New technologies could save water leaking from pipes

Official data indicates that the leakage rate of public water pipes in Macau is lower than the leakage rates in Hong Kong, Taipei and Beijing, which range from 15 percent to 20 percent.

However, a scholar suggested that the city could nevertheless work on technologies that deal with water leaks, noting that a variety of sensor technologies are already in the market to help water utilities detect potential leakages.

Speaking to the Times, president of the Green Environment Protection Association of Macau, Ho Kin Chung, noted, “through these technologies, we are able to improve our water pipe maintenance and leakage can be reduced.”

However, he emphasized that residential and commercial building management in the city could make use of a scheme that educates their employees about how to locate and repair leaky pipes.

In a statement issued to the Times, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) recalled that the government is committed to facilitating the replacement of public water pipes – one of the main reasons for water leakage from pipes.

“The main reasons for leaking public pipes are aged pipes, land settlement and other pipe burst incidents caused by works,” the bureau said in reply to the Times. “The water supply company will strive to replace the old pipes with ductile iron and stainless-
steel which are better quality, so as to reduce leakage rate,” it added.

Annual water consumption in the region reached 88.436 million cubic meters in 2017, an increase of over 2 percent compared to the previous year.

The leakage rate of public water pipes in Macau in 2017 was around 9.1 percent, whereas the leakage level has been controlled at about 10 percent, as defined in Macau’s Water Conservation Planning Outline.

The leakage rate in the distribution networks of 2016 stood at 10.4 percent, slightly higher than figures from 2014 and 2015, which totaled 10.2 percent.

“Macau’s figures are not too bad. But it also depends so much on the geographical location of the land because a lot of times the leakage may be caused by heavy pressure [particularly] on reclaimed lands,” Ho said.

Meanwhile, he stressed the need for a regulator to actively check and maintain these water pipes.

“[There can also be] a watchdog to oversee the water pipes in all buildings to enhance building maintenance scheme. This is very fundamental,” he added.

In Hong Kong, a recent investigation found that 15 percent of fresh water is lost due to leaking pipes – which is nearly HKD800 million of public money being poured down the drain.

A report released by Hong Kong’s Office of the Ombudsman earlier this year criticized the bureau for also failing to investigate ways to reduce leakage, arguing that the public department had been failing to minimize water pipe bursts.

The office calculated that if Hong Kong could lower its leakage rate to 10 percent, some HKD530 million could be saved.

Thus, the scholar noted that this could also be prevented if the local government invested in improving its maintenance scheme.

“The government should force the industry to enhance water pipe maintenance,” said Ho, reiterating the need to replace water pipes with those made of stronger materials.

“The problems are also related to the kind of material of the pipe that you are using. Overseas, marble – which is relatively strong – is normally used for water pipes. But here you normally use iron pipe or PVC and they are more fragile,” he said.

In March this year, the Housing Bureau announced that it had received 16,861 cases of water leakage between 2009 and 2018, with about 91.7 percent of the cases having been repaired.

Ho reiterated that if the problem is not fixed, bacteria will contaminate the city’s waters, leading to e-coli infiltrating broken water pipes.