# Nondestructive Inspection of Water Pipes: A Review

## TL;DR

This paper reviews nondestructive evaluation and structural health monitoring technologies for inspecting water pipes, highlighting challenges and potential solutions.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive review of NDE/SHM technologies for freshwater pipes, emphasizing interdisciplinary challenges and practical deployment.

## Key findings

- Water pipe inspection receives less attention compared to oil and gas industries due to lower costs and economic factors.
- Technical challenges include buried infrastructure and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration.
- The review highlights physical principles and technological challenges in transitioning from lab to real-world applications.

## Abstract

Pipe networks assure the transportation of primary commodities such as water, oil, and natural gas. Quantitative and early detection of defects avoids costly consequences. Due to low cost of water, high-profile accidents, and economic downturns, the research and development of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) technologies for freshwater mains and urban water networks have received less attention with respect to the gas and oil industries. Moreover, the technical challenges associated with the practical deployment of monitoring systems and the fact that most water pipelines are buried underground demand synergistic interaction across several disciplines, which may limit the transition from laboratory to real structures. This paper reviews the most prominent NDE/SHM technologies for freshwater pipes. The challenges that said infrastructures pose, as well as the methodologies that can be translated into SHM approaches, are highlighted. The scope of this review is to provide a holistic view of the physical principles, the success, and the technological challenges associated with the inspection and monitoring of freshwater pipelines.