt that current levels of water loss are already too high; however, the utility also faces further challenges. As a result of economic growth, population growth and the impact of climate change, the utility predicts that the Greater Dublin Area will need 34 per cent more water than is currently available.

当前的漏损水平显然已经过高，但公司还面临其他压力。随着经济增长、人口增加以及气候变化的影响，大都柏林地区未来的用水需求预计将比当前供应能力高出34%。

One way to reduce demand on the Liffey and help to meet future demand is to reduce even further the volume of water lost to leakage.

要降低对利菲河的依赖、并满足未来需求，其中一条现实可行的路径，就是进一步削减因漏损而浪费的水量。

To address the challenge of going ‘further’, Uisce Éireann started ‘horizon scanning’ for suitable partners and technologies. Eventually, the utility partnered with Suez and Microsoft, as part of the latter’s global water positive drive, to facilitate a project focused on the trunk main with the highest levels of leakage in the Greater Dublin area. Spanish cleantech company Aganova was chosen to supply its Nautilus technology.

为进一步降低漏损率，Uisce Éireann开始进行“前瞻性扫描”（horizon scanning），以寻找合适的合作伙伴及技术方案。最终，该公司与Microsoft及Suez达成合作关系，作为Microsoft全球“水资源正效益”（water positive）行动的一部分，共同推进一项聚焦于大都柏林地区漏损率最高的输水干管的专项项目。西班牙清洁技术企业Aganova则被选中提供其Nautilus技术。

“We have ambitious targets to get down to 20 per cent lost in the greater Dublin area, and 25 per cent nationally by 2030,” Milton said. “We've got to do something a little bit different and embrace new technologies, like AI, to help us in that journey and with the ‘war on leakage’ as we call it.”

Milton表示：“我们制定了宏伟的目标，要在2030年前将大都柏林地区的漏损率降至20%，全国降至25%。为此，我们必须采用全新的方法，拥抱包括人工智能在内的先进技术，来推动我们所说的这场‘遏漏之战’。”

Aganova’s Nautilus is a spherical device that can travel up to 35km in one day along large pipes. It is equipped with acoustic sensors and utilises AI-driven analysis that provides real-time detection of leaks, accurate to under one metre.

Aganova的Nautilus是一种可在大口径管道中运行的一体式球形装置，每天可行进多达35公里。其内置声学传感器，并结合AI驱动的数据分析，可实时检测漏点，定位精度在一米以内。

Nautilus also provides flow rate to determine the severity of the leak and pressure profiling to highlight early warning signs of corrosion and cracks.

Nautilus还能提供流量数据，以判断漏损的严重程度，并通过压力剖面分析识别早期腐蚀与裂纹迹象。

Marcos Barrera Parrilla, chief operating officer, Aganova, explains the benefits of using Nautilus technology: “In water distribution, there are two assets, one is water, the other is the pipe. We take care of them both; we detect leaks and we assess the condition of the pipes as well.”

Aganova首席运营官Marcos Barrera Parrilla介绍该技术的优势：“在供水系统中，有两类关键资产，一是水本身，二是输水管道。我们的技术同时照顾二者：我们不仅发现漏损，也评估管道状况。”

By tracking leak formation in real-time, pinpointing where the leak has occurred and offering an effective assessment of trunk main conditions to predict where a leak is likely to occur, Uisce Éireann’s engineers can ensure a speedy and proactive response with minimal disruption.

通过实时监测漏损形成过程、精准定位漏点，并对输水干管状况提供有效评估以预测未来可能发生漏损的位置，Uisce Éireann的工程师得以迅速、主动地采取干预措施，并将对公众的影响降至最低。

Reducing the volume of water lost to leaks will help combat current water scarcity issues and help prevent future problems. Leak detection is only one part of the solution to Dublin’s ongoing water security concerns; it helps to build resilience in the system while stabilising supply for communities and industry.

减少漏损水量，不仅有助于缓解当前的水资源短缺，也能预防未来的供水问题。漏损检测只是应对都柏林持续水安全挑战的一个组成部分——它有助于提升系统韧性，同时令社区与产业的用水供给更加稳定。

Milton concluded: “I'm really looking forward to the completion of this collaboration project with Microsoft, Suez and Aganova. We don’t want to take any more water from the Liffey than we need to. So, if we can reduce the amount of water we take, it will make the river a more sustainable water source for the wider community.”

Milton总结道：“我非常期待与Microsoft、Suez以及Aganova共同推进的这一合作项目顺利完成。我们并不希望从利菲河取走超过所需的水量。如果通过减少取水量，使利菲河成为更具可持续性的水源，那将惠及整个社区。”