Essential information in the pipeline

New tagging technology developed at the University of Oxford enables buried utility pipes to be found and identified via ‘barcode’ quickly and inexpensively.

The UK has around four million kilometres of buried pipes and cables carrying water, gas, power, and telecommunications channels, all of which may need to be accessed for repair or safeguarded from adjacent work such as road repairs. Some 100,000 kilometres of elderly cast iron gas main is now considered to be at high risk of failure and is rapidly being replaced by plastic pipes. Little wonder then, that new technology allowing both old and new pipes to be easily found and ‘barcoded’ with important information is attracting tremendous interest from all major utilities.

The system has been developed by members of the University of Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science, led by Professor David Edwards. It comprises an encoded tag that is attached to the pipe, a surface-scanning detector (linked to GPS and a mobile phone) that can quickly locate a pipe, and a subscription database that records the relevant information – what’s in this pipe, which utility company is responsible for it, does it have a left/right 90° bend, where’s the nearest stop valve, etc.

The system uses a modified radio frequency identification and detection (RFID) technique and passive low-frequency tags to give each pipe a unique signature. The tags can be attached to old pipes during any remedial intervention or included with new pipes. Once installed, they will not degrade. And because the technology is magnetically (rather than electrically) based, it still operates when the surrounding soil is wet, making it possible to pinpoint leaking water pipes quickly and locate the nearest water valve.

The technology is being commercialised by University spin-out company Oxford Electromagnetic Solutions Ltd (OXEMS). The database will initially be UK-based, but will ultimately find worldwide use.

Funded by: The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.