West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad) has joined the bandwagon of companies tapping the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its business operations. 

The water company said on Wednesday that AI helps quickly and efficiently identify areas in its water distribution system with a high likelihood of leaks. 

Likewise, it noted that integrating AI into its operations was driven by the need to maintain efficiency and accelerate the reduction of water losses.

Dubbed Infrawise, the AI technology tapped by Maynilad is owned and developed by Portugal-based AGS (Administração e Gestão de Sistemas de Salubridade), a wholly owned subsidiary of Marubeni Corp. 

Infrawise is an AI decision-making software that analyzes and identifies critical areas in the pipe network where Maynilad should focus its leak detection and pipe replacement activities.

The leakage information that the AI algorithms pick up is captured in a Geographic Information System report that specifies street locations, enabling Maynilad to fast-track the process of detecting and repairing underground leaks. 

Maynilad also tapped the technology of satellite-based infrastructure intelligence company Asterra for its patented algorithms that track the spectral “signature” of potable water underground captured in a satellite image. 

“Through this advanced AI technology, we can proactively identify and address potential leaks in our water distribution system. This not only enables us to respond more swiftly and efficiently to pipe network issues, it also significantly enhances our ability to conserve water resources and improve service reliability for our customers,” Maynilad Chief Operations Officer Randolph T. Estrellado said. 

In October 2023, Maynilad initiated a pilot program to evaluate the effectiveness of AI-powered leak detection technology over an extensive 1,700-kilometer network of water pipelines.

The AI software generated a comprehensive map highlighting vulnerabilities across 750 kilometers of pipelines, which subsequently led to the successful identification and repair of 1,525 leaks.

Following the successful pilot run, Maynilad is expanding the monitoring coverage of Infrawise to another 1,500 kilometers of pipelines.