March 4, 2010 - ABB’s FlowMaster flowmeters have been selected on three separate occasions as part of a large-scale project to modernize the vast but aging water distribution network of Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital. Riyadh is a sprawling city that stretches over some 536 square kilometers, an area more than five times the size of Paris. About 60 percent of Riyadh’s valuable water supply is lost through leakage in the 10,000 kilometers of pipes that transport water to the city’s 4.5 million population. The target set by the government-owned National Water Company is to reduce the volume of water and revenues that are lost to leakage to a more sustainable 20 percent.
One of the most important tools to achieve this target is the 900 ABB AquaMaster and WaterMaster flowmeters that measure the flow and pressure of water in the network’s primary pipeline. All previous customers of ABB flowmeters in Riyadh required a compact, robust and maintenance-free solution that would measure pressure as well as flow, and transmit the data via the GSM telecommunications network to the National Water Company’s central control room. The solution had to be exceptionally robust. And, for those locations where connection to the power network was not possible, it had to be battery-powered to avoid the high maintenance requirements of flowmeters energized by miniature solar panels.
Both AquaMaster and WaterMaster share the same out-standing features of unparalleled accuracy, ease of use and advanced data communications. The former is powered by the AC network, the latter by a single ultra-long-life battery. Their strong, durable design ensures a long maintenance-free operating life under the most difficult conditions. They can be buried directly in the ground or submersed in water without the need for costly protective chambers. And, their measurement accuracy in both flow and pressure enables National Water Company to know exactly how much water is flowing through the main pipeline and to detect leaks as and where they happen.
ABB has the world’s largest offering of flowmeters, with an unrivalled number of well-proven measuring principles, type variants and applications. WaterMaster and AquaMaster are part of ABB’s FlowMaster range of electromagnetic meters for flow measurement in industrial processes, water and wastewater management, and the food and life science industries. ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.